This Vegan Lemon and Poppy Seed cake is one of my all time favourite cake recipes. It's light and fluffy but made without dairy and is egg free too! It's one of those cakes that's perfect to eat with a cup of coffee or tea when you need little sweet treat or afternoon pick me up. With the perfect balance of tangy lemon in the sweet fluffy cake, this delicious cake will become a favorite for sure!
Citrus season in the northern hemisphere is in January and February, and I like to make the most of it, as the bright, zingy flavors are perfect for banishing mid-winter blues. This deliciously light and fluffy vegan lemon cake recipe is perfect for taking along to a bake-sale or community get-together too, as it makes a generous 12+ slices!
If you're wanting to explore other vegan cakes, you definitely need to try my favourite Vegan Carrot Cake with Aquafaba which to me is also a fabulous Spring cake. And of course, I can't let you go by without mentioning my other favourite, Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake, which is so retro it's cool again!
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🍋Ingredients
These are my tried and true ingredients that I use to make this lemon loaf cake. Head to the 'Substitutions & Variations' box for some alternative ideas.
- All Purpose/Plain Flour- Ordinary plain all purpose flour or cake flour will do.
- Sugar- I like to use ordinary white sugar. For my US readers be sure it's vegan sugar (made without bone char).
- Non-Dairy Milk- Oat milk is my milk of choice for baking, however you can use soy milk or almond milk.
- Neutral Oil- I tend to use sunflower seed oil, however any vegetable oil or even olive oil is also good, but be warned, will add a distinctive flavor to the cake.
- Aquafaba (chickpea juice)- This is simply the juice from a tin of chickpeas. It helps to bind the cake, while keeping it light and fluffy- or see notes for alternatives.
- Vanilla Paste or vanilla extract: use the best quality you can afford. Vanilla and lemon somehow combine to make a more fragrant and delicious cake.
- Baking Powder- make sure it's fresh and hasn't been hanging around the back of your cupboard for a billion years. This gives the cake rise and fluffyness.
- Poppy Seeds: I love the little crunch and texture these give in this cake.
- Lemon Juice- Fresh lemon juice is best- and you should have enough with the zest.
- Lemon Zest- Choose un-waxed lemons and give them a scrub before zesting them. The zest is essential for the bright lemon flavor.
- Salt: balances the sweetness.
For the glaze
- Powdered Sugar/Icing Sugar: This combines with the lemon juice to make the thick glaze.
- Lemon Juice: Tangy and adds flavor to the icing glaze.
- Poppy Seeds: I adore how the deep black seeds look against the bright white glaze. Optional but pretty!
See recipe card for quantities.
👩🍳Instructions
First of all, get all your ingredients together in one place, put the oven on to preheat 190°C/ 375°F/ Gas Mark 5 and line the baking tin with parchment paper.
1. Prepare the lemons by zesting them (the yellow only) and 2. squeezing their juice
3 & 4: Rub the zest into the sugar. This releases the lemon oils that are in the zest and infuses the sugar, resulting in a more intensely flavored lemon cake.
5. Add all the wet ingredients into a large mixing bowl and whisk.
6. Add the sugar, then whisk until it dissolves. The mixture should be thick-ish and emulsified.
7. Mix in the dry ingredients to combine. Make sure there are no lumps.
8. Add the cake batter to a parchment lined baking tin (loaf tin) and bake.
9. Bake at 190°C/ 375°F/ Gas Mark 5 for around 40 minutes. The cake is done when a skewer comes out 'nearly' clean. Once the cake is cooked, leave to cool for 1 hour then remove from the cake pan and cool it further on a wire rack.
10. To make the lemon icing: whisk lemon juice bit by bit in with the icing sugar/powdered sugar until you get a thick white paste that can be 'dropped'. Ice the cake, thickly, allowing it to drizzle and drip a bit. Sprinkle over some poppy seeds and allow it to set before cutting.
Hint: Make sure when whisking up the liquid with the sugar that the sugar is really dissolved and the mixture is emulsified (thickened up a little and well whisked) This ensures the cake ends up with a tender and moist fluffy crumb.
🍊Substitutions & Variations
Here are some easy substitutions you can make for this delicious vegan lemon cake with poppy seeds.
- Ground Linseed 'Egg' - instead of the aquafaba. I prefer aquafaba as it's clear, however you can also hydrate the linseed, then strain it, just using the liquid if you don't want to see any slightly gritty bits in the fluffy cake.
- Gluten-Free- Choose your favourite gluten-free flour. You might want to add an extra tablespoon of aquafaba or linseed to help bind the cake better.
- Lemon Extract or Lemon Oil - Add a teaspoon of these for an extra zesty flavour.
- Bottled Lemon Juice- if you choose to use bottled juice, you won't have the zest, so I suggest adding some lemon oil to bump up the flavor.
- Other plant milks: Choose coconut milk, oat milk, soy milk or really any plant-based milk without a strong flavor.
- Without poppy seeds: Simply leave these out for a simple lemon pound cake!
- With Berries; If you want to, you could try this recipe's sister recipe, Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake. It's SO delicious with berries too.
🥄Equipment
If you want to, you can use a stand mixer or hand mixer to whisk up the ingredients, however I usually make this cake in a large bowl with a whisk and a wooden spoon and it turns out perfectly!
My favorite way to make this cake is in a long loaf pan: 30cm x 11cm (12" x 4"). which provides 12 generous slices. Halve the recipe for a smaller loaf pan. Alternatively you could also make this as a layer cake in a 20 cm pan round pan and maybe fill it with some vegan lemon curd.
🥫Storage
This cake keeps in a cake tin or wrapped up in some clingfilm or plastic wrap for up to 7 days. (I think it tastes best on the 2nd or 3rd day for some reason! If you wish, you could freeze the cake uniced, then thaw it ready to eat.
❗Top tip
Make sure the cake cools completely before icing it! Otherwise the icing will melt and just run into the cake making it dense and not fluffy (and make a mess of your countertop!). To ice, splodge the thick lemon icing over the top of the cake, then smooth it out with a spatula. It will sort of self level before it hardens.
❓FAQ
I think fresh lemons work best as you use the lovely zest to intensify the flavor as well as the fresh juice. However you can use lemon oil and bottled lemon juice as a substitute.
Return the cake to the oven for another 5 minutes then test again. The size of your pan will dictate how long your cake will cook, so be patient with it.
More vegan cakes
Want to make more vegan cakes? Try these recipes!
Vegan cookies
Or why not try to make a cookie or two...
📖 Recipe
Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake- Dairy Free, Egg Free.
Equipment
- 1 Loaf tin 30cm x 11cm / 12" x 4"
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake
- 380 g (3 cups) plain or all purpose flour
- 18 g (4 teaspoon) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 250 g (1 ¼ cups) sugar
- 250 ml (1 cups) plant milk
- 200 ml (6/7 cups) sunflower oil
- 50 ml (⅕ cups) lemon juice
- 45 ml (3 tablespoon) aquafaba (chickpea juice) (or linseed egg)
- Zest of 2 lemons or 3 teaspoon lemon extract / essence
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon poppy seeds
Lemon Icing
- 150 g (1 ⅕ cups) powdered sugar/icing sugar
- 50 ml (⅕ cups) lemon juice
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 190℃/375℉/Gas Mark 5. Grease and line a 30cm loaf cake tin
- Zest the lemons, making sure not to get any of the white pith.Zest of 2 lemons or 3 teaspoon lemon extract / essence
- In a large bowl, rub the zest into the sugar to release the lovely lemon oils.250 g sugar
- Now add in the oil, plant milk, vanilla, lemon juice and aquafaba to the bowl and whisk very well until the sugar dissolves and the liquid emulsifies (comes together rather than being separate)250 ml plant milk, 200 ml sunflower oil, 50 ml lemon juice, 45 ml aquafaba (chickpea juice) , 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder into the liquid making sure it's well incorporated and there are no flour lumps.380 g plain or all purpose flour, 18 g baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- Mix in the poppy seeds to the cake batter.2 tablespoon poppy seeds
- Pour the cake mix into the prepared tin. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer emerges clean from the cake.
- Once cooked, allow cake to cool in the tin for 20 minutes or up to an hour, then put on a cooling rack.
- You can choose to serve the cake without the icing.
- Or to ice the cake, mix lemon juice into the powdered sugar bit by bit until you have a thick, glossy white paste.150 g powdered sugar/icing sugar, 50 ml lemon juice
- Smooth the icing over the now cooled cake and sprinkle with extra poppy seeds.Allow the icing to set before cutting.
Video
Notes
🍊Substitutions & Variations
Hint: Make sure when whisking up the liquid with the sugar that the sugar is really dissolved and the mixture is emulsified (thickened up a little and well whisked) This ensures the cake ends up with a tender and moist fluffy crumb. Here are some easy substitutions you can make for this delicious vegan lemon cake with poppy seeds.-
- Ground Linseed 'Egg' - instead of the aquafaba. I prefer aquafaba as it's clear, however you can also hydrate the linseed, then strain it, just using the liquid if you don't want to see any slightly gritty bits in the fluffy cake.
-
- Gluten-Free- Choose your favourite gluten-free flour. You might want to add an extra tablespoon of aquafaba or linseed to help bind the cake better.
-
- Lemon Extract or Lemon Oil - Add a teaspoon of these for an extra zesty flavour.
-
- Bottled Lemon Juice- if you choose to use bottled juice, you won't have the zest, so I suggest adding some lemon oil to bump up the flavor.
-
- Other plant milks: Choose coconut milk, oat milk, soy milk or really any plant-based milk without a strong flavor.
-
- Without poppy seeds: Simply leave these out for a simple lemon pound cake!
Kathryn says
This is really good! I added a teaspoon of lemon extract, just because I really like lemon. When I make it again, I may try it with the zest of 4 lemons and leave out the extract. I loved smelling the lemon when I worked it into the sugar! I noticed that the directions call for vanilla, and then there isn’t any quantity listed, so I felt that for a cake this size, it could easily take two teaspoons of vanilla, so that’s what I used. Thanks for the recipe, and it was fun to use my large Pullman loaf pan!
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
I'm so glad you loved the recipe- Sorry I missed adding in the vanilla to the recipe- I'll get that amended! 🫢 Extra zesty sounds delicious too!