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.
Hannah says
Is there something I can sub for the vegan butter in the frosting? It’s not available where I live unfortunately! Can’t wait to try this recipe x
Alison Andrews says
Hi Hannah, any dairy free margarine will work, or you can make your own homemade vegan butter. 🙂
Rachel says
Would it do any harm to add poppy seeds? I’m not a baker and I hear baking is an exact science…Thoughts?
Alison Andrews says
I think you could add them without any impact to the recipe. 🙂
Mel says
Hi, I just finished baking this and its so yummy and moist. But the cake is a bit crumbly, how to solve it? What to add/less? Will cornstarch solve it? Thank youuu ????
Alison Andrews says
Hi Mel, so glad it’s yummy! I’m not sure why it’s crumbly though, did you make any substitutions? Cornstarch won’t help in this case. 🙂
Amanda says
Made this the other day, using lemon juice instead of lemon extract in the cake and making a lemon glaze to drizzle on top instead of the frosting (to help enhance the lemony flavor given I didn’t have the extract). Was amazingly moist especially once cooled and my non-vegan colleagues raved about it when I brought it to work! Thanks so much for an excellent recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks so much Amanda!
Kaylee says
What can I substitute for vinegar? More lemon juice?
Alison Andrews says
Sure, that should work.
Melissa says
Is this too much batter to make in a loaf pan instead?
Alison Andrews says
I’m not sure, I have never tested this in a loaf pan. There is an article on Food52 about adapting to different cake pans but it’s not super straightforward and involves some calculations! We do have a lemon pound cake that is designed for a loaf pan if you want to check that out instead.
Rebecca says
Do the frosting require lemon juice and lemon extract, or Lemon Zest and lemon extract?
There’s mentions of both in different places…
Please could you confirm?
Alison Andrews says
Lemon juice and lemon extract. The zest is for decorating the cake and is used in the cake batter, not the frosting.
Angel says
This is so gorgeously fluffy and tasty! Had to stop myself from eating too much of it – your recipes never cease to amaze ????
Alison Andrews says
Thanks so much Angel!
Amanda says
This turned out amazing. I used my scale with the gram measurements. The only changes I made were almond milk instead of soy, and adding a bit of almond milk to the frosting too because once I got to 3.5tbsp of lemon juice it was still ridiculously thick and not spreadable.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Amanda!
Azin says
Hi Alison,
This looks like an Amazing cake recipe! I was just wondering if I can bake it all in one 9inch spring pan? I assume the only difference is that it’ll just take longer, right?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Azin, yes, it will need to bake longer, I’m not sure exactly how long, but I’d start checking at about 40 minutes.
K says
Hi Alison, I wanted to try this cake using the Gluten free flour that’s a 1:1 substitute for APF. Would love to know your thoughts on what’s the best way to go about it. Should I aim to replace the flour by weight? Any other changes that I should be thinking of as a result of change in flour? Thanks for your response!
Alison Andrews says
Hi K, yes I would use it as a direct replacement and see how it turns out. IF it turns out a little dry then you can aim to increase the oil a little, but this is only sometimes needed. 🙂
Meghan says
Excellent recipe! Very moist cake. I substituted the lemon extract for the equal amount of lemon zest and the cake was still very lemony. I will definitely be exploring more recipes from Loving It Vegan!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks Meghan!
Karly says
Great recipe. I didn’t have lemon extract so I doubled the zest and it was deliciously lemony.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Karly! Thanks for sharing!
Lisa says
Can I make in a 9×13 sheet cake pan?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lisa, you can, but the baking time will be different, I’m not entirely sure but I would estimate about 35-40 minutes. Just keep a check on it.
Vicky C. says
WOW ???????????????????????? I couldn’t find one of my cake pans so I made this recipe into cupcakes (25 minutes in the oven, 15 cupcakes). They were perfect! The cake was moist and fluffy, the frosting was great for piping and they’re so delicious! My non-vegan family loved them, thank you!!!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Vicky! 🙂