It is getting a little humid around these parts now that we are creeping into almost July territory (when did that happen?!), so I’m busy trying to make my hair un-frizz and eating cake, heck yeah! Almost July also means it’s almost time for my BFFs bridal shower, which I’m making the cake for. I volunteered to bake her a vegan lemon cake for this occasion because a.) I love cake and b.) I love her! I’m always up for a multi day, multi step cake project that I can sink my teeth into and forget about everything else, so I’m pretty pumped about this project. For now, I’m making a few test cakes just to make sure the recipe comes out juuust right. I want to avoid an all out day-of the bridal shower meltdown where I’m in a puddle of tears trying to cobble together a layer cake, not a good look. I tested this cake a couple times, just to make sure I’ve tested out all possibilities and am making the best cake ever (no pressure) for this shin dig.
For this go-round, I decided to make a small layer cake by baking the two layers in a 9-inch round pan and 8 inch round pan, but you can go sheet cake, triple layered cake, etc. This really is one of those looks-fancy-but-isn’t-hard desserts, the time consuming part is being patient enough to let the vegan lemon cakes
cool properly before frosting. Also, I did two layers of frosting on this little cake, because the heat and humidity made my frosting to break. So, if you have to and your frosting starts melting, give it a rest in the fridge and come back later to finish!
I’ll post a final picture after the big cake is done for the shower, yipee!!
Adapted from Cake Merchant
PrintLemon Vanilla Layer Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- For the Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups almond milk
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- Zest and juice of 2 lemons
- For the frosting:
- 1 cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
- 4–4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- Zest and juice of 2 lemons
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour cake pans (I used a 9in and 8in) and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Stir in granulated sugar, coconut oil, vanilla, flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the juice and zest of the 2 lemons. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until knife inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Remove pans from oven and let cakes cool until ready to frost.
- To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, combine vegan butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat together with a hand mixer or stand mixer. Gradually add in the almond milk a tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is spreadable but not too liquidy. Add the lemon zest and juice and continue to beat frosting.
- After cakes have cooled and been removed from pans, frost with buttercream frosting. Store in fridge until ready to eat.
Kath says
YAAAAAYYYYY!!!!! So excited for July!!!
The Frosted Vegan says
YAYYYY!!! xOXOXOXOXO
sweetphi says
WOW! This mini cake is so beautiful! I totally want a piece right about now…cake is ok for breakfast just like popsicles? right? lol. Can’t wait to see pictures of the final cake in action, but this cake is just so pretty and perfect and the recipe sounds so yummy, muuuuust make!
The Frosted Vegan says
Girl, cake for breakfast is SO ok! : )
Lindsay @ VeganYumminess says
Oh myyyy…this looks SO yummmmmyyy! I LOVE all things lemon, especially in cake. Beautiful pictures 🙂
[email protected] says
Oh my goodness, YUM! This looks amazing! Love your blog! New follower!! 🙂
Karis says
The look of a layered cake can’t be beat. What a great treat for a bridal shower!
Allison says
I couldn’t believe it when I looked at the calendar either! How is it nearly July!? I am also trying to defrizz my hair lol. This cake looks just adorable and I can’t wait to see the final one!
Leo says
I made the cake yesterday. It did not get fluffy and nice at all it was really chewy. How can I avoid this from happening?
The Frosted Vegan says
Sometimes that happens if the batter is overbeaten or mixed for too long! Next time I would recommend only mixing until incorporated and making sure your baking soda is fresh!
Ashley says
I appreciate you sharing this recipe; there are very few vegan lemon cake recipes online. I tried to make this cake over the weekend though for my moms birthday, and the icing was a disaster! Way too much liquid for the recipes prescribed amount of powdered sugar; the frosting was a wet mess and really made the birthday cake I was so excited about an absolute visual nightmare. Perhaps consider modifying the above recipe for your icing to ore to add the liquids a little at a time to allow the frosting to form and form appropriately.
Heart of a Baker says
I’m so sorry to hear that the frosting didn’t turn out! I am going to make a few edits to the recipe to ensure that it doesn’t happen to anyone else!
Aimee B. says
Such a lovely cake! I was just wondering, how much lemon juice did you use 1/4 c, 1/2 c??? Lemons come in so many different sizes that having an exact measurement for the juice would be helpful to me. Thank you. 🙂
Heart of a Baker says
It was closer to 1/3cup!
Carina says
This was my second time making the cake and it’s delicious, everyone loves it! The first time was too sweet for me, so I reduced the powdered sugar in the frosting by 1 cup, and that was the perfect amount of sweetness. I do have a question though.. both times I’ve made the frosting the consistency is a bit off and it noticeably happens after adding the lemon zest/juice. It becomes less creamy and the texture just gets a little weird and kind of looks like cottage cheese. Is there a way to combat this? Because the texture doesn’t appear that way in your photos. Thank you SO much for the recipe, the cake is fantastic.
★★★★★