• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About Me
  • All Recipes
  • Shop
  • Work With Me
  • Contact

Rainbow Nourishments logo

menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • All Recipes
  • About Me
  • Shop
  • Work With Me
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » All Desserts » Cakes

    Published: Oct 9, 2021 · Modified: Aug 18, 2023 by Anthea

    Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake

    Pin
    Share
    Tweet
    616 Shares
    JUMP TO RECIPE
    4.88 from 47 votes

    Easy vegan lemon olive oil cake using only 6 key ingredients and 1 bowl. This cake is fluffy, tender and light and perfect for Spring!

    This light and zesty cake has a similar flavor profile to my vegan lemon poppy seed muffins, vegan lemon cake and lemon drizzle cake.

    Lemon olive oil cake with a thin icing, blueberries and strawberries on top. Cake is on a plate amongst a few colourful items.

    Key ingredients you'll need

    This vegan lemon loaf uses only everyday ingredients including:

    Flatlay of ingredients for vegan lemon olive oil cake.

    Ingredient notes

    Extra Virgin Olive Oil adds moisture and flavor. Some types of olive oils are sweet while others are a little peppery so your cake will adopt the flavor of your particular oil.

    Lemon juice and zest and lots of it for extra zing! Lemon juice is acidic so reacts with dairy-free milk to make buttermilk which gives a cake a tender crumb. I used fresh lemon juice but bottled will also work.

    Granulated sugar for the lightest vegan olive oil cake! Alternatively, you may use coconut sugar however it'll make your cake a little denser and darker in color.

    You don't need any special egg replacers as the cake stays moist and fluffy from the olive oil, sugar and baking powder!

    A complete list of ingredients, quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.

    How to prepare the batter

    Like most of my cakes, you'll only need one bowl to prepare this vegan lemon olive oil cake!

    In a large mixing bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients, add all the wet ingredients and mix until smooth. The final batter should be a little runny without no lumps of dry flour or streaks of wet ingredients. Alternatively, you may use a stand mixer or hand mixer but be careful to not overmix the batter!

    Pour the cake batter into an 8-inch (20 cm) lined loaf pan and bake it in your preheated oven. Your house will smell wonderful while your vegan olive oil cake is baking!

    Four image collage of lemon cake batter in bowl including pouring the olive oil in the cake batter.

    Decoration suggestions

    This vegan lemon loaf is lovely with a simple 2-ingredient icing that sets at room temperature.

    For a more decadent cake, you can top it with lemon buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting (such as from my ginger cake recipe).

    If you don't have a big sweet tooth, you can top the unbaked cake with sliced almonds (just keep an eye on the almonds so they don't burn). After baking, dust the top with powdered sugar or serve with yogurt and berries.

    Side image of lemon cake showing icing dripping down the sides.

    Can I bake this cake in a different pan?

    This vegan olive oil cake will bake well in any loaf pan that's 8-inches or longer. If you're using a longer one, your cake will just be shorter.

    Alternatively, you can use an 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pan. For easy removal, use a springform pan!

    To make cupcakes, I recommend using my vegan lemon cupcakes recipe which fits perfectly in 1 muffin pan.

    Front image of lemon cake showing fluffy texture.

    Customizing this cake

    Can I reduce the amount of sugar in this vegan lemon olive oil cake?

    For a less sweet cake, I recommend enjoying the cake without the icing (or only with powdered sugar on top).

    The sugar can be slightly reduced to 1 cup (200g). However, keep in mind that sugar adds moisture to the cake, and balances out the sour lemon flavor and slight bitterness from the zest.

    Can I use orange juice instead of lemon juice?

    Orange juice is sweeter and less acidic than lemon juice so I recommend using more orange juice. Reduce the amount of milk and replace some of it with orange juice. Remember to use the orange zest for extra flavor!

    Can I add blueberries to this vegan lemon loaf?

    I recommend using my lemon blueberry cake recipe. It's similar to this vegan olive oil cake but the batter is thicker so the blueberries don't sink!

    Single slice of lemon loaf showing golden fluffy texture.

    More vegan lemon desserts

    • Easy Vegan Lemon Drizzle Cake
    • Simple vegan orange cake dusted with icing sugar on plate with a few slices coming out showing beautiful orange hue
      Vegan Whole Orange Cake
    • Vegan Lemon Tart
    • Vegan Lemon Cheesecake (no bake)

    Follow Rainbow Nourishments on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest, and subscribe via email to receive all of our latest recipes!

    Print Recipe
    4.88 from 47 votes

    Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake

    Easy vegan lemon olive oil cake made with only 6 key ingredients using 1 bowl. This cake is fluffy, tender and light and perfect for Spring!
    Prep Time15 minutes mins
    Cook Time1 hour hr
    Total Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
    Cuisine: American, Italian-inspired, Vegan
    Servings: 10
    Author: Anthea

    Ingredients

    Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake

    • 2 ½ cups (315g) all-purpose plain flour
    • 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 1)
    • ~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 tin 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 smooth.
    • 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 top of the cake is browning too quickly on top, 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. You'll need around 2-3 medium lemons to yield the amount of lemon juice and zest for the recipe.
    2. Alternatively, you can enjoy the cake plain, topped with fresh berries or a light dusting of powdered / icing sugar.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1 slice without icing | Calories: 330kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 13g | Sodium: 161mg | Potassium: 46mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 108mg | Iron: 2mg
    Did you Make this Recipe?Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @rainbownourishments on Instagram and hashtag #rainbownourishments!

    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.

    Pin
    Share
    Tweet
    616 Shares

    Reader Interactions

      Leave a Comment and Rating! Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




    1. Elly says

      August 10, 2023 at 3:20 am

      5 stars
      Delicious! I’ve made it a few times already and it always comes out perfect. My family can’t even tell it’s vegan.

      Reply
    2. Chlo$ says

      June 24, 2023 at 5:25 am

      How could I turn this recipe into cupcakes / mini bundt cakes ? I assume just reduce the heat / time. And could I butter the pan instead of lining with paper?

      Reply
      • Anthea says

        June 24, 2023 at 12:02 pm

        This recipe is great for mini bundts. In a 12-cavity bundt tin, you'd get over 12 bundts and would need to bake them for 20-25 minutes. I've also tried this recipe as cupcakes but they end up being flat. Instead I have a lemon cupcakes recipe which is perfect for a cupcake tin. Also yes, you can butter the pan and very lightly dust them with flour. Hope that helps!

        Reply
    3. Nina says

      May 01, 2023 at 4:01 am

      Hi,

      Myself I loved this. I was surprised when I went to cut it that it felt a bit thick, in fact as the other lady put it was more like a scone. I used Granulated Monk fruit for sugar (which I do on almost all my recipes for myself and the grandkids) I used a reduced fat Coconut Milk from Trader Joes and the Olive oil. Truly was more like a bread batter. Any suggestions to make it a little fluffier? I did love it though and had some more this morning... Just curious.

      Reply
      • Anthea says

        May 31, 2023 at 12:00 pm

        Hi Nina! Sorry for the late reply. From experience, some brands of monk fruit sweeteners absorb liquids different from granulated sugar so you may need to add more/less milk to the recipe to get it to the right consistency. Also, when I've replaced milk with canned coconut milk, it would make the cake denser and stodgy due to the higher levels of fat. A dense cake can also be from packing too much flour in a measuring cup so I'd recommend the 'scoop and level' method to measure flour or using grams. I hope that helps!

        Reply
    4. Stephanie says

      April 30, 2023 at 12:50 pm

      5 stars
      Terrific!! I made this cake in an 8-inch round pan lined with parchment, cooked it for 35 minutes, removed it easily by lifting the parchment and easily transferred it to a plate before adding the syrup. No issues a all. The cake was a birthday cake. I topped it with raspeberrys and blueberries (like a pavlova). Everyone loved it. No one asked if it was vegan. It's cake! It's a successful recipe. I will make it again. I appreciated the other comments. They helped me decide to take a chance on this recipe!! A social media success story in itself! 😉

      Reply
    5. Katie says

      March 30, 2023 at 1:46 pm

      When I initially mixed up the batter it was WAY thicker than what the picture looked like. It was like a scone batter maybe. I was surprised because I actually ran a little low on flour. I ended up adding probably about 1/4 to 1/3 cup more liquid, a mix of more oat milk and lemon juice. I’m not much of a baker but I know I measured correctly. Things that could potentially have contributed to this (though I don’t know why) may be that my oat milk was not quite room temperature and I used 1 cup of sugar as others recommended. The significant amount of extra lemon juice makes me wish I put in the full amount of sugar. The texture of the cake turned out great in the end—fluffy, moist, chewier on the edges. I see that some others felt the batter was too thick at first too. I wonder if the cups conversion is a bit off.

      Reply
      • Anthea says

        March 30, 2023 at 2:55 pm

        Hi Katie, glad that the cake turned out well at the end! There are a few reasons why your batter was thicker. Since you used cups, it's possible that your cups had too much flour in them. I recommend using the 'spoon and level' method, rather than scooping a measuring cup in flour (or using the grams measurement as it's always more accurate). This can throw off the flour amounts by 20-50%. Also, sugar turns into liquid when mixed with other ingredients so reducing the sugar will absolutely make the batter thicker. With the oat milk, you're right - colder ingredients don't emulsify as easily as room-temperature ingredients and will create a thicker batter. The cups measurements are definitely correct and is based on a universal conversion guide. I hope that helps!

        Reply
    6. Olivia says

      March 20, 2023 at 12:37 am

      Hi Anthea, would this recipe work in a bundt pan (if I scale up of course)?

      Reply
      • Anthea says

        March 27, 2023 at 4:02 am

        Hi Olivia, sorry for the late reply! Yes, it should work well in a bundt pan 🙂

        Reply
    7. Rose says

      March 01, 2023 at 4:46 pm

      Did the gf version disappear? I am not seeing notes for it and I made the cake without realizing there was a gf version and I’m a wondering if batter might be too thin but it’s already in the oven:(

      Reply
    8. Jim K says

      February 13, 2023 at 5:28 am

      5 stars
      Very good, I will make again. I was looking for a recipe as I have a lot of Meyer lemons on my tree right now. I skipped the frosting. The cake has just the right amount of sweetness without the icing. Also, I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour (spelt) and 1.5 cups white wheat flour. I really like that is so simple to make.

      Reply
    9. Jo says

      January 18, 2023 at 12:47 am

      Can I substitute the flour for almond flour or oat flour ??

      Reply
      • Anthea says

        January 18, 2023 at 1:28 pm

        Hi Jo, normally almond flour and oat flour needs to be combined with starch or all-purpose gluten-free flour to work in vegan cakes. I've tried it with almond flour and AP gluten-free flour but had to increase the amounts of flour a little to make it work (I just added more and more flour until the batter resembled the pictures).

        Reply
    10. Kristy says

      October 21, 2022 at 9:41 pm

      5 stars
      I followed the recipe as written and found it was a really easy cake to make and I ended up with a lovely fluffy moist lemon cake. Couldn't be happier with this recipe!

      Reply
    11. Carrie says

      October 18, 2022 at 4:02 pm

      5 stars
      Moist and tasty and tart sweet. Following others’ advice I just did one cup of sugar. I went a bit heavier on the lemon juice and added a half a ripe mashed banana since the batter seemed too thick at first. Adding the icing on top really kicks it up a notch. I like that olive oil is healthier than butters which have a lot of saturated fat.

      Reply
    « Older Comments

    Primary Sidebar

    About Anthea

    More about me →

    Popular Recipes

    • Close up of top of chickpea blondies cut into bars.
      Chickpea Blondies
    • Easy Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake
    • Simple one-layer cake with lots of toasted sliced almonds on top.
      Vegan Almond Cake
    • Vegan Blueberry Muffins
    • Vegan Peach Tart
    • Simple vegan orange cake dusted with icing sugar on plate with a few slices coming out showing beautiful orange hue
      Vegan Whole Orange Cake

    Seasonal Recipes

    • Vegan Raspberry Muffins
    • Vegan strawberry cupcakes with pink base and pink vegan buttercream. Cupcakes are decorated with freeze dried raspberries and fresh strawberries
      Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
    • Vegan strawberry cake on plate with slice of cake lifted out revealing fluffy pink texture.
      Vegan Strawberry Cake
    • Vegan Mango Cake
    • Vegan Mango Cheesecake Bars (no-bake)
    • Vegan Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls

    Get my cookbook

    Cover of Incredible Plant Based Desserts

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Featured in

    Banner with 10 logos where Rainbow Nourishments has been featured.

    More

    About
    Work with Me
    Contact

    Shop

    Get my cookbook

    Follow Me

    • Instagram
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

    COPYRIGHT © 2023 · RAINBOW NOURISHMENTS · PRIVACY POLICY ·  ACCESSIBILITY POLICY