Easy Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake
This vegan lemon blueberry cake is made with only 7 ingredients and comes together in one bowl! It’s soft, 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 layered Vegan Lemon Cake and Vegan Blueberry Muffins!
Why you’ll love 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. Please don’t overmix the batter otherwise your cake will be dense and stodgy! Initially, the cake batter may be very thick but it will loosen up after a couple of minutes when the sugar dissolves in the liquid ingredients.
Finally, add the blueberries and fold them through the batter. The thick batter naturally prevents the blueberries from sinking when we bake the cake.
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.
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 batter 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.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Hi Anthea.
I have made this cake twice and it’s really delicious. Just had one question. My cake both the times was slightly bitter. I reduced the zest the second time but still it was tad bitter and dense. Please advise what could have gone wrong and how can i make this without tasting bitter
Hi Vini, glad that you’ve enjoyed this cake a couple of times! The bitterness is likely coming from the lemon zest – if some of the white pith (the inner layer of the lemon peel) gets included in the zest, it can add a bitter taste. To avoid any bitterness, try to zest just the yellow out layer of the peel! I hope that helps!
This cake is so good and turns out perfectly every time. I can’t look at a blueberry without thinking of this recipe!! Thank you!
Debbie
Hi Deborah, that makes me so happy to hear, and I’m honored that blueberries now remind you of it! Thank you for taking the time to leave a kind comment 🙂
Hi Anthea! I am so excited to try this cake! I have a 12 cup bundt pan and was thinking of making to your rec’d 150% but just putting it all in one larger pan rather than making it in 2 layers, would that work okay or mess up the recipe?
Hi Marley! It should work fine if you scale up the ingredients and bake it in a bundt pan. However, I haven’t personally tested it so I’m not totally sure about baking time and if there’ll be any changes to its texture (sometimes scaling up a recipe can make it denser). I hope that helps!
Does this cake freeze well? I have an event and I would like to make it ahead. I just don’t want to ruin the flavor and consistency by freezing it and then serving it.
Hi Sophie, yes it does! Just note that some of the blueberries may soften or change texture when thawed, which is normal. The flavor will stay the same though. Hope that helps!
Hi Anthea, Do you think the cake would work well will a lemon glaze/icing drizzled over the top as well or will it offset the balance of the cake’s sweetness/sourness ? Excited to try your recipe !
Hi Sienna, yes I think that’ll work well! Let me know if you try it!
Can these be done as muffins instead of a whole cake?
Hi Maria, I haven’t tested it but I imagine it’d work well as muffins. Let me know how you go if you make them!
Very easy to make and perfect if you hosting during lent!
That makes me so happy to hear! Thanks so much for letting me know 🙂
I made this cake yesterday and it completely fell apart. The taste was amazing but the consistency did not hold up. I would love to make it again but I need to understand my error. I used coconut flour and I’m thinking I used too much because the batter was too crumbly?
Hi Tammy, thanks for your comment! Unfortunately coconut flour is not a good 1:1 replacement for AP flour as it’s around 3 times more absorbent. The recipe also doesn’t have any gluten or binders in it so coconut flour won’t work by itself unfortunately. It may work if you combine it with a gf AP flour (with xantham gum) and change the flour quantities. Hope that helps!
Hey, can you use self raising flour instead?
Hey, I haven’t tested it but I imagine it’ll work fine as long as it’s not too old. Self-raising flour can vary but it normally has 1 to 1.5 teaspoons baking powder per cup, which means you can completely omit the baking powder in thsi recipe. Hope that helps!
This cake is absolutely delicious! I’ve made it several times now, and it’s been requested by my son-in-law for his birthday cake next week. I’ll top it with your lemon or blueberry frosting
Hi Christine, I’m sooo glad you enjoyed this cake and have made it several times! Great idea about the frosting too. Thanks so much for letting me know 🥰
This recipe was easy to follow and the cake was flavourful with a perfect moist texture. My vegan friends loved it. I served it with oat cream and extra fresh blueberries.
Hi Moira, that makes me so happy to hear!! Thanks for the wonderful feedback 🙂