Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

5 from 14 votes

Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

The best vegan lemon poppy seed cake is light, fluffy and moist with loads of lemon flavor and poppy seeds. Topped with vegan lemon buttercream frosting.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Cakes, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

Calories: 517kcal

Author: Alison Andrews

Ingredients

2 ⅔ cups All Purpose Flour (330g)
1 ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
1 ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
¾ teaspoon Salt
¼ cup Poppy Seeds (34g)
1 ½ cups Soy Milk (360ml) or other non dairy milk
½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
1 Tablespoon Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 teaspoons Lemon Extract
2 Tablespoons Lemon Zest

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:

½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
2 teaspoons Lemon Extract
2-3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice Freshly Squeezed

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and spay two 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl. Add white granulated sugar, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds and mix together.
Add soy milk, oil, vinegar, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon zest and mix into a batter. Only mix until the ingredients are combined, don't overmix.
Divide the batter evenly between two 8-inch cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with parchment paper along the bottoms).
Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

Add vegan butter to the bowl of your stand mixer and beat it until smooth.
Add powdered sugar, lemon extract and lemon juice and beat it in until fluffy and smooth.
When the cakes are completely cool, frost with the lemon frosting and let it set in the fridge for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

Weigh the flour. For the best results weigh your flour out on a food scale. If you don't have a food scale then spoon and level. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup, level off the top with a knife. Don't scoop it and don't pack it into the cup.
Lemon extract - adds heaps of lemon flavor. You can use lemon juice instead if you can't get hold of lemon extract, but the flavor will be much more subtle.
Baking pan sizes. This cake can be baked in two 8-inch cake pans OR two 9-inch cake pans for a two layer cake. Or it can be baked in three 8-inch cake pans as a three layer cake. For a two layer 9-inch cake or a three layer 8-inch cake the baking time can be reduced by 5 minutes (from 30 minutes to 25 minutes).
Gluten free. We have not tested this cake as gluten free but our best guess is that a gluten free all purpose baking blend should work well.
Frosting. If you're using a tub-style vegan butter then you can just add all your ingredients to the stand mixer at once, no need to beat the butter first before adding the other ingredients. In this case you may only need 2 tablespoons lemon juice as well. If you're using a very firm stick-style vegan butter then beat it first in the stand mixer and then add the rest of the ingredients as per the recipe instructions. In this case you will likely need the full 3 tablespoons of lemon juice as stick style vegan butters have a lower water content.
Storing and freezing: Keep it stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Let it come to room temperature before serving. It's freezer friendly for up to 3 months.

Nutrition