Vegan whole lemon cake using entire lemons including their rind and pulp. This lemon cake is gluten-free, eggless and made with only 5 key ingredients!
What to expect from this recipe
TEXTURE: The lemon pulp makes this cake super moist, with a texture like pound cake, French financiers or friands. We don't even need butter or oil!
FLAVOR: This whole lemon cake has more flavor than a regular vegan lemon cake. The cake uses lemon peel which naturally contains lots of lemon essential oil (according to Healthline) and gives a stronger lemon flavor!
DIFFICULTY: You only need 5 ingredients and a food processor to prepare the cake.
TRIED AND TESTED: This recipe is similar to my other popular, tried and tested recipes including my Vegan Whole Orange Cake, Gluten-free Strawberry Cake and Flourless Vegan Chocolate Cake
5 ingredients for this vegan lemon cake
You will need:
Notes about the ingredients
Conventionally, a whole lemon cake uses up to 6 eggs but it's possible to make an eggless lemon cake!
Potato starch (or corn starch) is a great gluten-free flour and egg substitute. Unlike flax eggs or aquafaba, it is a dry mixture and acts as a thickener and binder. For more reasons why I used potato starch, check out my whole orange cake recipe post.
Baking powder to help the cake rise and bake through. It's really important that you use active baking powder as old baking powder will result in a denser cake.
Turmeric (optional, not pictured). Conventionally, whole lemon cakes have a subtle yellow hue from eggs and lemon rind. For this cake, we can strengthen the yellow color with a pinch of turmeric. The color becomes more intense after it is baked, so we don't need much!
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Boiling the lemons
First, place your two lemons in a small saucepan of water. The lemons need to be completely covered but there needs to be enough water to steam/boil them. This step helps soften the lemon skin and pulp making them more digestible in the final whole lemon cake.
When the lemons are soft and can be pierced without much resistance, drain the water and allow the lemons to cool down.
Roughly chop the lemons and remove all the seeds. The lemons should appear 'hollow' and the pulp will feel a little slimy which is completely normal. The lemons don't need to be chopped finely but just enough so they fit in your food processor.
Preparing the lemon cake batter
Place the lemon in your food processor and blitz until it forms a rough puree. If you have a large food processor, your lemon puree might be chunkier. That's fine - we'll be processing them further!
Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until combined. It will be a thick batter which is perfect! You will have little bits of lemon rind in your batter which add texture and flavor to your final vegan lemon cake.
If your batter is too thin, add a few more tablespoons of potato or corn starch until it forms a thick batter. The texture should be like thick rice pudding or half-mashed banana. If it's any thinner, your lemon cake has too much moisture and may not bake well.
I normally wouldn't recommend mixing cake batters in your food processor. Overmixing a batter can strengthen the gluten in a cake which makes them tough. However, this whole lemon cake is gluten-free so you have to worry about over-mixing!
As the batter is quite thick, you'll need to scoop it into your lined cake tin. The top can be smoothed with the back of a spoon :).
Baking the whole lemon cake
This cake doesn't have much liquid so we only need to bake it for 35-40 minutes. It's also a large and FLAT cake that doesn't need much time in the oven to fully bake!
How to serve this lemon cake
Just like my whole orange cake, this lemon cake is perfect for morning tea or afternoon tea! I personally prefer it plain as the cake is full of flavor (and moisture).
However, you can also serve it with dairy-free yogurt, ice cream or cream! You can also top the cake with a simple lemon powdered sugar icing/glaze such as the one I used for my lemon pistachio cake.
Expert Tips
If you're allergic to almonds, try cashew flour/meal.
Alternatively, you can use a combination of all-purpose flour and a neutral-tasting oil. Your cake will be fluffier and have a lighter lemon taste than the original recipe. I've listed the ingredient quantities in the notes of the recipe box at the bottom of this post.
I don't recommend this. Lemon juice and extract are 100% liquid whereas a entire lemon has a lot of fiber. If you're after a vegan lemon cake using only lemon juice, check out my lemon layer cake, lemon olive oil cake or lemon drizzle cake.
Yes. Meyer lemons are a bit sweeter than regular lemons so your cake may be sweeter. I don't recommend reducing the sugar in this cake as it will make it denser.
Yes, absolutely!
I haven't tried this myself but if you chop the lemon VERY finely, you may get a similar result.
This whole lemon cake bakes very well in muffin tins and can be divided into smaller cake tins, of course with shorter baking times. However, baking the whole quantity of the cake in a smaller tin (for example in a 7-inch pan) won't work as well.
Alternatively, check out my vegan lemon poppy seed muffin recipe!
More vegan lemon desserts
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Vegan Whole Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 2 x (~250g total) large-size organic lemons, with the rind still on and washed thoroughly (note 1)
- 250 g (2 ½ cups) almond flour / blanched almond meal, (note 2)
- 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar, (note 3)
- 85 g (½ cup + 1 tablespoon) potato starch, or corn starch / corn flour (plus more if needed)
- 120 g (½ cup) water
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric, optional for colour
Instructions
- I recommend weighing the ingredients for this recipe rather than using the cup measurements. Like all of my recipes, this whole lemon cake was tested using grams except for the baking powder.
Preparing the whole lemons:
- Thoroughly wash the skin of the lemons and remove the stems if they're still on. Add around 4 cups of water to a small saucepan and place the whole lemons in the water. Over medium heat, simmer the lemons for 30 minutes until you can pierce the skin with no resistance. Drain the water and allow the lemons to cool.
- Roughly chop the lemons and remove all the seeds.
- Place the chopped lemon in a food processor and blitz until it forms a chunky paste with small pieces of rind.
Preparing the lemon cake batter:
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Grease or line an 8-inch (20 cm) cake pan with parchment paper.
- Add the rest of the cake ingredients to the food processor. Process until the mixture is combined and quite thick, like the texture of thick rice pudding. If your batter is runnier, add 1 tablespoon (7g) of potato starch at a time and mix until it forms a thick batter. If in doubt, err towards a thicker batter rather than thinner batter (note 4).
- Scoop the cake batter into your cake tin. Smooth the top with a spoon or spatula.
Baking the cake:
- Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes. The cake is ready when a toothpick can be inserted into the middle and there is no wet batter on it (some crumbs are fine). Allow the cake to completely cool in the cake tin.
- To serve, dust the cake with icing sugar (Note 5). Store leftovers 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.
Notes
- The thinner the lemon rind, the better! Some lemons have a very thick rind which may give the cake a bitter aftertaste. I'd really recommend weighing your lemons for this recipe and sticking to ~250g. You can still boil half-cut lemons if needed! The weight of an 'average' lemon varies from country to country. I've seen large homegrown lemons which are 300g each!
- The total amount of almond flour can be substituted with 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour and ½ cup (125g) neutral-tasting oil.
- This amount of sugar creates a mildly sweet cake. You may decrease the sugar to ¾ cup (150g) but it will create a more dense cake that may be bitter. Also, some varieties of lemon may be sweeter so feel free to adjust the amount of sugar to taste.
- A runnier cake batter will be too moist when baked, so it's important to eye ball your mixture. I also recommend taste-testing the batter at this stage. If it's too bitter for your liking, add ~¼ cup (50g) more sugar. Bitterness comes from lemons with a thick rind.
- Alternatively, you can also:
- Drizzle a simple syrup on the cake. Combine 2 tbsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp of sugar or maple syrup in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved or the mixture has emulsified. Drizzle on the cake while it's warm.
- Top the cake with a simple icing, such as the one in my vegan pistachio lemon cake. Wait until the cake is completely cool before you ice the cake.
Nutrition
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Very easy & absolutely delicious! I bake for my church every Sunday & this yummy cake will now be in regular rotation.
hi i have a bunch if cut lemons i’m trying to use up. should i boil them as it or should i try to skip this step, any ideas what’ll happen? thanks
Hi Eileen, the cake should work without boiling the lemons but I suspect that the cake will be more bitter. TWould you be able to steam them? I hope that helps!
Deliciously awesome. Also made your other lemon bread recipe to rave reviews on music night. The band said it was the best lemon cake they'd ever had. No one knew it was vegan. - thank you!
This recipe is absolutely awesome and super easy, have been trying different recipes and I love this one the best, thanks so much!
Aw, what wonderful feedback!! I'm so stoked that you enjoyed this cake Katie and thanks for leaving a review :)!
Do you think I could substitute the almonds with whole wheat, oat, or spelt flour? I limit fat wherever possible but would otherwise love to try this.
Whole wheat or spelt flour should work similarly to all-purpose flour (see note 2 in the recipe box). I'm not sure about oat flour, unfortunately! I've tried the cake with just flour and it was a bit dry, so I'd recommend adding some oil. I hope that helps!
Hey Anthea,
I tried your recipe of the Vegan Lemon Cake, but i décided to steam It and It was deliciously moister and lemony,,waouhhh 😊🥰🤤
I post It on my Instagram @beaumodjobelle to share your recipe, thank you very much to your share dear ❤
Ooh it's amazing you were able to steam this recipe! Your cake on your Instagram looks wonderful! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment 🙂
Can we substitute the sugar with granular stevia?
Thank you
Jenny
That should work fine (though I haven't tried myself so can't vouch for results). Let me know how you go!
Hi. This recipe looks fabulous and I’m definitely going to make it. However I was wondering if I can just use ground almonds (I’m in UK) instead of almond flour/meal or can I just grind whole blanched almonds to make the flour. Many thanks.
Yes! In Australia, almond flour and blanched almond meal is ground whole blanched almonds so that's what I'm referring to :). Thank you!
I followed this recipe for whole vegan lemon cake exactly as written and it was a huge success! Five members of my extended family shared a piece and without hesitation they all gave it 5 stars! I loved how moist it was and how lemony, without being bitter. Congratulations Anthea, I'll definitely be making this one again!
Aw, that's amazing to hear Delwyn!! I'm so glad your extended family loved this cake and its flavour. Thanks so much for your feedback, I appreciate it a lot!
Appreciate your effort and willing to share your recepies... hard work from your side, however blessings for other people by you sharing. Thank you.
Aw thanks so much Pat! I really appreciate your comment on this Friday! x
I baked this twice already and everyone who had a piece (or two) absolutely loved it! It is as lemony and moist as you can imagine from the pictures.
I used 150g white almond meal and 100g all purpose flour and I loved the consistency. Bit spongy 🙂
I made this cake & it turned out Superb!
I used 1 cup of coconut sugar & it tasted great! Easy to make. I’ll use this recipe again & again. Thank you.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the cake!! Thanks so much for leaving your feedback, I truly appreciate it 🙂
Thank you for the coconut sugar comment as I am sugar shy and not that comfortable using cane sugar.
Such a delicious and easy recipe! Tried it and it turned out perfectly!!!!! Yum.
Yay, I'm so glad to hear!! And thanks for your comment too! x
Didn't work. Used everything as directed, no rise at all and did not bake through in 40 minutes. I used a 9 inch pan so it should have baked even faster. Tasted like very sweet lemon fudge. Had high hopes but it was a waste of ingredients.
Can you think of where your ingredients/baking went wrong? This recipe is a reader favourite and I've never heard of it turning into fudge.
Made this! Love how simple it is and how big in lemon flavor it is. Our kids made an icing and put little slices of candied lemon slices on top (trader joe) which gave it a little extra lemon to it.
Would make again and again!
The only thing different I did was sub half of the sugar with turbinado sugar (what I had left in the pantry) and did it in an 8x8 square pan. 35 minutes cooking was perfect.
I'm soo happy that you loved the cake! Candied lemon sounds so delicious too :). Also, that's great it worked in a different size pan and with half of another sugar. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave your feedback Dorothy! x
Hi Anthea, I was just measuring my lemon, just picked from the garden and one lemon weighed in at 389grams!!! Amazing heh!! So do I just boil the one lemon for this recipe?
Thanks so much for prividing such beautiful vegan recipes. Beautiful....
Cheers
Meade
Yes, they can be huge right?! Some websites say that a 'large size lemon' is 140g.... which I don't believe because many homegrown lemons are as large as yours! For homegrown lemons, I'd probably try to pick a slightly smaller lemon which is around 250g and use that (or cut a chunk off your lemon and use that). I hope that helps 🙂