Easy Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake
One bowl vegan lemon blueberry cake which uses only 7 ingredients! This cake is soft and moist, has the perfect crumb, and isn’t too sweet.
This cake is perfect for Spring or Summer, just like my Lemon Olive Oil Cake and Vegan Lemon Cake (layered) and Vegan Blueberry Muffins!
What to expect from this cake
This lemon blueberry cake is:
- Delicious, fluffy, moist and golden (all of the good things)!
- Incredibly easy to make
- Not too sweet because the lemon balances out the sugar (and there’s no frosting)
- Stackable for a layer cake
- Naturally eggless and can be made gluten free
- Designed so the blueberries don’t sink to the bottom!
Ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Granulated sugar is the best sweetener for a light and fluffy cake. See the FAQ section below for alternatives.
Fresh lemon juice and zest for the best flavor. Alternatively, bottled lemon juice is fine. If you don’t want the lemon flavor, you can omit the zest and replace the lemon juice with dairy-free milk.
Neutral-flavored oil, such as sunflower, avocado or olive oil. Olive oil imparts a slightly fruity flavor, such as in my lemon olive oil cake.
Fresh or frozen blueberries. If using frozen, you don’t need to thaw them but will need to bake the cake for 5 minutes longer.
How to make this cake
Simply add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix until combined. Add all the wet ingredients except the blueberries and mix until just before it’s combined (there should still be some pockets of flour).
At this stage, we aren’t fully mixing the cake batter because we’re still mixing it later. We don’t want to overmix the cake batter!
Then add the blueberries and fold them through the batter! This recipe makes a thick batter which helps prevent all the blueberries from sinking when we bake the cake.
The cake batter will have a scoopable consistency but it isn’t so thick that you will need to flatten the top. Once you pour the batter into your cake pan, scatter the remaining blueberries on top and press some of them into the cake.
The cake is ready when the surface is golden brown and you can insert a toothpick in the center and there’s no wet batter on it (a few moist crumbs are fine).
Customizing this cake
This vegan lemon blueberry cake will work with coconut sugar, however it will change the flavor profile. Imagine eating a caramel cake with a hint of lemon!
Yes! Check out the notes in the recipe card at the bottom of this post for details.
Yes, though keep in mind that it’ll make the cake denser.
This cake will bake well in a larger cake pan or bundt pan. As the cake is quite tall, I don’t recommend baking it in a smaller pan unless you’re dividing the cake between two pans.
To make a 2-layered 8-inch cake, scale up the recipe by 150% and divide the batter between the 2 pans. You’ll need 1 1/2 batches of my blueberry buttercream frosting. Or check out my vegan lemon cake recipe.
For a 3-layered 6-inch cake, make the batter as written, divide the batter in the 3 cake pans and bake them for 35-40 minutes. You’ll need 1 1/4 batches of my blueberry buttercream frosting.
You can also make this cake in a loaf pan, but it will take 70 minutes to bake through. Alternatively, check my vegan blueberry bread or vegan lemon loaf that are designed for loaf pans.
For muffins or cupcakes, I suggest baking my vegan blueberry muffins and adding extra lemon zest, or using my lemon blueberry cupcakes recipe.
This cake would be lovely with my:
– Blueberry frosting or strawberry frosting (use half the recipe)
– Simple lemon icing used in my olive oil cake
– Vegan cream cheese frosting used in my carrot cake recipe (use half the recipe)
– Whipped dairy-free cream
More easy vegan cakes
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Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake
- 2 ½ cups (315g) all-purpose plain flour, spoon and leveled (note 1 for gluten free)
- 1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt, optional
- ¾ cup (190g) dairy-free milk
- ½ cup (125g) neutral flavored oil
- ⅓ cup (80g) lemon juice, and zest of those lemons (overall, you'll need about 2 large lemons or 3 medium lemons, note 2)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
- 1 ¼ cups (190g) blueberries, fresh or frozen
To serve (optional, note 3)
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (355°F). Line or grease a 20 cm (8-inch) round cake pan.
- Add all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) to a large mixing bowl and mix until there are no lumps. Add all the wet ingredients (milk, oil, lemon juice/zest and vanilla) and mix until just before it's combined. Initially, the batter will be thick but it will loosen up after a few minutes.
- Add half of the blueberries and gently fold them through. Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan. Scatter the remaining blueberries on top and gently press some of them into the cake.
- Bake the cake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until you can insert a toothpick in the middle and there's no wet batter on it. This is a moist cake so some crumbs on your toothpick are fine.
- Allow the cake to cool in the cake tin for 10 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
To serve the cake:
- Just before serving, dust the cake with powdered sugar (optional) and serve! The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day, in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. If you freeze the cake, the texture of the blueberries will change.
Notes
- To make this vegan blueberry cake gluten-free, substitute the flour for 1 2/3 cups (165g) almond flour (blanched almond meal in UK/Aus) and 1 cup (160g) gluten free all-purpose flour. This cake also works well with King Arthur’s measure for measure flour as a 1:1 replacement for regular flour. Other gluten-free flour blends may produce different results. If you’re making the gluten-free version, it’s best to bake it for around 60 minutes.
- Don’t be tempted to add more lemon juice. If you add too much lemon juice, it will make the cake gooey, and it won’t bake through. If you want extra lemon flavor, add more lemon zest.
- Alternatively, you can enjoy the cake plain or topped with fresh berries.
This recipe was originally published in 2019 and updated in 2021 for simplicity.
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I’ve made this a few times already and it’s been a hit every time. Moist, great flavor, and definitely a low effort showstopper.
Can you use all gf flour in the recipe instead of using almond flour if you have a nut allergy
Many thanks
Hi Jeana, it really depends on the flour blend. We’ve tested the recipe with King Arthur’s measure for measure flour and it worked well. Readers have also made it using Bob Red Mills and enjoyed it. Other gf flours may work but it depends on the blend. Hope that helps!
Can I replace the sugar with maple syrup or does it have to be a dry sugar?
Hi! It needs to be a dry sugar. In saying that, some granulated sugars have more moisture so will have slightly different results.