Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake
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.
Key ingredients you’ll need
This vegan lemon loaf uses only everyday ingredients including:
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!
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the 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!
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.
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.
Customizing this 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.
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!
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!
More vegan lemon desserts
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Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake
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
- 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.
- You’ll need around 2-3 medium lemons to yield the amount of lemon juice and zest for the recipe.
- Alternatively, you can enjoy the cake plain, topped with fresh berries or a light dusting of powdered / icing sugar.
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Is the parchment completely necessary? I have a cute lemon loaf pan with a lemon slice design and I was hoping to use it here!
If you grease and lightly flour your pan, I think this recipe will work well in your pans! Enjoy ❤️
I’ve never made an olive oil cake. I made this today after reading many of the reviews. An older review stated that an 8” loaf pan was too small and she had a mess. I totally agree. I’m an experienced baker and I also use a scale to measure correctly. When I saw the amount of batter, I knew it needed to be baked in a 9” loaf pan. It baked perfectly, having the right amount of pan space to rise properly. Baked in the proper amount of time too. I hope it tastes as wonderful as it smells. I’ve made a blueberry compote to put atop the lemon glaze. My daughter is vegan, so she’ll have a good opinion.
Hi Terri! Thank you so much for your feedback. This loaf cake is usually shorter than others but the depth of the pan can make a difference and a slightly shallower pan could be why it didn’t fit. It definitely works well in a 9-inch pan, so we’re glad that turned out perfectly for you! Hope you and your daughter enjoyed it, and your blueberry compote sounds absolutely divine 😍
Merci pour cette délicieuse recette
Bonjour, I’m so happy you enjoyed this cake!
I have made this loaf many times and each time it’s moist and delicious. Even non vegan folks eat this up!
Hi Shirley, thank you so much for leaving a lovely review! We’re so glad to hear you’re enjoying the recipe and that it’s been such a hit with everyone!
Hi Anthea, do you think I could add some blueberries in the mixture? Many thanks 🙏
Hi Alexandra! I recommend using my blueberry lemon cake instead – it’s similar to this recipe but the batter is thicker so the blueberries don’t sink. If you want to add blueberries to this loaf, try tossing the blueberries in a little flour before adding them to the cake batter. You can also add a layer of plain batter to the pan before adding the batter with the blueberries. This ensures the blueberries don’t sink to the very bottom. Hope this helps!
Love this recipe so much. Have made a few times and everyone is always impressed! I’m not a cake-eater but I will have a slice of this 😋 Thank you so much for sharing 💗
We’re so glad you’ve enjoyed making this cake multiple times! It’s wonderful to hear that everyone is impressed and that it even tempts a non–cake-eater, that’s high praise! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment 🥰
Can I use almond flour for any portion of the flour in this recipe?
I also plan to use pureed, brined lemons, doubling the recipe for a bundt pan.
Should I do a practice run first to be sure the flavors/substitution amounts work before trying it for a birthday party?
Hi Ann, you will be better off using my whole lemon cake recipe. Almond flour will work best as a replacement of only 1/4-1/2 of the regular flour, otherwise the cake will sink. Whole lemons are structurally very different to lemon juice and will make the cake heavier and moister, especially if you’re using almond flour. However, my whole lemon cake uses both whole lemons and almond flour. I still recommend doing a practice run with the whole lemon cake as you may need to adjust the recipe to brined lemons. Hope that helps!
Hi there- Can I use cake flour with this recipe? If so what measurements?
Hi! I haven’t tested this recipe with cake flour so I can’t say for sure. However, you can try to use it in the same quantity as all-purpose flour. Let me know how you go!
Way too much batter for an 8 inch loaf pan. Spills everywhere. Put a sheet under it or expect to clean your oven. Maybe could be done in a 10 inch loaf pan.
Hi Angela, I’m sorry your cake overflowed. How tall was your loaf pan? I used a standard 1 pound 8-inch loaf pan and there was still 1-inch of space between the top of the batter and the loaf pan. If you had more batter, is there a chance you overmeasured your ingredients? This cake is the same volume as my lemon poppy seed cake and you can see the batter and baked cake don’t reach the top of the loaf pan.
This cake is delicious! I followed the recipe without modifications and it turned out amazing. I had three pieces and I will be making it again!
Hi Ana, that’s wonderful to hear!! Thanks so much for your lovely feedback and I’m so glad this recipe will be on repeat for you 🙂
If you use an 8″ round pan, does it still bake.for an hour?
I haven’t tested it, but it’d probably be 5 minutes less as there’s more surface area exposed to the oven!
Found the yield for 14, but the measurements are tricky for 14. Olive oil – .7 cup? 4.2 tsp. baking powder ?
Hi Sydney, in this case it’s best to use the gram measurements and an electric scale. Or scale up/down the measurements until the cup/teaspoon measurements are to your liking.
Ok thank you 🙂
Amazing recipe! My fiancé loved it and wants me to make it again. I do have a question: would I be able to make an orange version with the same measurements but just switch out the lemon for orange?
Thanks so much, so happy your fiancé loved it! You can definitely try making an orange version. Since orange juice is not as strong as lemon juice, it’s a good idea to increase the orange juice amount a bit. We haven’t tested it exactly, but you could try using 1 cup of orange juice and reduce the milk by ½ to ⅔ cup to keep the liquid balance right. Hope that helps! We would love to hear if you try it!
O.M.G – one of the best cakes I’ve ever made. I can’t wait to try some of your others. Absolutely beautiful – texture and flavour were sublime. Thanks for sharing this recipe 🤩
Thank you for your feedback, we are so happy to hear the cake was a hit! We can’t wait to hear what you bake next!!
The cake is delicious and very moist, but as written the cake is fairly one note and the icing is suuuper sweet. The recipe said powdered sugar or granulated sugar, but I would definitely recommend powdered sugar – the granulated sugar was wayyy too much. I think it’d be amazing with a cream cheese icing also.
Hi Colby, thanks for your feedback! I find the flavor of the loaf is shaped by your ingredients, especially the lemons and strength of your olive oil. By any chance, did you forget to add the vanilla and salt? The icing actually only calls for powdered sugar – icing sugar is not granulated sugar, but is the same as powdered sugar in all countries except the US/Canada. But yes, this loaf with definitely be delicious with cream cheese icing!
hi, will this work in a bundt pan or will it require more batter
Hi! Yes, it will work in a bundt tin but you would require more batter – I would scale up the recipe to 14 serves. If you tap on the number next to ‘Yield’, you can scale up all the ingredient quantities. Hope that helps!
I love this recipe! However whenever I bake it the cake cracks a lot at the top. How do I prevent that from happening so it looks better for serving?
Hi Reshvin, I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake! With the top of the cake, it can crack if your oven has a strong top heating element. If you can, try moving the cake down one oven rack or covering it with aluminium foil towards the end of baking. I had an oven that used to do this, and I would often place an empty baking tray on the top oven rack and bake my cakes in the middle. Hope that helps!
The easiest and most delicious recipe EVER- my non vegan dad loved it
That’s the *best* news and great to hear about your dad too!! Thanks so much for the lovely feedback 🙂
I made this for my niece for Easter. Perfect! I wish I could attach a picture. So pretty.
Hi Stacey, aw that’s amazing!! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it – wish I could see it as well 🥰