Vegan Lemon Cake
This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
My vegan lemon cake recipe is light, fluffy, and full of citrusy flavor. It’s made in one bowl and covered in a silky lemon cream cheese frosting.
My keto lemon cake is one of my favorite citrus cakes, but when my partner needed to bring an egg-free cake to the office, he asked if I could make a vegan version- and I obliged.
Unfortunately, that particular lemon cake is too complicated to just remove the eggs, so I started with my popular vanilla cake (which is naturally vegan) and tweaked the liquid ingredients to add some fresh lemon juice. In testing, I found that using two tablespoons of lemon juice gave a pleasant lemon flavor and was enough to prevent a reaction with the baking soda and to avoid leaving the cake sour or bitter.
To intensify the lemon flavor, I like to add a little more lemon to the frosting, but that’s completely optional. The end result is a moist and fluffy cake with just the right amount of tang, and one to win your work colleagues over with. Just ask my partner.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Made in one bowl. Everything comes together in one bowl in about 5 minutes.
- No egg substitutes. No flax eggs, no chia eggs, nada. Instead, I use a little vinegar with the baking soda, yielding a light, tender crumb.
- Adjust the lemon flavor. If you’re a hardcore lemon head, you can add more than my suggested amount of lemon juice. If you prefer it milder, add less.
- Tastes like the real thing. My partner’s colleagues couldn’t believe it was vegan- no one ever can.
Key Ingredients
Here’s what goes into this dairy free lemon cake, along with my kitchen notes. Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
- All-purpose flour. Sifted to remove any clumps. Several readers asked if this could be made gluten-free, so I tested it with King Arthur Gluten Free flour, and it worked really well.
- Sugar. Any sugar works. I used white sugar, but brown sugar or coconut sugar could be used. The darker the sugar you use, the darker the cake will be.
- Baking soda. Gives the cake some rise and fluffiness. Baking powder won’t react with the vinegar the same way- the cake won’t rise as well and will be denser.
- Salt. Brings out the sweetness of the cake.
- White vinegar. Acts as a binding and leavening agent. You can also use apple cider vinegar.
- Oil. I used canola oil, but any neutral-flavored oil works, such as vegetable oil or refined coconut oil.
- Water (or milk). I typically use water, but unsweetened almond milk also works. I didn’t notice a difference between the two.
- Fresh lemon juice. Gives the lemon cake a gorgeous, tangy lemon flavor. Use fresh lemons so you can add the zest too. I don’t recommend bottled juice, as it can turn the cake bitter.
- Lemon extract. Brings out the lemon flavor even more. If you don’t have any lemon extract, you can use vanilla extract.
- Lemon zest. Optional but highly recommended for some extra lemon flavor.
For the lemon cream cheese frosting:
- Vegan butter. Choose a vegan butter from a block, not a spread. Blocks of butter are easier to mix and yield a creamier texture. I like the Miyokos brand because its texture is most similar to dairy butter.
- Vegan cream cheese. Softened to room temperature. Like the butter, choose the cream cheese from a block if possible (I swear by VioLife).
- Vanilla extract. A must for flavor.
- Lemon juice. Skip it entirely if you prefer a milder frosting- the cream cheese provides enough tang on its own.
- Powdered sugar. To thicken the frosting.
How to make a vegan lemon cake
Step 1- Prep. Preheat the oven and line a cake pan with parchment paper.
Step 2- Mix. In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Whisk in the wet ingredients until smooth.
Step 3- Bake. Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean. Let the cake cool on a wire rack.
Step 4- Make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and lemon juice until creamy. Fold in the powdered sugar until fluffy.
Step 5- Frost. Once the cake has cooled, frost it, slice it, and serve.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Make a layer cake. Double or triple the ingredients, and cover each cake layer with frosting. I make the triple-tiered version for birthdays. Freeze the layers for about 30 minutes before slicing. It makes it so much easier.
- Enhance the lemon flavor. Add an extra 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice or 1-2 teaspoons of lemon extract to the batter.
- Don’t swap water for more lemon juice. The water forms part of the batter structure. Replacing it with lemon juice makes the cake too sour and can affect the rise. Stick to the suggested amount of lemon juice and add lemon zest for more flavor instead.
- Cool completely before frosting. In testing, I found that vegan butter is more heat-sensitive than dairy butter. Even a slightly warm cake will melt the frosting.
- Block, not tub, for frosting. I mention this in the ingredients, but it’s worth repeating. Tub-style vegan butter and cream cheese have more water content in them, and the frosting will be runny and won’t hold its shape.
Variations
- Add mix-ins. Fold in ¼ cup of fresh berries, shredded coconut, or a few dollops of vegan lemon curd into the batter. I love folding in fresh blueberries. They burst during baking, adding pockets of sweetness that complement the lemon perfectly.
- Make a lemon glaze instead. Combine powdered sugar, almond milk, and lemon juice until smooth and glossy, then drizzle it over your cooled cake. It takes two minutes and makes the cake look extra elegant.
Storage instructions
To store: Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
To freeze: Wrap cake slices in plastic wrap, place them in a freezer-safe container, and freeze for up to 6 months. Let the cake slices thaw overnight in the fridge.
Frequently asked questions
The cake may be crumbly if it was overmixed or if the batter was too dry. Only stir the cake batter until there are no lumps; if it’s pretty thick, add a splash of milk or water. It should be slightly thicker than pancake batter.
All-purpose or cake flour works best. I tested King Arthur Gluten Free flour, and it worked well. Just make sure it contains xanthan gum. Other alternative flours, like almond or coconut flour, would require the other ingredients to be significantly altered.
If the cake batter is too dry and thick, add a splash of milk or water. If the cake has already been baked, the best you can do is cover it in frosting…or use it to make my cake pops!
Yes, pour the batter into a lined cupcake tin and bake for 18-20 minutes. This recipe yields about 12 cupcakes.
Vegan Lemon Cake
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar * See notes
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 5 tablespoons oil vegetable, canola, safflower etc.
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest optional, or lemon extract
Frosting
- 8 ounces vegan cream cheese
- 1/2 cup vegan butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line an 8-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt, and mix well. Once mixed, add your vinegar, oil, water, lemon juice, lemon zest, and mix well.
- Transfer your lemon cake batter to the square pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out just clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan completely. Once cool, frost if desired.
- To make the frosting, beat together the vegan cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and lemon juice until smooth. Slowly add in the confectioners sugar until fluffy.
Notes
Nutrition
More vegan cake recipes
- Vegan birthday cake– Moist, fluffy, and with just enough sprinkles to bust out the candles.
- Vegan strawberry cake– Instead of food dye, I like to naturally color the cake with pureed strawberries.
- Vegan chocolate cake– The tried-and-true chocolate cake that even non-vegans prefer.
- Vegan German chocolate cake– I tested this cake 20 times to nail the filling.
Originally updated May 2023
Fantastic recipe, thank you!
I just made a couple alterations…1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/4 cup granulated. Rather than lemon juice I used lemon zest marmalade (about 2 T). It was perfect with the lemon glaze. Going to return to this one often!
Eleni, thanks for making my recipe and leaving a lovely review. Lemon zest marmalade? YUM!! That would have such a fabulous and balanced lemon flavor. You’ve inspired me to have a go at making it.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
You wrote water in the recipe but the notes say milk or water, I feel like you should put milk in the recipe card. I used water and replaced with more lemon juice and it turned out very sour. I only read the milk in the article after I tried to figure out why my cake didn’t turn as great with a stiff crumb and no rise.
Hi Debbie! I actually tested this side by side with water and milk, but both turned out almost identical. I’m not surprised that your cake turned out too sour if you replaced some of the water with lemon juice. The water amount shouldn’t be varied, as it makes up part of the batter (especially 1/4 cup of lemon juice is already being added).
Love your recipes
Thanks Christine!
I have made this cake so many times. It is absolutely delicious , it is perfect to freeze. Thank you for a lovely Vegan cake recipe.
Hi Ann, thanks so much for taking the time to share this and you’re very welcome! I’m so glad you liked it, it’s always a hit with my vegan friends too!
Can this be made with almond and or coconut fliur and sugar free?
No, if you need it to be made low carb, I suggest making my keto lemon cake instead.
Hello, What cream cheese and butter do you use for this recipe? The links no longer work. Thanks so much!
Hi Erin- so sorry, I’ll fix them! It’s Kite Hill cream cheese and Violife butter. Miyokos is also my go-to .
Has anyone tried this recipe and made a multilayered cake out of it? Wondering how the crumb will hold up to frosting for an 8inch 3 layer cake with a 6inch 3 layer on top? Thanks!
Very easy cake and super delicious ! I grated lemon zest on top of frosting to accentuate the lemon taste. It definitely will be a keeper. Thank you.
It was a big hit at my son’s outdoors birthday party! I’m not vegan so I used kefir cheese to make the frosting. Lemon is so nice on a hot summer day.
Such a good lemon cake that even my non-vegan family finished it off.
Thanks for the lovely feedback and star rating, Michaela. I’m so glad you enjoyed the lemon cake!
This was very sweet and moist which actually worked really well!
Never had a recipe that’s failed or that wasn’t delicious. This is no exception and I’m a lousy baker. I read comments for tips, my heart sank when I saw the militant vegan bullying someone for using an egg, please don’t let bullying from hypocrites flood your comments. It’s off putting and makes people leave.
Very healthy lemon cake. It must be also easy like not feeling ti hard after eating.
This vegan lemon cake is fabulous!!!
my oh my, this is really nice.
TIP: the frosting is also really nice as Crème Pâtissière on a croissant. try it. really, try it.
Great recipe, very moist and tender crumb. I swapped the lemon juice and water quantities, 3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice and 1/4 cup water and made the cake so lemony and delicious! This recipe is a keeper!
One of the best vegan lemon cakes EVER!
lovely cake, it was a bit wet tho
I absolutely love this recipe grew up in a vegan family and found most Foods were Bland and lacked flavor and excitement when I tried this recipe I knew that it was possible to cook vegan or baked vegan and it be delicious thank you thank you thank you
Best cake I ever made for my daughter. Everyone raved!
Aw, thank you Frances!
this is the best lemon cake I’ve ever made, vegan or not.
So glad to hear that, Ellen!
Tried this lemon cake recipe last week with a mascarpone roasted coconut frosting. It was amazing.
This is a very tasty, very easy-to-make cake. It baked evenly but came out extremely sticky. Next time, I will bake it a little bit more and see if that firms it up a bit. But the flavor was fantastic.
Lovely flavor and so moist! It took about 3 lemons to get 1/4 cup of juice. I also added some lemon zest to the sugar prior to mixing everything and used apple cider vinegar instead of distilled white vinegar. I might try with coconut oil next time rather than vegetable oil to add an additional layer of subtle flavor.
delicious! love it has no egg and the vinegar is secret ingredient for fluff….. all the recipes I have tried on this site are great we do GF and DF….good job big man!
threw in some sweet shredded coconut and thin sliced lemons on top…. did not make frosting this time
Never made a lemon cake before but I am so glad I tried to make this one.
Since I didn’t have any lemon extract I replaced it with lemon zest and some desiccated coconut into the batter. Then topped the cake off with a vanilla glaze and shredded coconut on top.
Came out moist and was delicious!
Thank you for the recipe, it will definitely become a new favourite!
So delicious! Made this for a special birthday and cupcakes came out perfectly too! Thank you for sharing!
Is it ok to use regular butter instead of Vegan butter? Thanks
yes! 🙂
If I could give more stars, I would! I made this with gluten free flour, and substituted all the sugar with maple syrup (the frosting ended up a little lumpy due to this, but it tasted AMAZING). I used 1/2 cup maple syrup and reduced the water to 1/2 cup. The batter was thick, and the resulting cake was perfectly moist with just the right texture. Thank you so much!
Can I add lemon zest for extra lemon flavor?
Yes!
Delicooussssss
Love this recipe! My vegan niece loves it and so did everyone else.
Next time I’m going to try it with coconut oil. Can’t wait!!!
Is there something I can use in place of the vegan butter for the frosting? I have a late-night craving for something lemony and sweet and I have everything I need to make this… Except for the vegan butter, but once I saw how yummy your cake looks frosted, I’d like to frost mine too. =)
Hi Janey- If you don’t mind a glaze, I often just mix powdered sugar and lemon juice and a dash of water and spread that on top 🙂
This is moist, plump, fluffy, and delicious. I added in some lemon zest and made a glaze frosting with powdered sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and a pinch of maple syrup. SO GOOD!
This is moist, plump, fluffy, and delicious. I added in some lemon zest and made a glaze frosting with powdered sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and a pinch of maple syrup. SO GOOD!
Will make this again; yum!
Well congrats dear. You’ve been nicely brainwashed by the egg industry, like so many others. You really crack me up! You “enjoyed the richness with the egg”. Considering you didn’t make the original recipe without the egg, how can you tell that the egg added any “richness”? That’s so pretentious!🤣🤣🤣
🤣since this is a vegan recipe, eggs sort of defeat the purpose, right. Trolls are everywhere.
I came here looking for a dairy free recipe but I added an egg and the cake was delicious. All I changed was a bit less water. I’ll try it sometime egg free for my mom but I did enjoy the richness with an egg. I also used a crumb topping with flour, dairy free butter, salt, and sugar to put on top instead of the frosting listed. Everyone loved it.
You’re missing the point… This recipe does not NEED eggs… Why add cholesterol, fat and animal misery to a perfect recipe is beyond me. Educate yourself on the horrible lives of hens. We do not need eggs, they are easily replaced. If you have an allergy to dairy, all you need to do is replace dairy milk with any plant-based milk in any regular recipe. It’s not rocket science…
eggs add a richness in flavor, improve texture, and can help with leavening, all of which are desirable in baking. This recipe may be good without eggs but if you could use eggs to make it even better, why not if there is no sensitivity or allergy? I was just looking for a dairy free recipe due to an allergy but I mostly find vegan recipes.
Reminder to speak kindly to people even if it’s from behind a keyboard.
Why on earth would you want to add eggs to an egg-less cake recipe??? The cake is delicious as is… It doesn’t need eggs! 🤦🏼♀️
How would I alter this if I wanted to use eggs in the recipe?
Not sure- haven’t tried it with eggs.
This was seriously the best lemon cake I ever had! I can’t believe no eggs needed to be harmed in the making of such a delicious cake! And the kicker is I used 100% whole wheat pastry flour. I made the cake in my bundt pan, then while it cooled, I poked holes in it with a chopstick and poured a glaze of remaining lemon juice mixed with sugar. After it cooled, I turned it out of the pan and served as is. Everyone loved it. Thanks for this amazing recipe.
Hello, can’t wait to try this recipe! How would you adjust the ingredients if you wanted it to be oil free as well? Would applesauce work? Or if the cake really needs oil, could I swap out coconut oil instead?
You can try applesauce- any other oil works.
Hello, can’t wait to try this recipe! How would you adjust the ingredients if you wanted it to be oil free as well? Would applesauce work?
That works
Very happy with this recipe. Love gluten free vegan cake!
This is by far the best lemon cake I’ve ever had. Taste and texture are perfect! I put 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of water and I folded some blueberries in as you suggested and did a vegan buttercream icing. It was AWESOME!Super easy and quick to make. Thank you for this beautiful recipe.
Hi there, does a sugar substitute work, such as allulose? Thanks
Will this work as a bundt cake? I’d love to try this with a simple glaze but not sure if it would hold up well.
I don’t see why not
Does this work with juice of lemon in the jar from the grocery store or do you recommend fresh from the fruit?
Either works 🙂
I cannot believe how easy this was to make! This might be the moistest cake I’ve ever made. Super delicious
Dear Arman.
Hope you are keeping well.
I note that you made this Vegan Lemon Cake recipe and baked it in a flat square tin, as a single layer cake.
Do you think it would be okay to make the cake into a multi-layer, 6” or 8” cake, rather than just a single layer cake?
If so, would you recommend baking the cake layers in separate tins, rather than in one tin, and ‘slicing’ into layers?
Thanks kindly, and best wishes, Dean.
Just updated it as a layer cake 🙂
This recipe is much simpler than other vegan GF cake recipes, and it comes out better than any others I’ve tried. I used Trader Joe’s GF flour blend, reduced the sugar by a quarter, and did half juice and half water. The batter was really liquidy so I was worried, but I baked it as it was, and it came out perfectly. I also doubled the recipe so I could make a layer cake with vanilla frosting. It came out great. Thank you – this is my go to lemon cake now.
Baked in a loaf pan for 35 minutes – perfection!
Thank you
I forgot the rating!
I used maple syrup instead of sugar. And I chose avocado oil. It came out delicious, but has a consistency more like cornbread than cake (maybe because of the syrup?)
I will definitely make it again!
This tasted perfect! It was a perfect amount of lemon (I just used the 1/4 cup of lemon juice & 1 teaspoon of lemon extract). Thank you for this simple and delicious recipe.
I made this with lemon zest and it turned out great! I’m a big lemon fan, though.
I sliced it in half as a sheet cake and filled it with a plain custard and iced it with a buttercrm frosting and decorated it with strawberries on top for a nice variety in flavor. Good job on the recipe! It turned out very good and moist, and my favorite feature, easy to decorate.
The recipe was amazing made 6 cupcakes by halving the portions. Amazing flavour and sponginess…I also added some Lemon zest. Thanks for sharing it.
Fabulous- Thanks Meghan!
would it be okay to substitute white vinegar for apple cider vinegar?
Sure thing!
Would this recipe make a double layer, 8 inch round cake?
Yes 🙂 Double the ingredients.
Thanks I researched and saw my mistake in substituting the coconut for all purpose flour in equal amounts….next time.
I followed the recipe to the letter. It did not make a “wet” batter. It was powder when all the ingredients were mixed. The tips mentioned subbing out some lemon juice for some of the milk but the ingredients list and recipe doesn’t mention milk. Are some liquids missing? I used coconut flour with 3/4 cups water, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 5 tablespoons oil and the vanilla extract
Hi Tim, there is no coconut flour in this recipe. It uses all purpose flour or gluten free all purpose flour.
Coconut flour needs significantly more liquid than wheat flour or gf cup to cup flour and you need to adjust the recipe for the sub. You can google how much extra liquid is needed.
Just tried the recipe, made cupcakes out of it. Came out great! Definitely making this again, but I would reduce the amount of sugar to maybe half a cup; 1 cup was wayy too sweet for my liking.
Can you replace the water with coconut water in this recipe?
I haven’t tried!
Please remove my last name from above post. Or remove post completely.
I made this last month with gluten free flour and it came out wonderfully. Today I made it with regular flour (kept everything else the same, as recipe is written) and it did not rise properly in the middle of the cake. There is a pronounced well in the middle of the cake. I will fill it in with frosting, but I was disappointed.
It sounds like you undercooked it then 🙂
Thankyou Amy, for your comment on successfully baking it gluten free!! Now I’m going to give it a try!
Would it be possible to bake this recipe as cupcakes?
Of course- Just reduce the cooking time.
Very easy to make. Lovely moist and tasty lemon cake!
This looks amazingly simple and tasty!!! Thanks so much! 😊😋