This Vegan Lemon Cake recipe is eggless, dairy free and so easy to make! The cake is moist, tender and fluffy and its topped with a quick and easy lemon frosting. The perfect dessert for all the lemon lovers!
I use a lot of fresh lemon here on Earthly Provisions. I love to use it as a main flavor in loaf cakes like my Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake and Vegan Lemon Blueberry Loaf. And I love it as a background flavor in things like my Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cookies or Vegan Linzer Cookies.
But, today lemon is the main flavor of this soft and delicious eggless and dairy-free Vegan Lemon Cake recipe.
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Why You'll Love this Recipe
This Vegan Lemon Cake:
- Is easy to make
- Bakes up tender and moist
- Is completely dairy-free and eggless
- Uses simple ingredients
- Requires no lemon extract or flavorings
Ingredients
Vegan Butter: Vegan butter keeps this cake tender and moist. My top recommendations are Earth Balance Soy-Free Buttery Sticks and Country Crock Plant Butter Sticks.
Lemon Zest and Juice: The lemon flavor in this cake comes from plenty of lemon zest. All of the essential oils (and lemon flavor) are in the zest! Side note: if you are more of an orange person, stop what you are doing and make my Vegan Orange Cake!
Non-Dairy Milk: I use oat milk, but any non-dairy milk will work.
Variations and Substitutions
If you only want a light lemon flavor, make ½ a batch of my Vegan Vanilla Frosting instead of the Vegan Lemon Frosting listed.
Or, if you want to make a lemon strawberry cake, make a ½ batch of my Vegan Strawberry Frosting!
If you don't want to make your own frosting, no worries! There are plenty of vegan store-bought frosting options at the grocery store.
And if you want a lemon cake that just has a glaze, make my Vegan Lemon Bundt Cake!
Instructions
Step 1. Combine the lemon zest and granulated sugar.
Step 2. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers.
Step 3. Whisk all the wet ingredients together.
Step 4. Add the dry ingredients and whisk to form the batter.
Step 5. Pour the Vegan Lemon Cake batter into a prepared cake pan and spread it out with a spatula.
Step 6. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Step 7. Make the vegan lemon frosting.
Step 8. And top the cooled cake with the frosting and serve!
Recipe FAQs
To store, wrap the cake tightly with plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Rubbing the lemon zest with granulated sugar releases the essential oils in the zest. And the essential oils are where all the lemon flavor lives!
Prepare the cake pan by spraying with nonstick pan spray or rubbing it with coconut oil or shortening. Then, insert a parchment sling for easy removal.
You can bake this cake in a 8x8 inch square pan or an 8 inch round pan with the same baking time. Or this recipe will make 1 dozen cupcakes, but reduce the baking time to 20 minutes.
Expert Tips and Tricks
Once you add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, be sure not to over mix! Over mixing can make this cake tough.
Mix only until the batter is formed. A few lumps are okay.
Looking for More Vegan Baking Recipes?
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Lemon Cake
Equipment
- 1 Large Bowl
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Rubber Spatula
- Parchment Paper
- 8x8 Inch Square Pan
- 1 Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer for the frosting
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt half of this amount if using table salt
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- Zest of 1 Large Lemon
- ¾ Cup Non-Dairy Milk
- 7 tablespoon Vegan Butter, melted and cooled
- 2 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
For Lemon Frosting
- 8 tablespoon Non-Dairy Butter, room temperature I used Earth Balance Soy-Free Buttery Sticks
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 2 Cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Prepare a 8x8 pan by spraying it with non stick spray or rubbing it liberally with coconut oil or shortening. Then insert a parchment sling for easy removal. Preheat oven to 350* F.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.1 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour, 2 teaspoon Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- In a large bowl, combing the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the granulated sugar. This releases the oils from the zest.1 Cup Granulated Sugar, Zest of 1 Large Lemon
- Into the bowl with the sugar and zest, add non-dairy milk, melted vegan butter, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Whisk well to combine.¾ Cup Non-Dairy Milk, 7 tablespoon Vegan Butter, melted and cooled, 2 teaspoon Lemon Juice, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Whisk just until the batter is formed. Then, switch to a spatula and fold the batter a couple of times to ensure everything is combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared 8x8 inch square pan and use the spatula to evenly spread the batter into the pan.
- Bake in a 350* F. oven for 28-31 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
To Make the Vegan Lemon Frosting
- In the of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using a stand mixer, cream the vegan butter and lemon zest until completely smooth. Then, add the powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. Then, add the lemon juice and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy.8 tablespoon Non-Dairy Butter, room temperature, Zest of 1 Lemon, 2 Cups Powdered Sugar, sifted, 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
To Frost the Cake
- Once the cake has completely cooled dollop the frosting on top of the cake and spread it out with a spatula. Serve!
Shannon
Delicious. Your cake recipes are reliably excellent, and this one is a standout. Thank you.
Megan Calipari
Thank you so much! I'm happy you liked it!
Enigma
I have not made this YET. I just want to Thank you for writing this recipe the way you did. I hate having to scrolling back up to see what ingredients should be combined together, and how much of each ingredient is needed. This is the best written recipe I have come across. I will definitely be making this.
Thank you again