Not be to confused with the difficult lemon cake recipe!
LOL Seriously I do have another Lemon Cake Recipe here on my website, but that one is more time consuming and much more technical to make.
This easy lemon cake recipe is another “throw it all in the food processor” mix method and I am literally obsessed!
Finely textured crumb that is the perfect canvas for a cake soak!
I recently used this cake as the star of my Strawberry Lemon Lavender Cake for Mother’s Day
And let me tell you, from a die hard chocolate lover this could possibly be my new favorite cake!
You may be interested to see the science behind converting this one from the original Orange Cake recipe to this Lemon Cake
WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO FOR HOW TO CONVERT YOUR FAILED CAKE RECIPES
For a really great and easy sheet cake style use my 2-2-2 Cream Cheese Icing recipe with lemon zest added!
It’s shelf stable and there is no need for vegan cream cheese! It’s magical!
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Notes for Success:
This easy lemon cake recipe makes 2 nice thick 8″ cake layers
You can also divide the batter evenly between 3-7″ pans, 1 -9″ x 13″ layer, 1 -12 cup capacity bundt pan or 24 cupcakes
Or turn this batter into Lemon Twinkles like I did here!
Mixing in the food processor for a cake recipe like this is not necessary as it can all be mixed by hand in a large mixing bowl with a whisk
But if you are using a food processor it must be 14 cup capacity or it will not fit
Freshly squeezed lemon juice is always the best option for best results
A viewer of this recipe has told me she tested this recipe multiple times with gluten free flour and it DOES NOT WORK!
However another viewer commented: “I tried the recipe with gluten-free 1:1 Bob’s Red Mill.
I substituted half of the oil for 120g apple sauce and used half of the lemon juice and the rest plant milk. I used 1:1gluten free flour. It worked and they are lovely!”
Although I am not an avid gluten free baker I have learned that by allowing the batter to sit for about 30 minutes before baking will help the final texture
As well as baking for an additional 10 to 20 minutes longer than the recipe specifies *this time is dependent upon the size of the pans you are using
Additionally I have used both Monk Fruit Sugar as well as Allulose in place of 3/4 of the sugar amount with great results!
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT SUGAR FREE BAKING!
Here is a list of everything I am using for this cake recipe!
14 Cup Capacity Cuisinart Food Processor
Easy Lemon Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- Granulated Sugar 1½ cups (300g)
- Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice 12 Tablespoons (180ml)
- Lemon Zest approx 2 Tablespoons
- Plant Milk 2 cups (480ml)
- Vegetable Oil 1 cup (240ml)
- All Purpose Flour 4¼ cups (530g)
- Baking Powder 3 teaspoons
- Baking Soda 1¼ teaspoon
- Salt ¾ teaspoon
- Lemon Extract 1½ teaspoons
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Grease & parchment line 2-8" cake pans
- Wash and then zest your lemons then squeeze out all the juice to make 12 Tablespoons
- Combine all of the cake ingredients into the work bowl of your food processor OR a large mixing bowl to whisk by hand
- Whiz up the batter to smooth stopping to scrape the bottom & sides and then whiz again
- If mixing by hand simply add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk by hand for about 50 strokes until smooth
- Divide the batter between the 2 prepared cake pans and bake immediately for about 3-35 minutes or when the cakes are springy to the touch when you gently press the centers
- Cool the cakes in the pan until you can safely turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
Notes
These lemon cake layers can be frozen wrapped well for up to 1 month
Can you make this gluten free?
Hi Bonne, I have not tried this recipe with GF~ I really am not a GF baker, but many people have said my recipes work great with a 1:1 GF mix like Bob’s Red Mill~ that said I can’t guarantee it will work with this one! If you try, please let me know!
i have been testing out vegan GF RECIPES, THEY ALL ARE FAILS I DID 8 ALREADY. FEED THEM TO MY CHICKENS
Oh no! That’s quite alot of testing! I’ll be sure to note that on this recipe that GF does not work! 🙁
HaHaHa. Outer Space Evil Chickens.
I just made a wedding cake with this and it was fantastic!
Also made a gluten free version with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1, used half the oil and did not replace the rest, used about 1/3 of the lemon juice and made it up with more soy milk, and added some powdered lemon flavoring. Had to bake the gf one extra but it turned out well!
Great!~ thank you!
Hi Gretchen,
Do you think your recioe would come out ok if I subbed the oil, with aqua faba or apple sauce??? I don’t use oil. Or maybe avocado for oil? Thank you! 😀
I don’t like to say “no” without first knowing if that is true, but I have not tested that and my first thought is going to be “no” LOL
If you are looking for oil free recipes I would direct you to Brandi at The Vegan 8 She does super healthy & delicious recipes! here is her oil free lemon cake
Hi Gretchen,
I tried the recipe for gluten-free cakelets, because I’m stubborn. I substituted half of the oil for 120 g apple sauce and used half of the lemon juice. I used a cup for cup gluten free flour. It worked and they are lovely! Thank you for sharing your recipes!
YAY! Excellent! Thank you so much for letting me know! Others will be happy to know this as well!
Please clarify amount of flour & sugar. I made this and it flopped. Edges rolled inward, never rose. I used cups (measured each 1c flour @ 120g, and sugar 1 c @ 198g. After 40 mins it completely pulled away from the sides and was browning. It was very jelly like and flat.
Hi Michelle! I did not see this notification! But Melanie from Virtual Vegan alerted me to this! I’m going to mix this one up real quick to see what the heck I did wrong, but I suspect it was a conversion error since 530g flour is 4½ cups not the 2¼ as written in the cups measure!
Since someone recently told me they had great results, I am assuming this was because she measured with a scale and did not get affected by my error in cups measure!
At any rate I have to test this NOW to make sure my assumptions are correct! I’m so sorry for this terrible waste of your time & ingredients! It’s horrible!
Addendum::: Just took this recipe out of the oven~ it was exactly as I thought! I did not double the cups measure portion of the recipe! uggggh!! I’m so sorry! I;ve emailed you at the email you have attached to this comment
Made this recipe today and it turned out so wonderfully! Completely flat, no mountains I have to move 😉 thank you Gretchen! I love your recipes and also your book!
Thanks Kerstin!!
Will this cake be sturdy enough for a 2 tier (9″ and 6″ round) wedding cake or do you suggest your other lemon cake recipe or should I add lemon zest and extract to your white wedding cake recipe? I do plan to have a lemon curd filling and your Italian butter cream.
Hi Monica! I always say if you build your cake correctly you can use any recipe you like! Check out my Wedding Cake tutorial on YouTube for more
So with that said, yes this cake would be fine! However if you are nervous about it- I have a slightly more dense but delicious pound cake style Lemon Cake HERE