A perfectly sweet and tart vegan lemon cake made with olive oil and frosted with a powdered sugar glaze. This is bound to be your new favorite dessert!
Well, the obsession with lemon desserts continues! Like I’ve mentioned before, I am HERE for everything chocolate, boozy, and sweet, but there is just something about lemon desserts that always keeps me coming back for another slice.
Maybe it’s a mix of a sweet treat mixed with that tart tang of lemon, making me feel like I’m eating something refreshing and healthy-ish, even when it’s vegan lemon cake.
Whatever it is, I’m not stopping anything soon, and if you are a lemon lover like me, you shouldn’t either. Fun fact: I used to suck on lemons as a child, so maybe that’s where my weird love for lemon comes from? Who knows!
Why this lemon olive oil cake is so good
This vegan lemon cake has been about 6 months in the making and I just happened to try it one more time this past weekend.
Back before Thanksgiving, I spent a whole Saturday trying to nail down the recipe for this vegan lemon olive oil cake, each time getting slightly closer, but not quite there. One cake turned out like a big pan of lemon curd, another was flat as a pancake, and the last one overflowed, thanks to my overzealous measuring of the baking soda.
Lesson learned, sometimes you just need to let it be and come back to a recipe!
I think sometimes I have such a stranglehold on making a recipe that I end up trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole at a certain point.
This vegan lemon olive oil cake is that perfect blend of tart, sweet, fluffy, and light! The olive oil flavor is pretty mild, so it lets the lemon shine through and take the cake (ha!) on this one.
It’s also SO easy to mix together and pop in the oven! Bonus, it’s a cake without a fancy frosting that you can just pour on without worrying about having the right spatulas or making sure it’s just right.
How to make lemon olive oil cake
This vegan lemon cake looks absolutely gorgeous thanks to the glaze that’s poured on top, but it’s secretly one of the easiest cakes to make!
- To make the olive oil cake batter, you just have to whisk together some almond milk (or non-dairy milk of your choice), olive oil, vanilla, sugar, and lemon juice and zest. Then add in the dry ingredients and stir to combine, making sure not to overwork the batter.
- Bake your vegan lemon cake in a 350ºF oven until the top begins turning a light golden brown.
- You can also test the doneness of your cake by pressing your finger gently into the center of it—if the cake immediately springs back, it’s ready to be taken out!
- You must wait to glaze the cake until it’s fully cooled. I know waiting sucks, but if you try to glaze the cake while it’s still warm, the glaze will run everywhere and your cake will probably turn to mush.
Tips for making vegan lemon cake
I would watch your baking time on this vegan lemon olive oil cake very closely! I think I overbaked the last batch and it turned out slightly dry and crumbly.
I kept mine right around 25 minutes and it was perfect, but check it at 20 minutes and go from there, your oven might run hotter than mine.
Also, I think you could totally swap out the lemon for orange or grapefruit, whatever citrus tickles your fancy. I can’t attest to this, but I think a grapefruit version would be perfect for the winter!
How to store lemon cake
To store the cake, make sure the cake is completely cool, then transfer it to a covered container or cover your cake with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Store at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
If you have any leftover cake, feel free to freeze it per the instructions below!
Can you freeze lemon cake?
Yes! To freeze the cake, make sure it’s completely cool and the glaze has not been poured on. It will be best to freeze the lemon cake without the glaze on and make a fresh batch of glaze to frost it after thawing.
- To freeze the cake, either keep it whole or slice it into individual slices. Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap (to prevent freezer burn) and then wrap in aluminum foil. Store in the freezer for up to 4 months.
- To defrost frozen cake, place the frozen cake in the refrigerator and allow it to thaw for 24-48 hours before serving. I would not recommend trying to heat the cake from frozen to thaw, as it won’t thaw evenly and the texture will change if you do.
- Make a fresh batch of powdered sugar glaze after thawing the cake, pour over, and serve!
More vegan cake recipes:
- Vegan Mint Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Italian Cream Cake
- Easy Vegan Pound Cake
- Vegan Swedish Coffee Cake
- Vegan Apple Spice Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting
More ways to bake with lemon:
- Vegan Lemon Curd
- Strawberry Lemon Bars
- Vegan Lemon Bars with Shortbread Crust
- Poppy Seed Vegan Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Cakes with Coconut Whipped Cream and Berries
- Vegan Lemon Tart
Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A perfectly sweet and tart vegan lemon cake made with olive oil and frosted with a powdered sugar glaze. This is bound to be your new favorite dessert!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 3/4 cup almond milk
- 4 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the powdered sugar icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1–2 tablespoons almond milk
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan liberally. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, ground flaxseed, almond milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the olive oil mixture until combined and no almond flour streaks remain.
- Transfer to the greased cake pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until middle is set and springs back when lightly touched or when a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
To make the icing:
- Prepare the icing by whisking together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond milk until smooth. When the cake has cooled, drizzle the glaze over the top and serve.
Notes
- Don’t overmix the cake batter! This will make for a tough cake and won’t taste very good. Just mix until the flour mixure is mixed in and incorporated.
- Don’t skimp on the lemon zest and juice! This is essential to making sure that lemon flavor shines through.
- I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, so can’t speak to if it works. If you try it, let me know!
- Only use olive oil! This was specifically tested with olive oil to let the lemon flavor shine through. Don’t use coconut oil or butter.
- To make the icing: start off with 1 tablespoon almond milk, if icing is too thick, add the second.
Keywords: lemon, lemon cake, cake recipe, lemon dessert, vegan dessert
Blogtastic Food says
what an amazing cake! the olive oil is interesting but I imagine the lemon and sweetness balances out the strong flavour (:
Kelsey @ Appeasing a Food Geek says
I like the olive oil/lemon combo! And that fun fact about how much you sucked on lemons as a kid is hilarious. I would say that might have something to do with your lemon dessert obsession 😉 Send me a slice? xo
Heart of a Baker says
Haha, I bet that does have something to do with it! 🙂 Coming right up!
Nicole Morbach Benjamin says
Unsweetened almond milk or original?
Heart of a Baker says
Unsweetened!
Bharathi says
Could you also use almond meal and reduce the quantity of all purpose flour?
Heart of a Baker says
I don’t think that would work, sorry!
Ayesha says
Thank you for the recipe! This cake turned out amazing.
Heart of a Baker says
I’m so happy to hear that!
Tessa | Salted Plains says
Definitely have to go with the flow sometimes! A good reminder so that I don’t get too frustrated. 😉 Your hard work paid off – this cake is a beauty!! <3
Heart of a Baker says
Thanks, friend!
puja says
I have never Lemon cake at home. This is in my to do list. Thanks for sharing my friend. 🙂
Heart of a Baker says
Hope you enjoy! xo
Diego Lopes says
I’m not much of a baker myself, but this cake looks so delicious that I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks for posting!
Heart of a Baker says
I promise it’s the one thing you will want to try!
Corrie Duffy says
Hi Abby
This recipe looks delicious! I can’t wait to bake this delicacy. What kind of almond milk have you used here?
Also I read about your struggle with the oven. I suggest you to check out some pretty cool oven with better technologies to prevent that from happening again.
Can’t wait to tell you how it turned out!
Thank you 🙂
Heart of a Baker says
That’s great advice, thank you!
Jill says
Hi, Abby!
I’m baking this cake right now. 🙂 It smells amazing, but it’s been in 25 minutes and is still pretty liquid-y. When you say 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice and zest, is there a proportion that should be juice vs zest? I’m concerned I may have too much liquid in my mix.
Heart of a Baker says
Hi Jill! It should be baked by now! I’m wondering if your oven runs cooler than mine or there are other variables. Keep it going for a bit longer and let me know how it turns out!
Aimee B. says
This is amazing! I used vanilla soy milk, canola oil, 3 T lemon juice, added in 1/2 t lemon extract, and only used half the glaze. I baked mine in a 9″ pan, but there was too much batter, so I made a small microwave cake too. 🙂 I did mine in my toaster oven and it was done in 18 minutes. This is such a lovely lemon cake and definitely a keeper. Thank you!
thefoodiejourney says
Gotta love a good Lemon Cake, I’m sure the Olive Oil brings a super interesting consistency to this classic!
Barbara Hebert says
Hey there. Right now I am baking my second attempt. I have baked cakes using olive oil before so I am familiar with it. My first attempt the batter seemed to be extremely loose and filled the pan completely…. it overflowed during baking and 35 mins later it never fully baked. This time the batter was thicker but still filled the pan completely…15 mins left in baking time….fingers crossed! I really want a piece of lemon cake!!! 😜
Heart of a Baker says
Oh no! I never had this issue, so I’m sorry it didn’t work for you!
Kiran says
I’ve made this cake several times, and it’s never failed me. I’ve added blueberries and rosemary, and folks gobbled it up. Thanks for the great recipe!
Heart of a Baker says
That makes me SO happy! Love those ideas!
Keely says
I made this cake and it was rubbery, bland, and extremely flat. Wish I knew what went wrong!
Heart of a Baker says
Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that! If it was rubbery it might be from overmixing. I wish I knew what went wrong too!
Amanda says
Hello! Sounds delicious! Can I sub the all purpose flour for almond or coconut flour to make the cake gluten free? Thank you!
Heart of a Baker says
Hi Amanda! I don’t know, as I haven’t tested it this way. It might be best to use a GF flour blend, but I can’t guarantee that it will work, since I only tested with AP flour. Hope this helps!
Lisa says
Hello! Just curious if you ended up making this with a gf flour and if it turned out?😊
Louanne Freese-Trummel says
Do you have the nutritional information for this cake?
Heart of a Baker says
Hi Louanne, I don’t! I don’t usually calculate nutrition information for desserts, since they are a treat.
T says
Are you using extra virgin olive oil? Or is that too strong of a taste?
Heart of a Baker says
Extra virgin would work just fine!
Anna Proestos says
This is a keeper and a repeater, I also put a little lemon juice in the glaze, love love!
Heart of a Baker says
Yum, that sounds perfect!
Kimberly Dey says
Made this last night and there is only one slice left. It’s amazing!
Heart of a Baker says
So happy to hear that!
Kimberly Dey says
I may have made it a second time a few days later . I did end up using 3/4 cup of honey in place of the sugar the second time .
Ellynne Citron-Greenbaum says
Not clear on one of the ingredient measurements listed. For 2-3 tablespoons lemon zest and juice (I used 1 large lemon, but this would equate to 2 small lemons too) are you saying we should use 2-3 T lemon zest and all of the juice from that lemon? Or, is it a total of 2-3 T of zest and juice combined?
Heart of a Baker says
2-3 tablespoons of lemon zest with the juice from that lemon!
Errol Converse says
if i doubled this reciepe would it bake in a 13×9 alright?
Heart of a Baker says
Hi Errol,
It should be fine!
Beth says
Hi There!
Happy Easter!
I’m planning on baking this lovely cake for tomorrow’s Easter celebration. My new daughter-in-law is Vegan, so I’m super excited to bake something new!
In your story, you mentioned bake time 20-25 min, but in the recipe directions, it mentions 30-40 min. So I’m a bit confused..
I think I’m understanding the lemon-lemon zest portion, after reading the responses. So, juice of 1 large lemon along with 2-3 tablespoons of zest…. correct?
I love to bake, and so excited to give this new recipe a try! Thank you!
Heart of a Baker says
Hi Beth, I increased the baking time after testing the recipe again, so 30-40 minutes is the correct time! You are correct on the lemon juice/zest as well!
Aimee says
Made this cake for a Game of Thrones party (Sansa loves lemon cake) Substituted canola oil for olive oil and threw blueberries on top of the glaze, served with some vegan mixed berry sorbet. It was a huge hit! Definitely making again for my vegan pals
Heart of a Baker says
Ohh that’s SO perfect! Happy to hear you loved it!
Soli says
I loved this cake! Easy to make and delicious!!!! Aaaaand vegan!!! What a treat! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I simple loved this cake. I will certainly make it again! For sure!!!!! 🙂
Heart of a Baker says
So happy to hear that!
Mickey says
I have a dinner tomorrow night, and just found out that I won’t be the only vegan! I was so excited that I decided to make an extra dessert for the dinner. I made this into brownie-like bars using a pan made for making individual brownies. It worked perfectly! They smell and taste so good! Thank you!
★★★★★
Karen Dioli says
Made the cake today for my sons girlfriend birthday who is staying with us. I doubled the recipe and baked it in a bundt pan. It was perfect. Poured the icing over it and looked beautiful. We are not a vegan family but everyone loved it. Will definitely make it again.
Miranda says
Based on what other people said about longer than expected cooking time, and more batter than the pan can handle, I’ll try it in my Bundt pan.
Nicole says
Delicious! Made this tonight and everyone loved it. Excellent!
Bree says
I’ve made this twice now and both times were just not good. I have it frozen in slices hoping someone will choose to eat it someday instead of it just going to waste. When the kids don’t like it you know it’s no good.
★
Heart of a Baker says
Hi Bree! I’m so sorry to hear this didn’t turn out. Can you tell me what about it wasn’t good? I’ve made it multiple times and always had success, but I want to make sure yours turns out too!
Alexus says
This cake was so easy and delicious! I topped it with fresh strawberry slices and some more lemon zest. Delicious! Will make again!
★★★★★
Heart of a Baker says
So happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Tara says
Hi Abby! Thanks so much for this recipe. I made the original a couple of years ago—really it was my first time making a baked good. It looks like you changed the recipe to add flax seeds and more lemon juice/zest, and I think you removed vanilla? Maybe also baking powder? Do you have a link to the original, or would you mind re-sharing version #1? For some reason, this cake was a tad crumbly—it just doesn’t hang together the way the other one did. It still tastes really good though! I’d love to make *both*. Your first one was special to me—my first and favorite cake! Many thanks for introducing me to the art of baking! 🙂
★★★★
Josie Poolook says
I kind of want to make of these for my hubby’s birthday soon. Thank you! 🙂
★★★★★
KAREN says
This looks wonderful. Do you think I could make two and layer them up?
Heart of a Baker says
Yes, I think you totally can!
Kathryn says
Does the ground flaxseed need to be mixed with water or add dry, just as it is?
Heart of a Baker says
It gets mixed with the water!
Ellie says
Hi there, in the recipe you say ALMOND FLOUR, however, in the ingredients list you did not mention “almond flour”
Also, you have two baking times for the cakes!