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.
Varie says
Absolutely delicious! My dad and husband (not vegan) made me ice it just out of the oven because they couldn’t wait to eat it! It got rave reviews all round, but it fell apart when I sliced it, I think because it was still warm haha! Will definitely make it again 🙂
Alison Andrews says
So glad it was enjoyed! Yes cakes are so much more fragile when still warm (but so good!). Thanks for the awesome review. xo
krista says
Subbed rice milk for soy – also works fine
one kid allergic to lots of stuff – other one loves baked goods.
this one satisfies both the sweet tooth, and the sour tooth and suits both kids just fine
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Krista! 🙂
Michael Peck says
Make all the time – brilliant cake! Thank you.
Alison Andrews says
Yay! Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
Katharine says
The. BEST. lemon. cake. EVER. I made this for my partner, and it’s so good we’ve both eaten 3 slices. Had to come upstairs to remove myself from the temptation! Also, I made this with white rye flour as I’m wheat intolerant and it definitely didn’t spoil the end result! Thank you so much for a great recipe – I look forward to trying some more!
Alison Andrews says
That is wonderful to hear Katharine, thanks so much for sharing! So glad it worked with white rye flour, that’s super helpful info. 🙂
lynn says
I have a query. In the vegan apple cake recipe I find the weights confusing in grams. i.e. 2 1/2 cups is 312 gms. 1 1/2 cups is 300 gms, 1 1/2 cups apple is 188 gms. is this correct? thank you
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lynn, yes it’s all correct. Different items have different densities, so a cup of feathers will weigh a lot less than a cup of stones just to put it in simplistic terms. So this is why when we are dealing with the measurements in grams it will be different according to the density of the item. So a cup of flour is 125g, a cup of sugar is 200g. This is all correct. 🙂
Maddie says
I made this and it is AMAZING!
I plan on baking this as a birthdaycake soon, Can I bake this in a 24cm round cake pan?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Maddie, I’m not entirely sure about switching it for a round cake pan, I think it would be fine, possibly a different baking time, but I haven’t tested it. You could also try our vegan lemon cake which is made in round cake pans.
jenny says
Hi! Instead of vegan butter can I use coconut oil?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jenny, pretty sure you can! Let us know how it works out. 🙂
Beth says
This tasted delicious but the texture was really dense! I have loved all your other recipes I have tried so wondered what I did wrong!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Beth, it is supposed to be quite dense, it’s not a ‘light and fluffy’ cake. It’s not supposed to be, traditionally a pound cake is quite dense and this is discussed in the post. It is supposed to be very tasty though. But if you want something more light and fluffy then our vegan lemon cake would be more suited. All the best! 🙂
Rhiannon says
I am not vegan but was just out of eggs when I had the urge to bake and found this. It was delicious and I will definitely make again!
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! So happy to hear it was a success, thanks so much for the great review. 🙂
Andrea miller says
This was a really great recipe! So easy! My daughter can’t have dairy and we were so thrilled to find this. It was so much better than we imagined. We did not have lemon extract but as a nice person commented earlier we just switched it out with lemon juice and it was still super good. Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe with those of us who need dairy free but I’m sure it will be a hit with anyone! And it’s nice to know this is healthier than adding butter, eggs and milk. It felt almost guilt free!
Alison Andrews says
So glad you enjoyed it Andrea! Thanks so much for the fantastic review. 🙂
Margie says
Easy and delish!!! Didn’t even need “egg replacement”. Made it for company a few days ago. Ate some for dessert and finished it for breakfast. Now making one just for us. Used lemon juice instead of extract. Came out perfect. Thank you.
Alison Andrews says
Yay! So glad it is working out great Margie. Thanks so much for the awesome review! 🙂
Kathy Vesely says
I made this for our Boonsboro Green Fest Committee meeting earlier this week. Everyone RAVED about how good it was!!! Moist, dense, delicious and oh-so-lemony! I had to make two adjustments: I made the buttermilk with rice milk (I didn’t have soy on hand), with 1 T of vinegar, and I used rice milk instead of lemon juice in the glaze. I should have used teaspoon by teaspoon, instead of a full tablespoon, as it was a little too thin. It was still absolutely delicious and I will definitely be making it again.
Alison Andrews says
So glad to hear it was a success and that everyone raved about it! Fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
Jan says
I just made this lemon pound cake! It was simple,and turned out so delicious even with a few modifications. I used applesauce in place of the oil and lemon juice since I didn’t have lemon extract. I am so excited to share all of your recipes with our Vegan, no oil, patients, friends and family. Thank you so much for sharing your delightful creations ?❤️
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jan, I’m so happy to hear it worked out with those adjustments! Thanks so much for sharing and the awesome review. 🙂
Maria Emanuele says
This vegan lemon cake recipe is fantastic!! So moist and lemony.
And so easy to make too. Cannot wait to make it again!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Maria! So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for sharing. 🙂
Juan Morin says
I would like to bake this cake today, but I am a little confused. In the instructions, you state to mix lemon juice with soy milk or almond milk and wait for it to curdle, where are these ingredients used in the recipe? The lemon juice and soy or almond milk are not in the ingredient list. The assumption is that the curdled milk is used to make the glaze. Please advise, I would really like to make this cake.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Juan, this is for making the vegan buttermilk which is listed in the ingredients, vegan buttermilk is soy milk + lemon juice allowed to curdle. I updated the recipe instructions to be more clear. 🙂
Juan Morin says
Thank you Alison for making the instructions clearer. I went ahead and made the cake, I have to say this is some of the best pound cake I have had. Understand, I am not vegan, far from it. I am vegan by association, my daughters and they enjoyed it as well. I loved the lemony, citrus, and sweet notes that are forward in the cake. The cake itself was dense, but moist. I truly enjoyed it. I am looking forward to making this cake again, but in different flavors, orange, almond, and poppy seed. I do have to add that I felt the glaze for the cake was to thick. I did thin it out with a tablespoon of water or two. Would it have been safe to use more lemon juice or almond milk?