This is the easiest BEST Vegan Lemon Cake you will ever make! It is only 6 ingredients and takes just 10 minutes prep time. It is incredibly light, fluffy, moist and amazingly, delicious! Oil-free, no oil or vegan butter!
EASY VEGAN LEMON CAKE
This vegan lemon cake is seriously one of the yummiest cakes I’ve EVER TASTED in my life! And bonus, it also happens to be the easiest. My husband practically inhaled this cake. Lemon is his favorite dessert flavor, but I’ve shared before how he doesn’t like cake. Well, he couldn’t keep his hands off of this one! This cake is for those who want a back-to-basics straight forward cake with no-fuss, odd ingredients or any difficulty.
Due to several of you writing me asking for extremely simple and basic ingredients in a cake, I created the easiest cake I’ve ever created. It took me 3 trials to get the texture just right, but friends, it is SO light, so fluffy and amazingly, delicious! And talk about easy, only 6 ingredients and it’s also oil-free, but doesn’t taste oil-free I promise. It’s moist, buttery and fantastic! With the glaze, it’s only 8 ingredients total! How is that for an easy vegan lemon cake??
This vegan lemon cake is for those who don’t mind using regular white flour and white sugar. I totally get it if you don’t! I rarely use those either, as most of you know. 90% of the recipes I write, I use gluten-free or healthier flours and healthier sweeteners, but this is not one of those times. My Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes use white flour and white sugar and are one of my most popular desserts, so there’s still enough of you all who love the super simple ingredients.
SO in other words, this is not the cake to want to try to make healthier, there are too many of those options already on my blog, so if you don’t mind a little white flour or white sugar on a special occasion, then make it as is and enjoy how delicious it is! For those wanting a healthier lemon cake, try my Healthy Vegan Lemon Cake instead! And for those of you who DO need gluten-free, make my Vegan Gluten-free Lemon Cake instead!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
- Regular white all-purpose flour
- Fine regular granulated white sugar: Do not sub this with another sweetener or coconut sugar, it will not taste like a lemon cake then or have the right texture! If it’s super important to you, make sure the sugar you buy is vegan, as not all are vegan. Wholesome sweeteners is a vegan brand.
- Baking powder
- Full-fat coconut milk: THIS cannot be subbed, it replaces all oil/butter and is what makes the cake light and moist, it leaves NO coconut taste whatsoever. If you are allergic to coconut, you will just have to skip this recipe, as it will not work without the milk.
- Fresh lemon juice and zest
- Vanilla extract
- For the glaze: Additionally, powdered sugar and yogurt
HOW TO MAKE EASY VEGAN LEMON CAKE
Step 1: Now this step is VERY important to the cake end result. First, make sure you are using a fresh can of room temperature, NOT COLD, full-fat coconut milk. With full-fat coconut milk, the coconut cream will separate from the water in the can. You MUST scrape out all of the water and cream from the can into a blender or another bowl and either blend it until smooth or whisk very well until completely smooth and mixed. If you do not do this first, you run the high risk of either getting too much cream or too much water and not the right mixed combo of each, will be really affect the cake’s texture. After it’s mixed and smooth, then measure the correct amount of milk needed for the cake.
Step 2: Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk until mixed.
Step 3: Add the coconut milk, lemon juice, zest and vanilla to a separate bowl and mix.
Step 4: Pour the liquids over the dry and gently whisk or stir with a large spoon until moistened and mixed, being very careful not to overmix. The batter will be quite thick, do not be tempted to add more milk! Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth out.
Step 5: Bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the edges are golden brown and have pulled away from the dish.
Step 6: Glaze and add extra lemon zest for presentation. Let the glaze firm up a bit and then cut and serve!
HOW TO STORE THIS CAKE
This vegan lemon cake is best stored at room temperature covered with foil. I just keep the slices in the same dish it was baked in. It stays fresh and moist for the first 2 days (although best the day made), but by the 3rd day, it starts to dry out some.
MORE VEGAN CAKE RECIPES
- Easy Vegan Vanilla Cake (7 Ingredients!)
- Vegan Gluten-free Funfetti Birthday Cake
- Vegan White Wedding Cake
- Vegan Gluten-free and Grain-free Vanilla Cake
- Vegan Almond Butter Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cake
- Vegan Pumpkin Cake
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Easy Vegan Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (224g) regular white all-purpose flour (GF below)
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (170g) fine white sugar (SEE NOTES)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (210g) ROOM TEMPERATURE full-fat coconut milk (THIS cannot be subbed, it replaces all oil/butter. SEE NOTES AT BOTTOM!
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (37g) fresh lemon juice PLUS the zest
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
LEMON GLAZE
- 1 cup (152g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15g) fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (15g) non-dairy yogurt (plain or vanilla) This gives a nice tang, but if you don't have it, add 1/2 tablespoon of any creamy milk instead.
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
NOTE
- I always recommend to use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed, since we all measure differently. This greatly improves your chance for success and lessons room for error. You never need cups or to compare them to the weights, just use the scale and bowl and make sure to zero out in between each ingredient. My recipes are 100% tested specifically using my exact weights and your results will turn out as mine are pictured this way. SEE NOTES at bottom if you don't have a scale.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- This step is VERY important to the cake end result. Make sure you are using can of room temperature, NOT COLD, full-fat coconut milk. With full-fat coconut milk, the coconut cream will separate from the water in the can. You need to scrape out all of the water and cream from the can into a blender or another bowl and either blend it until smooth or whisk very well until completely smooth. It must be blended before measuring..
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and lightly grease an 8x8 square stone baking dish. Stone is best, but if you don't have one, use glass or metal, just keep an eye, as the edges will cook a bit more in these types of pans.
- To a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and whisk well until mixed. Set aside.
- After you have premixed the coconut milk (from step 1), add the 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (210 grams) to a separate bowl (weighing for best results), then add the lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Whisk to mix and pour over the dry ingredients.
- Mix the batter with a large spoon and fold in the flour, gently, from the edges of the bowl into the batter. DON'T OVERMIX. Overmixing can result in a dense cake and a sunken center. Mix until just moistened and no flour is visible. The batter will be THICK. It will seem too dry at first, but as you mix and it gets moistened, it will loosen up a bit into more of a soft batter. DO NOT be tempted to add more liquid or you will not get the light and fluffy texture.
- Scrape all of the cake batter into the greased dish and spread out evenly and flat with the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. The edges should be golden and pulled away from the edges. Cool for 45 minutes before glazing.
- This cake is SO good on it's own, but the glaze improves the lemon flavor A LOT. Add the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk for a few minutes until it's completely smooth and no lumps remain.
- Pour all of the glaze over the center of the cooled cake. Use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula and spread it out evenly all over the cake. Zest some more lemon over the top for presentation and extra zing of flavor. Let the glaze firm up a bit (15 minutes or so) and then slice and serve.
Notes
- COCONUT MILK: I cannot stress this enough the importance of the brand of coconut milk. DO not use a brand that has additives or gums, it will ruin the texture and make the cake dense and gummy. DO NOT use the Polar brand, it is all stabilizers and additives and not pure coconut milk. The only ingredients should be coconut and water. I like Trader Joes and the Sprouts grocery store brands. They all work well.
- MEASURING FLOUR: As you know, I always recommend a scale for the best results, following my weights listed, but if you don't have a scale or really do not want to get one, make sure to measure your flour this way: Place the cup on the counter and spoon the flour from the bag into the cup, filling it all up, overflowing a bit and then take a butter knife and level it off. Measure the 1 cup this way and the 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup (for the 1 3/4 cup total) but since you won't be using a scale, by measuring with this spoon method, you will need 1 additional tablespoon of flour to equal the 224 grams. I tested this spooning method myself and this was exactly how I arrived to 224 grams that you need for the recipe.
- Keep in mind, that even with measuring cups, they themselves can vary. This is also why some readers will have variances in weights when they try to compare, so just follow my weights listed.
- SIMPLE CAKE: This cake is for those who just want a very simple cake with very basic, regular ingredients. It is not meant to be one of my standard healthier flours and sweeteners I usually use in recipes. This isn't the cake to change all the ingredients. I have plenty of other healthy recipes on the blog if you want a healthier cake! Try this Healthy Vegan Lemon Cake if you don't want to use white flour or sugar. It is low-fat and whole grain.
- SUGAR: This amount was JUST enough of the perfect sweetness to counteract sourness, it is lightly sweetened. I advise against subbing this with coconut sugar or another sugar, it will overpower the lemon flavor that way and change the cake.
- GLUTEN-FREE: Here is the gluten-free version of this cake!
Hey! Just to let you know this was super duper delicious and also a very big thank you for making it idiot proof. BTW I have used King Arthur measure for measure gluten free flour blend with 100% success also.
That’s so amazing to hear, thank you so much!! Good to know about the King Arthur flours. That’s the only blend I’ve ever used for recipes that had good results. I’ll have to try it as well.
One of the best vegan cakes I’ve made! The coconut milk really brings this together to give the perfect texture. A really easy recipe and not too many ingredients needed either
Yay, so very happy to hear that Rachel!
We made this last night and it was super yummy! We followed the recipe as written and weighed out the ingredients. It turned out perfectly. Very easy to make but hard to stop eating.
Thank you so much Irene for the wonderful feedback!
This is a great recipe and love the fact that not too many ingredients are needed to make something so delicious.
So very wonderful to hear that Emma, thank you!
Wow! I can’t even begin to describe how delicious this cake was! I followed your measurements to the T and added a little more lemon because my husband and I LOVE all things lemon. I’m going to try the gluten-free version next time. This cake will now officially be a family tradition andI can’t wait to share the recipe with my mother-in law in Cuba. Thank you!!!
Hi are you able to make this a day ahead of time and kept in the fridge? Does it keep well?
Hi Susie, definitely! Just store it covered with foil at room temperature though, not the fridge.
Made this cake and it turned out amazingggg. One thing though, the cake has quite a lot of large holes/tunnels even though I used a knife to run through the batter and tapped the baking tin on the tabletop as well. Any idea what I should do? Thanks! 🙂
So glad it turned out amazing! There isn’t anything you can do after it’s already been baked. I have never had that happen so I’m not sure why you had holes. No need to use a knife though, so it sounds like that may have caused it since the batter is so thick. Just stir the batter carefully with a spoon and pour in the pan.
Wow! I followed the recipe exactly and it was divine. Absolutely perfect dessert for summer! Thank you for such a delightful recipe. Even my non-sweet-tooth-having partner loved it!
So thrilled to hear that Lisa!!
This will be my first vegan cake to serve at a birthday party! In light of the pandemic, I’m hoping to make individual servings (cupcakes)….do you see any issues?
Yes, cupcakes work great! I’ve made them as cupcakes before, I do not recall how many it made though (I think 12?), so I’d fill up each liner about 2/3 full. I do think I recall them being done in 19 minutes, but just look for a clean toothpick. These don’t need baking soda, as the baking powder does all the leavening and keep in mind, baking powder also contains baking soda as well. My recipe in particular worked best with all baking powder. There is a whole tablespoon. Baking soda makes things more brown and wasn’t necessary in this cake. It is nothing like a banana loaf, which can be seen in the photos how soft and fluffy it is. Banana loaves are extremely dense and firm, which this cake is not at all. As long as you follow the written recipe, especially weighing as noted, it makes a HUGE difference in the end result. The batter is very thick, as noted, be very careful about overmixing. As you can see from all the reviews, readers absolutely love this cake! It is my most popular cake with readers. Do a trial run before the party if you want to make sure you are comfortable.
Thank you for the information and your quick response….I will definitely try it!!
Made the cake for family-they loved it. But to me the recipe seemed more like a pound cake-still light but a bit dense? I followed the recipe exactly (using a scale). I did have to cook it a couple minutes extra though-the edges hadn’t browned and the toothpick didn’t come out clean(why I left it in a bit longer). Honestly it could have been my oven. Any advice for next time?
So glad they loved it! Cakes can turn out dense for lots of reasons, it could be from overmixing or altitude or climate, oven variance, etc. The cake should be very light and fluffy, so it shouldn’t be dense and if the cake was dense and the toothpick wasn’t clean, I wouldn’t have removed it. It tasting dense and an unclean toothpick means it needed to bake longer. Since ovens can greatly vary, I would not remove a cake until the toothpick is clean. Another thing can be the coconut milk, since that is a huge part of how the cake turns out fluffy and light. Which brand did you use?
I used “Polar” brand coconut milk (rich flavor: premium written on label) because the “A taste of Thai” was unsweetened ( in my pantry) and I wasn’t sure if it would work.
I think I did take it out early because I was worried about the cake burning because the top was browning as well as the edges.
I’m a dork. Lol I don’t know how since I try to read new recipes very carefully but the brand you told us to avoid is the exact brand I bought. 🤦♀️ *Sigh*
This cake is so perfect! The light moist lemony is really perfect! Easy to make and my husband love it so much! It’s really delicious and addictive! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Absolutely loved this cake. Went for the full icing instead of drizzle! A crowd pleaser for sure. Thank you for this great recipe!!
Woohoo, so glad to hear you loved it Tara!
Easy – Delicious – Addictive! Perfect summer treat and was a hit with a group I made this for.
Yay, excellent to hear this feedback Nadia!
This cake is like the best of summer in every bite! It was so easy and comes out exactly how you want it to! The description made my mouth water and it came out exactly how it was described. This moist lemony cake is light, perfectly sweet, and even my super picky “I don’t like sweets” boyfriend tried it and loved it. This is a new favorite and I can’t wait for the end of the pandemic so I can make it for everyone I know!
Thank you so much Molly for the wonderful feedback!
Hi! I love this recipe! Can you tell me what 8×8 stone baker you have? I’m looking for one. Thank you!
Hi Steffani! So glad to hear that! I have a Cuisinart stone 8×8 baking dish and also a 7 inch one. I believe I’ve bought them both at Homegoods!
Hi Brandi, I made the Vegan Lemon cake today …sooooo delicious…with and without the glaze . Thank you for this recipe. It came out perfect . All I need now is for someone to tell me how to keep from eating the entire cake !
So awesome to hear that Myra, yay!! Haha!
Hellooo!!! I hope you see this in time. I appear to be the only one confused about the coconut milk part. Do you blend it, THEN measure it (cream mixed with water)??? Or measure, then blend???? I’m trying to make this for my friends today so I hope you see this in time!
Thank you so much! You were one of the first people I followed when I went vegan! 🤗
Hi! Blend, then measure! If you were to measure first, the milk and water amounts wouldn’t be evenly mixed to get the right amount.
Hey! 🙂 I’m curious why all-purpose flour is crucial to this cake. Will cake flour not work? Thanks!
Hi Coco, no cake flour won’t work here. Cake flour has much less gluten than all-purpose and would make the cake be too weak in structure and very deflated. It needs to be all-purpose!
This was perfect! I followed as written and found recipe was easy and accurate. Thank you. I will be making again.
Yay, glad to hear that Jackie!
what is your standard for one slice when calculating calories? the weight of the cake slice would be really helpful as all slices are a little bigger or small than average!
Hi Amna! The nutrition is based off of 16 slices because it’s so rich!
I make vegan cakes often, this looks delicious and easy, I am using this for my daughter’s bday cake..has anyone used it as a layer cake?
Thanks.
Hi Diane, I haven’t, but several readers have! I would try it for two 8 inch round cakes I think. I think it would be too short trying to put this in a 9 inch pan.
I made this today for a friend’s birthday. Everyone LOVED it! It was so moist, creamy, lemony, and absolutely delicious. Will make this again soon. Thank you!
That is so wonderful to hear Sherri, thank you for making it!
This cake recipe is insanely delicious. The first time we made it exactly as written and the cake was so light and lemony. It was amazing. The second time we made it we only had coconut cream. I did not add any additional water to the cream to make it more like milk. The cream made it more like a lemon cookie or bar. They were both so delicious and so simply. We make the icing and then add fresh fruit: raspberries, strawberries and blueberries are all delicious with it. Thank you or posting! This is definitely a keeper recipe!!
So very wonderful to hear Ann!
Absolutely delicious and so simple to make. I really loved how you broke down each step to make it even more easy to follow. One question – I would love to make this for my brother-in-law but he suffers with a coconut allergy – is there any substitute you can recommend? Thank you!
Hi Jaz! So glad to hear that! Hmm that is a tough one, since the coconut milk is so high fat and is what yields such a fluffy cake. You could try a homemade cashew cream in place of it. I’m planning on testing that as a version soon to post.
This lemon cake is probably top 3 favorite vegan desserts EVER. It’s incredible. It’s moist, lemony, and perfect for spring/summertime. The best part? It’s so simple. I threw some fresh strawberries on mine and it was heavenly. Amazing Brandi, thank you!
Wow, that is so awesome to hear, thank you Amy!!