Recipe: Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake

I had planned to bake with my vegan friend while my husband watched football (anything to keep ME from having to watch!), but then she had to visit her dad over the weekend, so we made this vegan lemon cake after work one day. We each brought some ingredients to the table (no pun intended), and I think it turned out very well! Thanks, Anthea from Rainbow Nourishments for the recipe!

Ingredients

Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake

• 2 ½ cups (315g) all-purpose plain flour spoon and leveled (note 1 for gluten-free option)
• 1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt optional
• 1 cup (250g) dairy-free milk room temperature
• ½ cup (125g) extra virgin olive oil
• ⅓ cup (80g) lemon juice (note 2)
• ~2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional

To decorate (optional, see note 2 for alternatives)

• 1 ½ cups (150g) powdered sugar / icing sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cup (150g) fresh berries

Instructions

To make the cake:

Preheat your oven to 180°C (355°F). Line an 8-inch (20 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper.

Add all the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) to a large bowl. Mix until there are no lumps. Add all the wet ingredients (milk, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla) and mix until just combined.

Pour the lemon cake batter into your prepared pan. Smooth the surface if necessary.

Bake the cake for 1 hour or until you can insert a toothpick in the center of the cake and there's no wet batter on it. As this is a moist cake, some crumbs on your toothpick are fine. If the surface of your cake is browning too quickly, carefully tent the pan with aluminum foil.

Allow the cake to cool in the loaf tin for 10 minutes then let the cake cool on a cooling rack.

To make the icing:

Add the lemon juice and sugar to a medium bowl and mix until smooth. Add more lemon juice or non-dairy milk for a thinner icing (like a lemon glaze) or more powdered sugar for a thicker icing.

Drizzle the icing over your cooled cake. If desired, top the cake with berries just before serving.

Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or in the fridge for up to 3 days. The cake can be stored without the icing in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Notes

1. This lemon cake works well with King Arthur's gluten-free measure for measure flour. If using, I suggest baking the cake for 5-10 minutes longer. Other gluten-free flour blends may produce different results.
2. You'll need around 2-3 medium lemons to yield the amount of lemon juice and zest for the recipe.
3. Alternatively, you can enjoy the cake plain, topped with fresh berries or a light dusting of powdered / icing sugar.

Her oven only went to 350°F (We couldn't get 355°F; the oven just automatically jumps to 375°F after that), but it wasn't an issue. And we used plain soy milk, so I can't speak to how the recipe would work or taste if you used almond milk, coconut milk, etc. We only ended up using two lemons, although they were on the large side. We used all the zest and most of the juice in the cake, but put a little bit of juice in the icing (along with Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey whiskey, since we like boozy icing!). And rather than decorate the whole cake with berries, we decorated each PIECE with blueberries and raspberries, which meant more berries per slice!

This recipe was easy to make, and I would certainly do it again (as long as my friend provides the non-dairy milk!).