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.
LYN JONES says
Hello, I’d like to make the Vegan Lemon Cake for a birthday cake I’m making. I want to use an 8 inch square traybake pan and cover the cake with buttercream and fondant icing. Do you think this would work or do I have to make adjustments to the recipe. Thank you ????
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lyn, I think it would be too much batter for a single square 8 inch pan, this would make a sheet cake though if you had a half sheet or quarter sheet pan. Fondant should not be an issue, I haven’t worked with it myself but others who have made our cakes have used it successfully.
Hosheanah says
Hi Alison !
I tried sending you a message yesterday not sure what happened. How ever I made this lemon cake for a buddy of mine who retired from the fire department and it was “DELICIOUS”.
I’m a vegan Baker as well and have many recipes. I used your recipe for this one and it was excellent.
I was so impressed by the outcome I tried your banana cake recipe and the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes as well.
Question: Do you find that baking with a particular brand of all purpose flour seems to work better for you than others. I seem to think so but I could be mistaking?
Thank you so much for sharing.
Lemon is my favorite flavor.
Alison Andrews says
Hi, I haven’t noticed a difference between flour brands, as long as it’s all purpose flour it seems to work quite uniformly well. So glad you enjoyed the lemon cake. 🙂
Rebecca says
I used this recipe to make a 4 layer lemon cake for Father’s Day! I also made some vegan lemon curd as a filling for a couple of my layers. It was a huge hit! I’m super new to the world of vegan cooking and baking (I’m breastfeeding and my daughter has a sensitivity to dairy, eggs and soy), but sites like yours has made the transition so easy for me.
Alison Andrews says
So happy to hear that Rebecca! Thanks so much for the awesome review. xoxo
Ros says
This is the fifth time I’ve made this glorious cake now, it’s perfect every time, fluffy, moist and so tasty – I gave some to my partners non-vegan family and his dad said it was *the best cake he’s ever eaten*! And he knows his cakes! Number five is in the oven right now, thanks so much for sharing with us! Your page has given me such a passion for baking vegan sweet treats! Keep up the great work! Ros Xx
Alison Andrews says
Thanks so much for this awesome comment Ros, so pleased to hear it’s been a regular success and that is the best praise for this cake ever. I’m thrilled to inspire your passion for vegan baking too! Thanks for the amazing review. xo
Nicole says
Made the cake in 9 inch pans this past week and it was the best cake I’ve ever made. I did shorten the cook time a bit, but I usually do that with my oven. It was my daughter’s 12th birthday and everyone loved it. I’m not sure it made enough frosting to frost the whole cake so we left the sides naked, decorated the top with berries, and it was gorgeous! I don’t fancy myself a baker so I was quite proud, as was my daughter! ????????
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! So glad it worked out great. Thanks so much for sharing and the wonderful review! xo
Paula Wells says
Delicious ???? I made it for my daughters birthday last year, and I’ve just made another for a fundraiser tomorrow!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks so much for the awesome review. xo
C.Pitts says
This was such a good recipe, I’m trying the lemon pound. So delicious!!!! Thank you and God bless????
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks so much for the great review. 🙂
Tashina says
Just put this in the oven, won’t need it for two days. Is it ok to freeze and then frost later? I’ve seen other vegan recipes that don’t do well of frozen. Thank you!!
Alison Andrews says
It should be fine. 🙂
Heidi says
This was my first attempt at a vegan cake. I actually made it into cupcakes for my son‘s school mayday celebrations. They were very popular and I also gave a couple to my neighbour who is dairy intolerant. She LOVED them and ate 2 before even finishing making her cup of tea!!!
Heidi says
I forgot to rate this on my last comment. Absolutely 5 stars!!
Alison Andrews says
So glad they were enjoyed! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Kelly Neal says
Hi! First, thank you for sharing your recipes! Is there a way to make icing and frosting without powdered sugar? I use honey, maple syrup and agave for sweeteners but have not been able to find a recipe using these for icing. I tried creating one myself and it was OK but just want your expertise.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kelly! I have made a frosting with cashews that doesn’t use powdered sugar for our gluten-free carrot cake cupcakes. 🙂 Hope that helps! xo
Rob says
I made this cake exactly as written and it just might be the best non-chocolate vegan cake I’ve ever made. And people at work loved it.
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! This might be the best comment ever! Thanks so much Rob. 🙂
Kimberly Simon says
Made this cake last night and it was delicious. My cake turned out a bit dense though. Is there any thing I could do to fluff it up some?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kimberly! So glad it was delicious! Did you weigh the flour by any chance? Using a little too much would be my first guess at causing it to be a little too dense. If you weigh it next time, that should hopefully solve that issue. 🙂
Addie says
Made this cake for my roommate’s birthday and it turned out great! I didn’t want to use lemon extract so I just upped the amount of lemon juice in the cake itself (to around 5 tablespoons) and added a little more flour. Same with the frosting and just added more confectioner’s sugar. I also added a layer of raspberry jam in the center of the cake and it was delicious! Garnished with raspberries and lemon zest around the edge. Thanks for the recipe! It was a hit!
Alison Andrews says
Sounds awesome! Thanks so much for sharing and the wonderful review. xo
Danny says
Dear Alison,
This looks amazing; can I ask a question though.
I have cocoa butter; can I use that for the frosting? If so, what amount should I use? You talked about amounts being important because of the water content and so I wanted to check that with you.
Many thanks,
Danny
Alison Andrews says
Hi Danny, cocoa butter is not the right kind of butter to use for frosting. You can use a dairy free margarine if you can find one of those, that works great, or you can even make your own homemade vegan butter.
Marci says
I made this recipe into cupcakes. amazing! wish I could post pics
Alison Andrews says
Hi Marci, so glad to hear it worked out great! Thanks for the awesome review. If you’re on instagram, you can tag us in pics there. 🙂
Lois Roe says
I’ve tried making this twice and have not been able to get the beautiful fluffy yellow layers you get. I get really thin layers that ate very sticky and I have needed ~8 extra minutes. I use King Arthur Flour Measure for Measure gluten-free flour, which has worked well for me in many other cakes. The taste of the cake is delicious, I just wish I knew how to make it come out so beautifully.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lois, gluten-free flour is going to change things quite a bit. I have some notes about making it gluten-free in the recipe post, but this is not how I made it, so it’s not going to be exactly the same. So glad it still tastes good though! 🙂