Vegan Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. No added refined sugar in this soft and Delicious Lemon Cake! Makethe batter into cupcakes, loaf or a sheet pan cake. Vegan Soyfree Recipe, Can be nut-free, glutenfree Jump to Recipe
This Cake is Zesty, lemony, Soft, Moist, Sumerry and everything I want in a Lemon Cake. A super easy Cake with loads of lemon juice and zest covered with 4 ingredient vegan cream cheese frosting. I use kite cream cheese or a cashew based home made cream cheese. A simple glaze with a few tsp lemon juice and half cup powdered sugar will work wonderfully as well.
It takes just a few minutes to put together and then it is the excruciating wait time to bake, cool and frost! All maple syrup, no refined sugar in the cake or the frosting. The batter can be baked into cupcakes, baked donuts or a loaf like my Cinnamon Swirl Loaf which is getting made every day on Instagram!
Soft, Spongy, Fresh and so Lemony! Perfect to have some around at all times.
More Cakes from the blog
- Cinnamon Swirl Cake. Super popular!
- Eggnog Pound Cake
- 1 Bowl Banana Apple Bread. Can be made into muffins
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Marble Cake
- Lemon blueberry pound cake
- 1 Bowl Oil free Turmeric Coconut Loaf
Gluten-free options
- GF Cashew Butter Chocolate Marble Cake.
- Gluten-free Cinnamon Roll Bread yeast-free.
- GF Carrot Banana Bread – Also grain-free.
- Sweet Potato Crumb Cake. GF
Tips to make a great Vegan Lemon Cake
- Adjust the batter based on the ingredients used. Different flours and differences in amounts(measurement errors), means the mixture will absorb moisture differently. You want a flowy batter, but not too thin (will make gummy cake with high moisture content), and not too stiff(will make a dryer cake).
- Add more zest if using less lemon juice.
- Once mixed, bake the batter immediately. Because of the higher acidity, the reaction with the leavening agents will already start on mixing. If the batter sits for too long, it will tend to rise less on baking.
- This recipe makes a moist cake with higher moisture content. It can easily end up gummy, see point 1 to ensure fluffy cake.
Vegan Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Vegan Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. No added refined sugar in those soft and Delicious Lemon Cake! Make into cupcakes, loaf or a sheet pan cake. Vegan Soyfree Recipe, Can be nut-free. GF option
Servings: 9
Calories: 275kcal
Ingredients
Wet:
- 1/2 cup (161 g) maple syrup (add 1 tbsp sugar for sweeter)
- 1/3 cup (81.33 ml) lemon juice ( 1 tbsp more if using whole grain flours)
- 1/4 cup (56 ml) oil
- 1/4 cup (62.5 ml) water or non dairy milk
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) vanilla extract optional
Dry:
- 1 1/2 cup (187.5 g) flour (I use all purpose or a combination of all purpose and whole wheat pastry/white whole wheat flour, 1 :1 or 2:1 ratio)
- 2 tbsp almond flour or meal , or use more flour to make it nutfree
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) baking soda
- 1/3 tsp (0.33 tsp) salt
- 1/8 tsp (0.13 tsp) turmeric for color, optional
- zest of 1/2 to 1 lemon depending on the size of the lemon and your preference of lemonyness
Frosting:
- 6 oz vegan cream cheese (I use kite hill plain almond cream cheese, see notes to make your own cashew cream cheese)
- 1/4 cup (80.5 g) maple syrup
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- a pinch of salt
- 1 - 2 tbsp (1 to 2 tbsp) powdered sugar and 2 drops of vanilla if needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the wet ingredients in a bowl until well combined.
- Add the 1 1/4 cup flour and the rest of the dry ingredients and whisk well to make a smooth batter. Add rest of the flour 1 tbsp at a time to make a smooth flowy batter, but not overly watery or overly stiff. You might not need all of the flour if using whole grain flour.
- Pour the batter into a lined or greased pan. Even it out using a spatula.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes if using a square baking dish or brownie pan. If the dish is stoneware, add a few more mins to the baking time. If baking a Loaf: 40 to 50 minutes, Cupcakes: 20 to 25 minutes for cupcakes. Test with a toothpick from the center. It should come out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 mins, then remove and let it cool completely before frosting.
- Whisk the ingredients under frosting until smooth. Add 1-2 tbsp powdered sugar for sweeter frosting. Adjust the tang with lemon zest if needed. Add a drop or so vanilla extract or almond extract for flavor (optional). Chill the frosting for 15 mins if too flowy.
- Spread the frosting on the cake evenly. Slice and serve. Store refrigerated for upto 4 days. The lemon flavor gets stronger on storing
Video
Notes
Cashew Cream Cheese: Blend 1/2 cup cashews (that have been soaked for an hour then drained), 1 teaspoon or more lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt with a few tbsp of water until creamy.
Nut-free: Omit almond flour from the cake and use a nutfree cream cheese for frosting or use a simple glaze with powdered sugar and lemon juice.
Gluten-free: To make this gluten-free, Mix 1/2 cup rice flour, 3/4 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup potato starch. Use 1 1/4 cup of the flour and add more as needed and bake into brownie pan or cupcakes.
Oil-free: Use 3 tbsp applesauce.
Nutrition is 1 of 9 serves (1 piece)
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Vegan Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Amount Per Serving
Calories 275
Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Sodium 164mg7%
Potassium 176mg5%
Carbohydrates 38g13%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 18g20%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin C 4.1mg5%
Calcium 84mg8%
Iron 1.3mg7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
I made this last weekend and let me say – it was amazing! Not too sweet, very moist, and I followed directions to the letter. Just outstanding, LOVED the “frosting.” Just very, very satisfied. This recipe I printed and am keeping permanently. A total winner! Thank you Vegan Richa!
so great to hear Carolyn, thank YOU
Looks delicious!
If I use your gluten free flour blend, do I still need to add the 2 tbsp almond flour?
Thanks!
Yes
Hi. I want to make lemon poppy seed cake. How much poppy seed would you recommend adding to this recipe without compromising texture. Btw we love your cinnamon swirl cake and have made it countless times.
Thank you!
thank you!!! 2-3 tsp of poppy seeds
Incredible recipe! I’ve made lemon deserts in the past that were too sour and this was just perfect. I will definitely be making it again.
Could I make this with lime instead?
If I use sugar instead of maple syrup, I’ll need to add more non-dairy milk?
Yea and yes. Add half the amount maple as milk
Made this as a birthday cake for myself tonight, skipped the frosting and did a light lemon glaze instead. Between my partner, my son, and myself we ate the entire cake in one night.😅
Yay happy birthday
Looks delicious! Thank you, I’m going to try making this.
Is the Cashew Cream Cheese recipe under Notes the frosting recipe or just the cream cheese part of the frosting recipe? If it’s the latter, then that means I’ll have to add more lemon juice and more salt (plus syrup and powdered sugar) to make the frosting right?
Great! The Cashew Cream Cheese recipe works for many different purposes and is the base of the frosting. so, make that first and then you’ll have to add more lemon juice and more salt (plus syrup and powdered sugar) to make the frosting, yes, you got it!! Enjoy
This was soooo goooood!
Can i use Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour instead?
I made this for Mother’s Day and it was amazing!
I used a small 8inch round pan, used olive oil for the oil and made the icing with dairy cream cheese.
It was light and delicious! Thanks, Richa, I love all your recipes!
Could I only use whole wheat flour (aata) instead of all purpose flour .
Swapping it out 100% will be too dense so I suggest half and half all purpose flour.
Hi Richa
I really want to make this , but still want it to be light and fluffy like yours!
I would need it to be gluten free so could I either use your mix and substitute the potato starch with arrowroot or tapioca (as I don’t have potato starch )? or use a gluten free mix I have already which is a blend of rice flour , potato starch, maize flour?
Also if I wanted it less sweet could I use less maple syrup and make up the difference in liquid with unsweetened almond milk ?
If any of those changes are viable , would I still get a good result ?
Thank u so much , love your posts and recipes ! X
Do not use the gluten free blend with rice flour, it will usually give a very dense result. Use my blend with Tapioca.
You can replace maple syrup with non dairy milk.
Make sure to have a thick batter with the difference in the kind of liquid you are using.
Thank u so much – would I sti use the 2 tbsp of almond meal too as per recipe ? Final question sorry and thanks so much for reply x
I need to make this cake for a group and my pan is 9×13″. Can this recipe be doubled successfully?
yes, add a bit more flour for a thicker batter as larger size needs thicker battere to rise and hold
Hi Richa, this recipe sounds delicious! I’m going to make the gluten-free version and had a question about the flour mixture. For the rice flour, would you recommend white rice flour or brown rice flour?
i use white rice flour as brown rice has a mush stronger flavor
I have to confess I was sceptical about this recipe. The cake is very thin and I thought it would be hard, like a (English) biscuit. But I was wrong. The cake was beautifully soft and spongey. If you enjoyed this, try the cinnamon swirl loaf cake – that also turned out brilliantly!
This reminds me of my mom’s cornbread recipe from childhood! I think it reminds me of this because she used to use a box of vanilla cake mix as it’s base with added cornmeal.
So yummy! I enjoyed it days later in a bowl of milk.
Hi Richa,
I’ve not made any of your recipes before but the GF lemon drizzle looked too tempting. Instead of baking a large cake I made smaller loaves in my mini loaf pan. When they came out of the oven they seems very moist, however once cooled and store for the next day, they were rock hard. What’s gone wrong?
I am a frequent baker and have made plenty of began cakes too. But I’ve never had such a rock hard cake?!
What flour did you use and how did you store the cake?
Turned out pretty good! Used white whole wheat flour, mashed banana instead of oil, and a simple lemon glaze because the vegan cream cheese I bought tasted horrible. Would definitely make again!
This cake looks spectacular and addresses most of my family’s diet restrictions. What substitute would you recommend if they can’t eat wheat/gluten products?
see gluten free option in the recipe notes
Just finished making this cake and love it. I used coconut oil and added two tablespoons of coconut flour instead of the almond flour. The lemon and coconut combination is fabulous! Thanks for inspiring this culinary effort!
thanks!
This is completely amazing! I am about to make for the second time because hubby was SO sad when the first batch was gone! Thank you so much!
yay!
Hi! Can I use honey or molasses? I don’t find marple syrup where I live.
use sugar
If using sugar instead of maple syrup how much more liquid do I need to add?
same amount
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
such a lovely cake! I added dark chocolate chips, as I love the combination with lemon, and made it in a loaf pan. it definitely needed to cool before handling, as it was a bit fragile while warm. for the icing I used maple syrup powder instead of powdered sugar, with maple crystals sprinkled on top. I love the depth of flavor with maple instead of regular sugar. thank you for another wonderful recipe!
awesome!
I’d like to make this. Please let me know what size sheet pan to use. Thanks
9×9 inch pan should do it.
Looks great. What type of oil do you use ?
neutral oil like safflower or canola.
Hi Richa, can we substitute honey for the maple syrup?
love this! I just grab some lemons from our garden. easy one bowl baking and taste good! my one was a bit dense.
great! what flour did you use?
I used standard flour(=ap).
hmm, maybe the batter was too thin or thick? or it needed a bit more baking powder. Baking powder looses its strength with age, so you need a bit more if it isnt fluffing up the cakes as much as it should.
Thank you for the advice, Richa!
I’ve done so quick baking(may be careless). oh, also I used brown suger instead of syrup. I will do it again immidiately with your suggestion cuz I’ve had the half by myself already 🙂
oh the sugar will add a lot of dry as well, so you will need some additional liquid(non dairy milk). Maple syrup had a lot of moisture that will be missing when you use sugar.
This looks amazing! totally adding it to my meal plan for next week.
Richa the best thing about your blog recipes is the fact that you always put alternatives and useful tips (like the extra lemon if you’re using whole grain flour) Thank you, I will make this! 🙂
Made it! Delicious!
I used half whole wheat pastry flour , half white flour and it was just a tad bit dense. Next time I’ll use a 2:1 ratio of white to whole wheat pastry flour 🙂
Hi Richa, as you saw on Instagram, I made this yesterday–so good. I always use white whole wheat flour, so the texture isn’t as delicate/fine as it would be if I used AP or cake flour, but it’s still great. As you suggested, using the whole grain flour, I didn’t need to add the last quarter cup of flour–just a tablespoon or so.
With all of that said, sometime I think I’ll try this with AP flour just to enjoy the finer texture!
Awesome! You can try a mix of whole and ap flours for a better texture. Or 1-2 tbsp cornstarch with the whole wheat flour. Whole grains flours can get a bit dense and strong tasting, so i generally use a mix.
Can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour?
no, just omit the almond flour
Can I use ripples originAl peas milk?
it should work. i havent used it in baking yet, let me know how it turns out
Could this recipe be used for cupcakes?
Yes, bake for 18-20 mins (depends on your oven and pan), check at 18 min mark from the center of one cupcake
I just can’t wait to make this. I love lemon cake, and Kite Hill cream cheese is also the best–what a combo! Thank you. This might top your orange cake. 😉
Made this just now! The Cake and the frosting is amazing!
If I do not want to use oil, what should I do?
Will homemade almond butter do?
applesauce would work
Store applesauce?
If homemade, how to make?
I Live in Pune, India
blend some apple and cook it for a 5-10 minutes to take the raw flavor off and reduce the moisture a bit, cool, measure and use.
I just saw this, went to the kitchen and immediately made it. All I can say is, wow! It just came out of the oven a few minutes ago and I can honestly say that it may not make it to the frosting phase! So moist and so delicious. Thank you for this it’s just what I needed.
Thats awesome!!