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4.94 from 15 votes

Vegan Whole Lemon Cake

Vegan lemon cake using a WHOLE lemon including the rind. Gluten free, grain free, eggless and only 5 key ingredients!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Cuisine: Middle-Eastern, Moroccan-inspired, Vegan
Servings: 12
Author: Anthea

Ingredients

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

  1. 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!
  2. The total amount of almond flour can be substituted with 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour and ½ cup (125g) neutral-tasting oil.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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

Serving: 1 serve | Calories: 214kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 10g | Sodium: 111mg | Potassium: 101mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 113mg | Iron: 1mg
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