This vegan lemon pound cake is seriously the best ever. Also known as vegan lemon loaf, it is moist and rich and topped with a deliciously tangy lemon glaze.
Ever since making our vegan pound cake recipe, I have wanted to make a vegan lemon pound cake.
After doing all the heavy lifting of figuring out how to even make a pound cake when I made our original pound cake, this one was a total breeze and a complete pleasure to make.
Topped with a delicious lemon glaze it is total lemony perfection.
The lemon flavor in the cake is subtle and comes from a little lemon extract and some lemon zest.
And the frosting is a simple mix of powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon extract.
And if you love lemon desserts then you’ll also love our vegan lemon cake.
How To Make Vegan Lemon Pound Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add vegan butter and white granulated sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together until well mixed. Add vanilla extract and lemon extract and mix in.
- Prepare vegan buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Let it curdle.
- Add the vegan buttermilk to the mixer and mix it in with the vegan butter and sugar mix. It will look curdled but this is fine.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a separate mixing bowl, add baking powder and salt and mix together.
- Add the dry ingredients in with the wet and mix into a batter with a spoon. Be careful not to overmix.
- Add lemon zest and mix in. The batter will be thick.
- Transfer the batter to a 9×5 loaf pan (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with parchment paper so that there is overhang on either side) and smooth down.
- Place into the oven to bake at 350°F for 60 minutes.
- At the 40 minute mark, bring it out and tent the top with foil so that the foil makes a tent shape over the top. Return it to the oven to bake for the final 20 minutes.
- Lift the cake out using the parchment paper overhang and place it onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before adding the lemon glaze.
- To make the glaze, mix powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon extract in a bowl.
- Spoon the glaze onto the cake and spread it around the top evenly. Allow the glaze to set in the fridge for 10 minutes before slicing and serving the cake.
Tenting with Foil
This cake bakes for an hour, which can lead to excessive browning on top. So the trick is to bring it out after 40 minutes and tent it with foil and then put it back in for the last 20 minutes.
You simply wrap the whole loaf pan in foil so that there is a tent shape on top, this is so that the foil doesn’t press down on your cake from the top, but protects it from getting overly browned.
Bringing it out at the 40 minute point doesn’t effect the rise of the cake or cause any sinking effect (as it would do if you opened the oven at an earlier point) because all the rising has already happened at this stage and it’s close to done.
Why This Recipe Works
Texture. The cake is quite dense, which is what you want in a pound cake. It’s not super light and fluffy, but it’s not meant to be. It’s still probably lighter than a traditional pound cake, but you can see from the photos that it has a fairly tight crumb.
Moisture. The moistness in this cake comes about from the vegan butter and homemade vegan buttermilk.
Rise. The lift comes from 3 teaspoons of baking powder, which is the maximum amount you can use in this recipe, any more and you’d have it rising too high for the structure to support and then you get sinking in the middle.
Result. The result is a lovely vegan lemon loaf with a delicious lemon flavor that really pops with the addition of the lemon glaze.
Serving Suggestions
This cake is divine served as is, but if you wanted to serve it with something else like a scoop of vegan lemon ice cream, that would be divine too! Pound cake really works well served alongside other things.
Make It Gluten-Free
If you’d like to make this lemon loaf gluten-free then my recommendation would be to use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend. I haven’t tested it with this recipe, but that is usually what works best.
Storing and Freezing
Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for 3-4 days or covered in the fridge where it will stay good for up to a week. Bring it to room temperature before serving.
It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
More Lemony Vegan Desserts
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Pie
- Vegan Lemon Cookies
- Vegan Lemon Bars
- Vegan Lemon Curd
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Lemon Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the Lemon Pound Cake:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Extract
- 1 cup Vegan Buttermilk (240ml) 1 Tbsp lemon juice + soy milk up to the 1 cup line
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Zest
For the Lemon Glaze:
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar (120g)
- 1 ½ Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- ⅛ teaspoon Lemon Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray and line it with parchment paper, letting the parchment paper hang over the sides so that the cake can be easily lifted out. Set aside.
- Add vegan butter and white granulated sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together until well mixed. Add vanilla extract and lemon extract and mix in.
- Prepare vegan buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Let it curdle.
- Add the vegan buttermilk to the mixer and mix it in with the vegan butter and sugar mix. It will look curdled but this is fine.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a separate mixing bowl, add baking powder and salt and mix together.
- Add the dry ingredients in with the wet and mix into a batter with a spoon. Be careful not to overmix.
- Add lemon zest and mix in. The batter will be thick.
- Transfer the batter to your prepared 9×5 loaf pan and smooth down.
- Place into the oven to bake at 350°F for 60 minutes. At the 40 minute mark, bring it out and tent the top with foil* so that the foil makes a tent shape over the top. Return it to the oven to bake for the final 20 minutes.
- Lift the cake out using the parchment paper overhang and place it onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before adding the lemon glaze.
- To make the glaze, mix powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon extract in a bowl.
- Spoon the glaze onto the cake and spread it around the top evenly. Allow the glaze to set in the fridge for 10 minutes before slicing and serving the cake.
Notes
- Weigh your flour for the most accurate/best results or use the ‘spoon and level’ method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop the flour and don’t pack it into the cup.
- 2 Tablespoons of lemon zest is what you’d get from about 2 small lemons.
- Tenting with foil stops the cake from browning too much on top.
- Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for 3-4 days.
PattiLynne Drake says
Amazing. Delish. Tart. Fabulous. Requested often!
Alison Andrews says
Yay! 🙂
Greg says
This cake is an absolute winner – every time! Made it a few times and it’s lip-smackingly delicious. Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
Yay! Thanks for the awesome review Greg. 🙂
Nancy says
Can this be made in a bundt pan?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Nancy, I’m not sure, I haven’t tried that. 🙂
PattiLynne Drake says
Same question! Trying it today!
Alison Andrews says
Let us know how it goes! 🙂
Sara says
I doubled the recipe and baked it a Bundt pan for about 1 hr 20 minutes. It came out beautifully.
Alison Andrews says
So glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing Sara! 🙂
Viv says
Great recipe…definitely a keeper, thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for posting and the awesome review Viv! 🙂
Kathy says
HI Alison: this recipe looks divine. I’m going to visit my 93-yo mom in a couple weeks. She LOVES anything lemon, so I’m going to try to make this while there. One question, though. I’m trying to avoid eating so much sugar. Is there a substitute one could use? If so, what proportions of, say, maple syrup or would nothing work as a substitute? Thank you.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kathy, maple syrup is a liquid sweetener so would not work here. You could try and reduce the sugar and just see how it works out but I haven’t tried it that way so I have no idea. All the best and hope it works out great! 🙂
Lynn says
Made this yesterday for my husbands family. Everyone loved it and were amazed when I told them it was a Vegan cake . This recipe is a keeper!!
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic news! Thanks for posting and the great review Lynn! 🙂
Matt says
I tried making the vegan buttermilk but not entirely sure it turned out right. I followed the instructions regarding adding the lemon juice first and filling the rest up to 1 cup (240 ml) with soy milk. It appeared to thicken but not sure it really curdled. At 40 minutes I took it out to tent and there wasn’t as much browning as in your picture but I feared losing moisture so I tented it anyway. Waiting for it to cool now so i can ice and then try it. It smells and feels delicious, though!
Matt says
It turned out delicious!
Alison Andrews says
Yay! Glad to hear that Matt. 🙂
Osma says
Hello! Thank you for the recipe. I’ll try it, but I’ll use gluten free flour (Bob Red Mills) and gluten free baking powder due to allergies. I hope it’ll turn fine. Wish me luck.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Osma, I have never tested this with gluten-free all purpose, so I hope it goes great! Definitely let us know how it turns out! 🙂
Julesll says
I made this lemon pound cake and I, along with many other people I “allowed” to taste it went completely out of their minds! It’s a WINNER!!! Thank you!!!
Alison Andrews says
That is the best news! ? Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Corky says
Hello! I made this recipe and the cake in the middle collapsed. I followed all the instructions. The only thing I did differently was used almond milk instead of soy for the buttermilk. Do you know why the middle did that? Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Hi, switching for almond milk would not have caused that, but there can be a number of reasons that this can happen, this is a great troubleshooting article which details all the reasons this can happen. Hope it helps!
Sheila says
Just wanted to know since we don’t get vegan butter here, and I just turned vegan. What can I substitute for butter. Is coconut oil okay.
Alison Andrews says
You can try making your own vegan butter, I haven’t tried it in this particular recipe but I have used it in baking generally and it’s been great. Otherwise, I don’t know where you’re based, but even when there are no ‘vegan’ brands you can usually find a dairy-free margarine (just check the ingredients) that works for baking and this is the same thing. All the best! 🙂
Emma says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I followed the recipe without any adjustments, but for some reason the center of the cake collapsed in the middle. Did I do something wrong??
Alison Andrews says
Hi Emma, there can be a few reasons this can happen, if you overmix the batter, if you open the oven before the cake has finished rising, if your baking powder was not fresh enough, or if your oven temperature isn’t correct (an oven thermometer can help a lot with this), even if you let the batter sit for too long before it bakes. There is a great troubleshooting article on this that I have found very helpful. Hope your cake was still delicious even with some sinking in the middle! 🙂
Emma says
Ok I’ll check it out and try again. Thank you! It was delicious?
joe says
Hi I made this today and it is just out of the oven. The aroma here is wonderful lemony! I can’t wait to let cool a bit to have a bite. Tks.
God bless.
Alison Andrews says
Lovely! Hope it’s delicious! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
joe says
OK OK OK A wonderful cake just like mama used to make but vegan!!!!
Alison Andrews says
Fabulous! Yay! 🙂
Anna Andrews says
Lovely, lemony and light tea cake
Alison Andrews says
Absolutely! 🙂
Meryl says
I’m absolutely thrilled to have found received this recipe from you in my inbox. Lemon cake is my husband’s absolute favourite and I’ve been delaying making one because I never thought I could do my pre-vegan lemon cake justice. This one is far better!
I didn’t have lemon extract so used two tsp of lemon juice instead in the cake mix and it’s come out so light and fluffy all the way through.
Thank you for the tip about the foil wrapping it all around the cake, it seemed to steam it and keep all the moisture in. Fantastic.
Alison Andrews says
That is so awesome to hear Meryl! Thanks so much for sharing and your generous rating! 🙂