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.
Memer says
Do you know if you can a just use a sweetened lemon juice instead of lemon extract?
Alison Andrews says
Hi there, yes you can, but you will lose some of the lemon flavor as the lemon extract is very concentrated. 🙂
SenorC says
Hi,
Can you explain why does this recipe have vinegar in it please as I haven’t come across this in before.
Thanks C
Alison Andrews says
It reacts with the baking soda and causes the cake to rise.
juliette Tobin says
Is it possible to freeze these cakes?
Alison Andrews says
Yes definitely! 🙂
Debra Bushby says
Hi i made this cake a few days ago it was just lovely, one of the best vegan cakes i have made, probably thee best , I’m making it again later for a charity coffee morning at work , thanks it will be a regular
Alison Andrews says
Hi Debra! So happy to hear this, thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
mary schorn says
Made it for a wedding cake, it was great!
Alison Andrews says
So happy to hear Mary! Thanks for the wonderful rating! 🙂
Angela says
I’m making this cake for my dad’s birthday, and he’s not a big fan of overly sweet desserts, so I was wondering if cutting the sugar down by a half in the cake and icing would affect the consistency (I’m planning on making 1/3 or 1/2 of the actual amount of icing anyway)? As in, would I need to alter other parts of the recipe to accomodate for the lesser amount of sugar?
Thank you 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Hi Angela, I have never tested this cake with less sugar, but you might be able to cut it down a bit without any other changes to the recipe. With the frosting though it would be hard to make it less sweet, because it just is a sweet frosting, it might be better to just serve the cake with something like whipped coconut cream instead if someone doesn’t really like sweet desserts. All the best! 🙂
Roshini Samuel says
Beautiful cake- so light and moist with accessible ingredients. A bit on the sweet side for the preference of my mom and I. I’ll cut the sugar in the cake down to 1 cup and the entire icing down a third or half.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Roshini, so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Maria says
Hi,
Recipe sounds fab! I do have one question, is the Baking Soda what we call in the UK Bicarbonate of Soda or do you mean Baking Powder? I know they’re slightly different but kind of do the same thing? Thanks!!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Maria, yes it’s called bicarbonate of soda in the UK. 🙂 Baking powder is less powerful so won’t work here as a sub.
Maria says
Thanks so much for letting me know, can’t wait to make it! 🙂
Emma says
Hi, do you think I could freeze this cake? If so, can it be frozen iced, or would it be best to ice after? Thanks
Alison Andrews says
Hi Emma, yes this cake can be frozen and it can be frozen with or without frosting, but with frosting works great. This article from The Kitchn gives some good tips on how to freeze a frosted cake. All the best!
Sibell says
Waoo esta receta es majestuosa una delicia al paladar me facina gracias por compartir la receta eres la mejor????????
Alison Andrews says
So glad you liked it! Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
Joanne Weber says
My 4-year old grandson and I made the vanilla cake—his father texted mid-week if there was any cake left at my house ; ) We made the lemon cake this weekend. I always split the cakes and he takes half home. It’s a wonderful activity to do together—I love that the cakes are easy to make. He picked out both as we scrolled through the selection. As I age, I’m looking for date-based sweeteners instead of cane sugar (I have a grass allergy), but I appreciate your point of view regarding the sugar issue. Meanwhile, my grandson and I will continue to make and marvel over these delicious cakes. I just subscribed to your blog, so one day I might even make dinner!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks so much for the lovely review Joanne! So wonderful to hear you enjoyed baking these cakes with your grandson and that they were easy to make too!
M says
I posted a review earlier which essentially said I was happy with the recipe. I am but I have to say, now it’s baked and decorated, that unfortunately it hasn’t risen very much if at all. Now I’m used to baking vegan cakes, my favourite being chocolate crazy cake, and I’ve not had this problem before. I’m hoping it will still taste okay and not have a funny texture.
M says
Needed to make a lemon cake but didn’t have any eggs so found and tried this. I only had lemon juice, no zest so just put in plenty of lemon juice which seems to have worked and not thinned the batter too much. Have made lemon curd buttercream to go in the middle and on top and lemon simple syrup to soak in to the layers first. I won’t be eating this but I’m sure it’ll go down well!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Debbie says
I am very happy to find this recipe. It was my daughter’s birthday and it is difficult to find a good cake that fits all of her dietary restrictions. This one fit the bill. I made it with European flour and then followed the recipe and added 1/4 cup of poppy seeds. We will be keeping this one.
Alison Andrews says
Sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Laura says
Made this cake today…amazing!!
I was wondering if there is a substitute for vegan butter…my mother in law doesn’t like the taste of butter, and I’m worried that vegan butter will still have the same taste as butter. Any suggestions??
Alison Andrews says
Hi Laura, I don’t think there is a sub for it really, but you could try a different topping altogether like just using a vegan whipped cream topping or something like that.
Tina says
HI Alison,
This looks amazing and I’m looking forward to making it next week for my partner’s birthday!
I wonder if you think I could sub cacao butter for the vegan butter? I know often times vegan recipes call for coconut oil even in replacement for dairy butter, but it sounds like you are going for a thicker consistency here so I’m thinking perhaps the cacao butter might suit.
Appreciate the recipe and feedback!!
Tina says
Sorry I meant to ask – cacao butter or coconut butter as potential options 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Hi Tina, I don’t think cacao butter would work at all as a replacement for vegan butter in a frosting. I wonder if you mean coconut butter? Even that, I don’t think would work. Is the issue that you’re not able to find a dairy free margarine to use?
Tina says
Hi Alison,
Sorry I missed your reply! Thanks so much for it – yes I did mean coconut butter but wrote cacao at first! In part the issue is the dairy free supply, but I also have some food sensitivities and try to stay away from sunflower/safflower oils and soy, which tend to be in the ingredients for the vegan butters that I’ve seen in the past.
Thanks again for your help!