This vegan lemon cake with velvety lemon buttercream frosting is moist and fluffy and will make all your lemon cake dreams come true!
This vegan lemon cake is pure lemony perfection!
Jaye was saying it’s exactly like the lemon cake his grandmother used to make! Which is high praise considering his grandmother was quite the chef.
The recipe is based on our vegan vanilla cake, with lots of lemon flavor added in via lemon zest and lemon extract and of course, a delicious lemon buttercream frosting and lots of lemon zest as decoration.
It’s super easy, and will happily fulfil all your lemon cake dreams!
When looking around the web at lemon cakes in general, I saw a lot of lemon loaf cakes.
But that isn’t what comes to my mind when I think of a lemon cake, to me a lemon cake is a lemon layer cake, and a lemon loaf cake or a lemon pound cake is the loaf cake. Anyway, just saying because I hope you didn’t come to this page hoping for a loaf cake.
If you did, well don’t worry, we also have a gorgeous vegan lemon pound cake.
I went with two 8-inch cake pans for this cake. The layers are really fat and beautiful. This cake also works perfectly in 9-inch cake pans.
Egg replacement?
I didn’t use a flax egg in this cake, which I also don’t use in my vanilla cake recipe that I based this recipe on. I don’t find I need it in this recipe and I don’t want it to affect the color.
In light colored cakes, a flax egg can affect the color leading it to look a bit spotty, so in this case it’s best to leave it out.
So there isn’t any specific egg replacer in this recipe, unless you count the baking soda/vinegar combination, which definitely acts together to create some crucial baking science that causes the cake to rise beautifully. It all just works.
Recipe Q&A
You can use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend to replace the regular flour in this recipe. If it comes out a bit dry (gluten-free flours can absorb more moisture) then increase the oil a little.
Yes you can. This recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes. Or for a perfect 12 cupcakes see our vegan lemon cupcakes recipe.
Sure you can, but the lemon flavor will be lessened quite a bit. I do recommend getting some lemon extract if you possibly can.
Storing and Freezing
Keep it stored in an airtight container at room temperature where it will stay gorgeous for a 3-4 days or keep it covered in the fridge where it will last for up to a week.
The cake is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. You can freeze it either frosted or unfrosted. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
More Gorgeous Vegan Cakes
- Our vegan white cake is a classic 8-inch beauty which is pretty much a vanilla cake, just with attempts to make it even whiter in color.
- Our recipe for the best vegan chocolate cake can be made in either 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans and our easy vegan chocolate cake adapts well to multiple different cake pans.
- Our vegan banana cake can be made as a 9×13 sheet cake or a 2-layer 8-inch cake. It’s also topped with a delicious lemon frosting.
- Our vegan coffee cake isn’t just a cake to eat with your coffee, it’s actually a coffee flavored cake! Topped with a kahlua frosting it’s a real treat.
- Our vegan red velvet cake has a beautiful vibrant color and it’s perfect for special occasions and our vegan carrot cake is always very popular.
- Want to have an English tea? Make this delicious vegan Victoria sponge cake!
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Lemon Cake
Ingredients
For the Vegan Lemon Cake:
- 2 ⅔ cups All Purpose Flour (330g)
- 1 ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
- 1 ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 1 ½ cups Soy Milk (360ml) or other non-dairy milk
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 tsp Lemon Extract
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Zest
For the Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
- 4 ½ cups Powdered Sugar (540g)
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 2 tsp Lemon Extract
- 3 ½ Tbsp Lemon Juice
For Decoration:
- Lemon Zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 8-inch* cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt. Then add the soy milk, oil, vinegar, vanilla, lemon extract and lemon zest. Whisk with a hand whisk briefly until nicely combined and no big lumps remain. Don't overmix, tiny lumps are okay.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans and place into the oven to bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the pans and place onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by placing the powdered sugar, vegan butter and lemon extract and lemon juice* into the bowl of an electric mixer. Start off at slow speed, gradually increasing speed until thick and smooth.
- Frost the cooled cakes and decorate with lemon zest.
Video
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly using the spoon and level method or by weighing it on a food scale. For the spoon and level method, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup.
- You can switch the canola oil for another vegetable oil if you prefer. We have made this with various oils including a light olive oil and it has come out great.
- 2 Tbsp of lemon zest is from about 2 lemons, but it does depend on the size of the lemons, if it’s a large lemon you might get 2 Tbsp worth of zest from 1 lemon.
- You might not need all the lemon juice in the frosting. I used all of it, but how much you need will largely depend on the brand of vegan butter you use. If you use a firmer type of vegan butter (lower water content) you will need more lemon juice, whereas if it’s more of a soft spread (higher water content) you may need less. So this will require a little flexibility.
- This cake recipe can also be made in 9-inch cake pans with no other changes. The layers will be slightly thinner, but perfect! The cooking time will be 25 minutes.
Harmony says
I don’t have round cake pans. Could I just use a 9 x 13 cake pan?
Alison Andrews says
It might be okay in a 9×13, but I haven’t tested it that way, so not sure.
Daisy says
Hi! I made this cake for my friend’s 18th birthday and it came out SO GOOD! This is such a fab recipe… It stood for hours and everyone loved the taste! Thank you for a great vegan alternative 🙂
He wanted a lemon and poppyseed layer cake, so I added 2 Tablespoons to each batch.
Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Daisy! That’s so awesome! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Ude says
Hi Alison
I made your vegan lemon cake late last night, for my daughter’s 12th birthday today. It’s the most successful cake I’ve baked so far and I prepare alot of food and desserts as preparing healthy meals is one of my passions. I reduced the amount of sugar in the cake and used a reduced amount of a good quality icing sugar to make a thinner frosting. The sugar I used is called rapadura sugar which has a caramel like flavour. My husband commented on how moist the cake was and everyone enjoyed eating it so it was gone in literally an hour! I’m now trying your vegan chocolate cake recipe as it’s my son’s birthday tomorrow and he wants a chocolate cake. Do you have a chocolate vegan cake recipe using 8″ pans. That;s the only size I have at the moment.
Thank you for your wonderful recipe.
Alison Andrews says
So glad to hear the cake was a success! Thanks for sharing your adjustments too! I have an 8 inch chocolate cake recipe on the way, but it has not posted yet so won’t be in time for when you need it, you can increase our 7 inch chocolate cake recipe by half to make an 8 inch cake, but just be super careful with the calculations, as it can be tricky! Oh actually now that I think about it, our chocolate sheet cake recipe would probably adapt pretty well to two 8 inch cake pans if you want to give that one a try. All the best! 🙂
Leonora Dean says
My granddaughter and I made this cake today. It was our first attempt at a vegan cake. Needless to say we are very happy with the results from your recipe. We used the buttercream icing as filling as Charlotte wanted to experience the use of fondant. I have never used this before. Charlotte is 11 years old and has ADHD.
We had such a lovely expr with your recipe and a wonderful afternoon together. We will be baking your cake again soon as my birthday is next month and I have asked her to make this cake for me.
Thank you
Alison Andrews says
That is so amazing to hear! So glad it was a fun experience, thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Matt says
So amazing. Super moist and lemony. Everything I was looking for.
Didn’t change the cake recipe but I used a strawberry frosting instead.
Dawn says
Do you think leaving out the zest would change the flair too much?
Alison Andrews says
You would lose a bit of the lemon flavor that’s all. So you can leave it out if you like. 🙂
Catherine says
Hi, the flavour was lovely but mine rose about half as much so ended up quite dense, any ideas would be most welcome. Perhaps I overmixed!? I’ll try again .
Alison Andrews says
Hi Catherine, there can be a few reasons cakes don’t rise, over-mixing is one of them, baking soda that’s not fresh can be another one, it can be that your oven wasn’t hot enough when the cakes went in, or if the batter sat too long before baking. Did you use an electric mixer? If you mixed by hand and didn’t go totally wild then it’s less likely to be over-mixing. Glad the flavor was good though and hope it rises more the next time you try it! 🙂
Emily Rose says
Amazing!
For the icing, instead of just doing a lemon icing, I did the same recipe and added in a few spoonfuls of my favorite wildberry jam plus a little almond milk so the icing wasn’t so thick with the jam added. It was absolutely delicious!
I will be making this cake for my wedding next June! 🙂
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Hi Emily! That frosting idea sounds awesome! So glad you love the cake and I’m thrilled it will be your wedding cake too, and congratulations! Thanks so much for your lovely comment and review. 🙂
Maria says
Amazing. This turned out so good. I subbed real lemon juice instead of extract. The texture, flavour, everything was on point. Great job!
Alison Andrews says
Woot! So glad to hear that Maria! Thanks so much! 🙂
Sas says
Brilliant!! I turned them into cupcakes and they were moist, spongy. And delicious. I even used the base and added strawberries instead of lemon and they were amazing. Thanks for this recipe!
Alison Andrews says
That sounds fab! Thanks for posting! 🙂
Daisy says
Hiya! This recipe looks delicious! My friend is vegan and I’m making his 18th B-day cake. He wants lemon and poppyseed… what measurements for the poppyseeds might you be able to recommend?
Also the 2nd tier will be 15cm, but I’m not sure what the ideal baking time would be for this size…
I’ll get back to you on how it turns out! 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Hi Daisy, sorry I have no experience with poppyseeds, I haven’t used them so far in any of my baking (I’m sure I will sometime but haven’t yet!). Regarding the second tier, it might bake for the same amount of time, or it might take a little longer, I would bake both layers as usual for 30 minutes but then be prepared to put one back for a few minutes longer if needed.
Rosie says
YUM! Awesome cake! fresh, lemony and perfectly sweet! Great crumb and flavor! I’ve made this twice now. Once without changing anything, and another with added poppyseeds and a lemon glaze instead of frosting! Thanks for sharing!!
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic Rosie! Thanks for posting and your review! 🙂
Anna Andrews says
Lemony yet sweet and delicious
Rima says
Hi,
Do you think i can use gluten free flour instead? Thanks
Alison Andrews says
Hi Rima, I have not tested this cake as gluten-free so can’t advise.
Mandy says
Hi Rima,
My friend made this recipe with 1:1 gluten-free flour and it came out delicious!
Jules says
Hi there! Your timing is perfect. My partner’s birthday comes up in a couple weeks and she adores lemon cake. One thing, when we’ve eaten vegan baked goods from restaurants the buttercream tends to be way too sweet, is this buttercream very sweet? Do you think it would work to cut out a good bit of the powdered sugar? Thank you for your lovely recipes. I just found your blog today whilst looking for shortbread cookies. I’m excited to make your lovely recipes and will report back when I have. Cheers!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jules, the frosting is definitely sweet! The lemon juice does cut the sweetness a bit but it definitely is sweet. If you are looking for a less sweet version it might be an idea to use this cake recipe with a different frosting, maybe a vegan cream cheese frosting. All the best! 🙂
Jules says
Thank you, Alison!
Karen says
Absolutely perfect!