Lemon cake is one of the undisputed kings of desserts. It’s soft, tangy, creamy, and rich. Unfortunately, it can be tricky to find vegan recipes for our favorite cakes. That’s why we compiled a list of 12 quick and easy recipes for delicious vegan lemon cakes. You and your friends are sure to love these tasty and simple entries.
1. Easy Vegan Lemon Cake – By Brandi Doming
If you want an easy recipe that’s quick and tasty, Brandi Doming has you covered. Her recipe for lemon cake only takes 10 minutes of prep time and makes an excellent group snack. If that isn’t enticing enough, you only need between six and eight ingredients to make it.
First, take a can of full-fat, room-temperature coconut milk. Do not use the Polar brand. It absolutely must be both full-fat and room temperature, otherwise, it will hurt the consistency of the mix. Pour the contents into a blender and mix it thoroughly until it’s smooth.
Next, pour the following ingredients into a bowl and whisk:
- One and ¾ cups of white flour
- One ¾ cup and a teaspoon of finely granulated white sugar
- One tablespoon of baking powder
Stir your lemon zest, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and coconut milk in a different bowl. Cover the liquid mix over the dry ingredient mix and stir, but be careful not to stir it too much. Once it’s thick, bake it for 25 minutes. Finally, you can cover your delicious vegan lemon cake in glaze and zest.
2. Vegan Lemon Cake – By Arman Liew
Arman’s Vegan Lemon Cake recipe is zesty and savory. On top of that, it’s also gluten-free. These cakes are rich with the sour taste of lemon with a dash of sugar and sweetness. You can add more or less lemon juice when baking it.
First, mix your plain flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar. For this recipe, use gluten-free flour. Next, stir water, lemon juice, lemon extract, and white vinegar separately. Cover the liquid ingredients above the first mix and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
After you cool the cake, then comes the fun part. Coat your dessert in something sweet. Cream cheese frosting, vanilla frosting, and coconut butter drizzle taste well with this cake. This combination will be sure to make your lips pucker.
3. Vegan Lemon Loaf – By Deryn Macey
Deryn Macey’s recipe for Vegan Lemon Loaf is sure to satisfy. The cake is moist, sweet, and lemony tart. The recipe calls for six very simple ingredients and only 10 minutes of prep time before cooking. It’s a warm, delicious option that’s pretty quick to make.
Start by mixing your dry ingredients. Then, mix your coconut, olive, or canola oil with plant-based milk, vanilla, and lemon juice. Stir the batter until all of the ingredients fuse evenly. Bake the bread for 35 minutes.
The loaf should come out moist and warm. Glazing is optional. If you want to glaze your cake, you can also employ sugar-free substitutes like monk fruit sweeteners. You can split the loaf into many slices to enjoy later.
4. The Best Vegan Lemon Cake – By Alison Andrews
These are seriously delectable, soft, and spongy. You can even use Alison’s recipe for making cupcakes. It will yield between 18 and 24 cupcakes. For this cake recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- 2 ⅔ cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 ⅓ cups of white sugar
- ¾ tbsp of salt
- 1 ½ cups of soy milk
- ½ cup of canola oil
- 1 tbsp of distilled white vinegar
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp of lemon zest
- 3 tsp of lemon extract
Start by preheating your oven to 350°F. Spray two pans with non-stick spray. Next, mix your dry and wet ingredients. Split your mix into the two pans and let them bake for 30 minutes. After they’re cool, you can coat them in frosting.
This recipe is unique for its lemon buttercream frosting. You’ll need 4 ½ cups of powdered sugar, ½ cup of vegan butter, 2 tsp of lemon extract, and 3 ½ tbsp of lemon juice. Coat the top of the mixture with lemon zest for decoration and a little extra kick.
5. Vegan Lemon Pound Cake – By Conscious Plant Kitchen
Pound cake is a beloved dessert with plenty of sliceable servings. These beautiful brown desserts are likely to last you a couple of days. Most pound cakes aren’t made with vegan ingredients, which is why Carine Claudepierre is to thank for this easy recipe.
Start by preparing your vegan buttermilk. Do this by combining soy milk and lemon juice. Next, mix your dry and wet ingredients. These should include baking powder and soda, flour, unrefined cane sugar, lemon extract, vanilla extract, salt, fresh lemon juice, melted vegan butter, lemon zest, and dairy-free coconut yogurt.
While you’re preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, stir your mix slowly to wean out any clumps or solid spots. You want the mix to be thick, smooth, and even. Bake the cake for 50 to 65 minutes.
After 40 minutes, cover the top in tin foil to stop it from browning too quickly. The cake should be looking thick and golden. It’s an excellent vegan lemon cake recipe and can fool many of your nonvegan friends with how tasty it is.
6. Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake – By Emilie Hebert
The secret to Emilie’s recipe is in the non-dairy yogurt and the Pompeian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. These two necessities keep the cake nice and moist when it’s ready to serve. The recipe also calls for two types of sugar: cane sugar and powdered sugar.
You will need the following ingredients:
- Pompeian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Oil Spray
- 2 cups of unbleached flour
- ½ cups of cane sugar
- 2 tbsp of baking powder
- ½ tsp of baking soda
- ½ cup of unsweetened dairy-free yogurt
- 1 tbsp of maple syrup
- ½ cup and 3 tbsp of unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 cup of powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup and 1 tbsp of lemon juice
- Lemon zest
Unlike other recipes, none of your ingredients have to be at room temperature for this one to work. First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, mix your dry ingredients in a bowl and your wet ingredients in another. Mix them both thoroughly.
The cake takes 40 minutes to cook. It should spend about 30 minutes uncovered in the oven, then another 10 minutes covered by aluminum foil. When it’s finished and glazed, you’ll find yourself in love with the blend of sweet and sour flavors.
7. The Ultimate Vegan Lemon Bread – By Katie Higgins
This Ultimate Vegan Lemon Bread recipe is simple and cost-effective, yet it tastes as convincing as restaurant lemon cakes. It’s everything you could want in a lemon cake. For your ingredients, you’re going to need:
- 2 cups of flour
- 1 ½ tsp of baking powder
- ¾ tsp of salt
- ¼ tsp of baking soda
- 1 cup of sugar
- ¾ of vegan milk
- ½ cup of plain yogurt
- ¼ of oil
- ¼ cup of lemon juice
- 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
- Lemon zest
Preheat your oven, then set out a 9 by 5 loaf pan. Mix your wet and dry ingredients in this pan and bake it for 50 to 55 minutes. For baking cupcakes, you only have to wait 17 minutes for the mixture to rise and be taken out of the oven to cool. Katie recommends zesting it with melted vegan coconut butter.
You have a lot of flexibility with this dessert. If you want, you could make cupcakes with it or make smaller batches. You can even substitute some of the ingredients with healthier alternatives. Applesauce makes a good fat-free substitute for oil and xylitol is a sugar-free sweetener.
8. Best Vegan Lemon Cake Recipe – By Bianca Zapatka
Bianca’s recipe for vegan lemon cake is plentiful in both quality and serving size. She recommends that you frost the cake for later enjoyment. Do this by tightly wrapping it in foil and placing it in a ziplock bag in the freezer.
First, grease your cooking pan and coat it with parchment paper. Next, mix your ingredients. Make sure to use canola oil. You can either use non-dairy yogurt or extra non-dairy milk for additional moisture.
There is no rigid time limit for how long the cake should bake. Use a toothpick in the middle of the cake for a cake test. When you remove the toothpick without any batter attached to it, you know the cake is ready to remove.
Go crazy with your toppings. Use frosting and glazes as you please. Bianca suggests you add poppy seeds, blueberries, and other toppings to mix with the zesty sourness of the lemon. She also recommends coating the cooled product in a strawberry glaze.
9. Vegan Lemon Sponge Cake For Easter – By Aimee Ryan
Here’s a recipe that is excellent for an Easter picnic with the family. It’s a very light-looking sponge cake from Wallflower Kitchen. It’s a tasty treat that requires the following ingredients:
- One and ½ cups of unsweetened dairy-free milk
- Lemon juice
- Lemon zest
- 8.1 oz of castor oil
- ⅓ and three tbsp of sunflower oil
- Two tsp of vanilla bean paste
- Two tbsp of cornstarch
- 8.8 oz of self-rising flour
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
First, grease two 8-inch cake pans and preheat your oven. Next, stir your lemon juice and lemon zest with your almond milk. Allow it some time to curdle. After this, stir your wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls and mix them to create a thick mixture, which you will bake for 30 minutes.
After about half an hour, you can start to cool the cake. Let them sit in the pans for a few minutes before removing them. Aimee suggests letting the cake freeze overnight so it’s easier to decorate in the morning.
To really celebrate the holiday spirit, cover the cake in Easter mini-egg decorations. You can even add in some vegan dark chocolates. If you’re a fan of vegan chocolate, you’ll love this list. It features recipes for vegan chocolate cake, like Larisha Bernard’s recipe for The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake.
10. Easy Vegan Lemon Cake – By Food Sharing Vegan
Toni’s recipe from Food Sharing Vegan has a lot of variety. You can top it with anything from vegan white chocolate drizzle, jams, fruits, lemon curd, and lemon drizzle. You can even switch out the lemon for lime, orange, or other citrus fruits. This vegan lemon cake recipe only requires seven ingredients.
First, mix your dry ingredients. These include baking soda, flour, salt, and white sugar. You should use a 50/50 blend of AP flour and white whole wheat flour for the best quality cake.
Next, pour in your liquid mix of white vinegar, lemon juice, water, vanilla extract, and neutral cooking oils. You should try to get unwaxed lemons for this. Allow the cake to bake for about 30 to 35 minutes. Let it sit in the pan for an extra 20 minutes once it is finished.
11. Vegan Lemon Cake With Lemon Curd Topping – By Vaishali Honawar
Vaishali’s recipe is pure gold. It takes a bit longer to make than others, but it is well worth the wait. Her recipe for lemon curd is also delectable and you should use it for this recipe’s topping. The curd is golden, bright, and lively, both in taste and in appearance. It has a jelly-like quality to it that provides a thick contrast to the soft and supple cake.
First, make the curd in advance in a separate saucepan. This vegan lemon curd is made with tapioca starch, non-dairy milk, three tablespoons of lemon juice and lemon zest, six tablespoons of sugar, two tablespoons of vegan butter, and a quarter teaspoon of turmeric. The curd only takes five minutes to prepare and another five minutes to cook. It should be nice and viscous when it’s finished.
Then, preheat your oven and mix your dry and wet ingredients all in one pan. It’s important that you mix your butter and sugar first to give the cake a fluffy and airy texture. Use vegan room-temperature butter, almond flour, baking powder, sugar, lemon zest and juice, and nondairy milk.
Bake the cake for 20 minutes, then make sure you remove it to add on the lemon curd. Put it back in the oven and let it sit for another 10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the curd. Once it’s cool, get ready to enjoy your mouth-watering dessert.
12. Vegan Lemon and Pistachio Cake Recipe – Reshmi Bennet
Reshmi went through a lot of work to dish out this delicious treat. This vegan lemon cake recipe is a well-polished beauty that tastes as good as it looks. It serves 10 portions and takes about two hours to make when you add the cooling time. You will need the following ingredients for the dry mix:
- 500 g of self-raising flour
- 365 g of caster sugar
- 1.5 tsp of baking powder
- Two lemons to zest and juice separately
- 180 ml of vegetable oil
- 365 ml of cold water
Set out three six-inch circular cake tins and preheat the oven. Sift your dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls, before combining them in another bowl. Next, divide your mix into the three cake tins. Allow the cake to bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once it’s cool, add your lemon drizzle. You’ll need 85 grams of caster sugar, 30 ml of water, and two lemons. Reshmi recommends you mix the ingredients over low heat until you can see the sugar disappear. Next, place it on high heat to turn it into syrup. On top of this, you can prepare a buttercream to frost the cake with.
Finally, you can decorate your cake with pistachio. Reshmi’s recipe calls for a handful of chopped pistachios, four to five strawberries, and gel paste food colors that match the tone and flavor. Start by stacking a few layers of cake and smoothing them with buttercream. Between each layer, you should sprinkle chopped pistachio, before coating the top of it as well.
13. Super Moist Vegan Blueberry Lemon Cake – By Jillian Glenn
The nice thing about lemon cake is that you can combine it with almost anything. The tangy, zesty flavor of the lemon blends well with fruity flavors, like blueberry. Jillian’s recipe for blueberry vegan lemon cake satisfies your sweet and sour cravings.
First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, mix your dry and wet ingredients. She suggests adding a teaspoon of lemon extract for additional flavor. Once you have mixed both bowls into one, you need to pour one cup of frozen blueberries into your batter.
The cake should cook for about 40 to 50 minutes, but you can always be certain with a toothpick test. This recipe includes a vegan cheese glaze that can be added after baking. The final product will be a beautiful and tasty blend of blue and yellow delight.
If you have a sweet-tooth for fruit-flavored cakes, you can check out our other list which explains how to make vegan pineapple-upside-down cake, vegan strawberry cake, and more.
Easy Vegan Lemon Cake Recipes, Final Thoughts
There are many ways to make vegan lemon cakes. You can make pound cakes, sponge cakes, blueberry lemon cakes with strawberry glaze, and just about anything else. Make sure to have fun while you cook. Don’t overthink it, these recipes are simple, resourceful, and 100% vegan.