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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!
Need more vegan cake recipes? Try my vegan birthday cake, vegan strawberry cake, or vegan carrot cake next.
I’m always coming up with vegan versions of my family’s favorite recipes, and lately, they’ve been BEGGING me to make a vegan lemon cake.
Well, their wish is my command. For this recipe, I kept the necessary staples to yield a light and fluffy cake–but made a few dairy-free swaps to keep it vegan. The results are, well, a cake that no one would guess is vegan! That’s the goal, right?
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Made in one bowl. So the prep time and clean up is over in seconds.
- No egg substitutes. No flax eggs, no chia eggs, nada. Instead, I use a little vinegar to mix with the baking soda to yield a light and 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.
- Perfect for any occasion. We always make lemon cake for Mother’s Day and Easter, though is there ever a bad occasion for lemon cake?
Ingredients needed
- All-purpose flour. Sifted to remove any clumps. Use gluten-free flour with xanthan gum mixed in if desired.
- 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. Don’t use baking powder as it won’t yield the same results.
- 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.
- Milk or water. I used unsweetened almond milk, but soy milk or water would both yield similar results.
- Fresh lemon juice. Gives the lemon cake the gorgeous tangy lemon flavor. Use fresh lemons so you can add the zest too.
- 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 as it has the most similar texture to dairy butter.
- Vegan cream cheese. Softened to room temperature. Like the butter, choose the cream cheese from a block if possible.
- Vanilla extract. A must for flavor.
- Lemon juice. For essential lemon flavor.
- Powdered sugar. To thicken the frosting.
How to make a vegan lemon cake
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
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, and serve.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Make a layer cake. Double or triple the ingredients and cover each of the cake layers with frosting.
- Save time. Use a stand mixer for the batter and/or the frosting.
- Enhance the lemon flavor. Add an extra 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice or 1-2 teaspoons of lemon extract to the batter.
Variations
- Add mix-ins. Fold in ¼ cup of fresh berries, shredded coconut, or a few dollops of vegan lemon curd into the batter.
- Make a lemon glaze instead. Combine powdered sugar, almond milk, and lemon juice until smooth and glossy, then drizzle it over your cooled cake.
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 there weren’t enough wet ingredients added. 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 can be used, but I wouldn’t recommend other alternative flours as they would require the other ingredients to be 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!
More vegan lemon desserts
Read my ‘Arman’s tips’ section on each recipe for how to make them vegan!
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 water ** See notes
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract can use vanilla 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 extract and mix well.
- Transfer your lemon cake batter to the square pan. Bake for 25-30 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
Originally updated May 2023, updated and republished November 2024
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…