Dairy-Free Lemon Cake
Light and fluffy, filled with tangy lemon curd and topped with lemon buttercream icing, this 100% homemade dairy-free lemon cake is lemon heaven! Perfect for Mother's Day, Easter, birthdays, graduation parties or just because ... it's the perfect dessert for any occasion.
Equipment
- 1 Citrus Juicer
- 1 cake decorating knife (optional)
- 1 large mixing bowls
- other mixing bowls
- 1 Whisk
Ingredients
Dairy-Free Lemon Cake
- 3/4 cup neutral oil (such as canola oil or avocado oil)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon zest (zest an extra teaspoon when you make the lemon curd and set aside)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 6 large egg whites (save the yolks for the lemon curd)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup ice cold water
Dairy-Free Lemon Curd (for between the 2 cake layers)
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp fresh lemon zest
- 1/2 cup dairy-free butter sticks (I use Earth Balance buttery sticks)
Dairy-Free Lemon Buttercream Frosting (for the top of the cake)
- 1/2 cup dairy-free butter sticks (I use Earth Balance buttery sticks)
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp fresh lemon zest
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp cold canned coconut milk (use only the solid, top part of a refrigerated can)
Instructions
Make the Lemon Curd
- Make the lemon curd - see the instructions at https://www.kitchengonerogue.com/dairy-free-homemade-lemon-curd/
Make and Bake the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray and line the bottoms of each with parchment paper.
- Bowl 1 - In a large mixing bowl (note: everything will eventually be added to this bowl), combine the first 4 ingredients listed above – 3/4 cup of oil, 1 12/ cups of sugar, 1 Tbsp of lemon zest and 1 tsp of vanilla extract.
- Bowl 2 - In a medium-sized bowl, mix your 2 dry ingredients – 2 cups of cake flour and 1 Tbsp of baking powder.
- Bowl 3 - In your measuring cup or a small-medium bowl, mix the 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice with the cold water.
- Bowl 4 - In a stand mixer bowl (or a medium-large bowl if using an electric hand mixer), beat the 6 egg whites and 1/2 tsp salt to stiff peaks. Stiff peaks = they should appear glossy, smooth and firm and stand on their own without sliding off the whisk. Be careful not to over-mix or they will get grainy and break down.
- Add your ingredients in bowls 2 and 3 to bowl 1 slowly, alternating in about 3 rounds of dry and wet ingredients to your main bowl. Mix well on low-medium speed with an electric hand mixer or whisk.
- Finally, gently fold in the egg whites to your large bowl that now holds all your other ingredients mixed together. You want your egg whites evenly distributed and mixed into the batter, but be careful not to over-mix or mix your eggs whites in aggressively.
- Bake 28-30 minutes at 350 degrees F.
- Let cool for 10 minutes, then gently remove each cake from its pan and carefully place on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Make the Lemon Frosting
- Make the lemon frosting - see the instructions at https://www.kitchengonerogue.com/vegan-lemon-frosting/
Frost and Decorate the Cake
- Trim to flatten each round cake if needed, place on a cake stand (or large flat plate) then top the first cake with your lemon curd.
- Carefully place the second cake layer on top of the lemon-curd topped cake and then frost the top and sides. It's ok (in my opinion) if some of the curd and icing mixes on the sides as you smooth it out.
- (Optional) Add lemon zest and lemon slices on top to decorate.
- Refrigerate for an hour, then serve!
Notes
NOTE: the nutrition information includes the 2 layers of cake + a full batch of lemon curd + a full batch of frosting
You can use store-bought lemon curd and/or frosting to save time OR use lemon curd for both the middle layer and the topping for the cake.
My homemade dairy-free lemon curd recipe is at: https://www.kitchengonerogue.com/dairy-free-homemade-lemon-curd/
My homemade dairy-free lemon buttercream frosting recipe is at: https://www.kitchengonerogue.com/vegan-lemon-frosting/
© Kitchen Gone Rogue. www.kitchengonerogue.com
Nutrition
Calories: 407kcalCarbohydrates: 60gProtein: 6gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.1gSodium: 285mgPotassium: 65mgFiber: 1gSugar: 37gVitamin A: 1IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 66mgIron: 0.4mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
