This vegan lemon cake is zesty and sweet! Topped with a light lemon frosting and fresh fruit, this cake makes for a perfect summer dessert!
I've been on a cake baking spree lately - and no one around here is complaining. This vegan lemon cake is the latest addition to my vegan cake recipes, and it is absolutely perfect for summer baking.
I've made many lemon cakes over the years. Some of my personal favorites are this Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Cake, this healthy Spelt, Zucchini, and Lemon Cake, this pretty Lemon Cake with Blueberry Frosting, and this simple Lemon Syrup Cake.
But I think I love this new vegan lemon cake best.
This cake recipe is prepped in just 15 minutes, and you can make the frosting while the cake bakes! It doesn't get much easier than that.
This vegan lemon cake recipe is...
- vegan
- vegetarian
- dairy-free
- egg-free
- prepped in 15 minutes
- an easy dessert
If you love vegan baking, make sure you grab a copy of my free vegan baking cheat sheet while you're here. It's packed with all my favorite plant-based substitutions to help you vegan-ize any recipe!
How to Make Vegan Lemon Cake
- In a large bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and lemon zest.
- Add sunflower oil, lemon juice, and coconut milk. Mix.
- Pour into a baking pan and bake for 1 hour.
- Make the lemon frosting by whisking together vegan butter and icing sugar. Add coconut milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Whisk into a frosting.
- Frost the cake, and serve!
Scroll down for the full recipe with measurements and detailed instructions.
Tips, Tricks, & Variations
Keep it Fresh
Store this vegan lemon cake in the fridge. To maintain moisture, cover the cake with saran wrap, or store it in a cake storage container with a lid. It will store for 5 days.
Decorating It
Feel free to top the cake with the fresh fruit of your choice. We used strawberries and lemon slices, which I think are really pretty! But you could also use strawberries or blueberries.
Fruits with skins will work best so that they don't make your cake mushy from the extra moisture sitting on top.
Non-Dairy Milks
You can use any non-dairy milk of your choice to make this vegan lemon cake- you might try almond milk, coconut milk, oat milk, or rice milk.
Personally, I like using coconut milk for cakes. Canned coconut milk is an especially great non-dairy choice because it’s a little thicker than other plant based milks and makes the cake really moist.
Make Orange or Lime Cake
If you don’t have any lemons in the house, but you do have oranges or limes, you can easily turn this lemon cake into an orange cake or lime cake.
Just switch out the lemon juice and lemon zest for orange or lime zest and juice. Totally different cake - but just as tasty!
More Vegan Cake Recipes
If you love this vegan lemon cake, be sure to check out these other incredible vegan cake recipes:
And don’t forget to grab a copy of my free vegan cheat sheet too! It’s packed with my favorite easy substitutions to help you make just about any recipe vegan!
Recipe
Equipment
- 7" cake tin
Ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cups self raising flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 lemon zested
- Juice of half a lemon
- ¾ cup coconut milk or other plant based milk
- ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp sunflower oil or other neutral oil
Lemon Frosting
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 1 tbsp vegan butter softened
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp coconut milk or other plant based milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F and grease a 7" round cake tin.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and lemon zest together. Pour oil, lemon juice and coconut milk into the bowl and whisk well.
- Pour into the cake tin, and bake for 50 - 60 minutes. Double check with a skewer or toothpick. It’s ready when it comes out clean. Leave Lemon Cake out of the oven to cool down.
Prepare Lemon Frosting
- In a medium bowl, whisk the vegan butter and icing sugar together. Add coconut milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Mix together until you get a sugary frosting.
Frost the Cake.
- Cut cake into 2 layers. Cover the first layer with sugary frosting, then stack the second layer on top. Cover the whole cake with the rest of sugary frosting. Decorate with lemon and strawberries or any fruits of your choice.
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