A light and zesty vegan lemon sponge cake with dairy-free lemon buttercream. Perfect for an Easter celebration.
Spring is finally in the air! And I’ve got the perfect cake to celebrate this time of year.
This Easter Lemon Cake is made up of a light vegan lemon sponge, frosted with lemon buttercream and topped with colourful egg decorations.
Perfect for those avoiding eggs and dairy but still want something indulgent.
Vegan Mini Eggs
If you’re wondering where on earth I found these vegan-friendly mini eggs – I happened to come across them in Carluccio’s, of all places!
Edit: They no longer appear to stock these but now you can get vegan mini eggs from Doisy & Dam.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Lemon Sponge Cake
A soft, light and zesty vegan sponge cake with dairy-free lemon frosting and optional speckled chocolate. Perfect for Easter or as a treat for any time of year!
Ingredients
For the lemon sponge cake (adapted from cakemerchant.com)
- 360 ml / 1 ½ cups unsweetened dairy-free milk
- Juice of half a lemon, save other half for frosting
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 230 g / 8.1 oz caster sugar
- 110 ml / ⅓ cup + 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste, or extract
- 250 g / 8.8 oz self-raising flour*
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
For the lemon buttercream frosting
- 300 g / 10.5 oz dairy-free butter
- 1 tsp vanilla paste, or extract
- 450 g / 15.8 oz confectioner's sugar
- Juice of half a lemon
For the decoration
- Dark chocolate, melted
- (Optional) Vegan-friendly mini eggs or chocolates
Instructions
To make the lemon cake
- Preheat oven to 180C / 350F. Grease and line two 8 inch cake tins.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix the lemon juice and zest with the almond milk and set aside for a few minutes to "curdle".
- Stir in the sugar, oil and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients a small amount at a time until well combined.
- Transfer the batter to the cake tins, dividing the amount equally. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top and a cake tester comes out clean.
- Once baked, allow the cakes to rest in the pan for a few minutes before removing and cooling on a wire rack. Wait until completely cooled before decorating. I like to put the cakes in the freezer for a few hours or overnight so it's easier to decorate.
To make the lemon frosting
- Simply whisk the butter with the vanilla, adding a small amount of icing sugar at a time until fully incorporated. Whisk in the lemon juice. Taste and add more sugar, butter or lemon juice as needed.
To decorate
- You may need to trim your cake slices if domed on top, to create even layers.
- Place one layer on your cake stand or board and add a large dollop of icing on top. Smooth to the edges, using an icing spatula and add more as needed until you have a thick filling.
- Place the next layer on top and repeat.
- Start smoothing the frosting around the sides of the cake to create a thin "crumb layer". At this stage, I like to put the cake in the fridge for about an hour to set slightly and help make the final layer much smoother.
- Apply the rest of the frosting to the cake and work your way around, using a turntable if possible, to create a smooth layer.
- Once frosted, use a pastry brush to dip into the melted chocolate and carefully flick the chocolate onto the cake to create a speckled effect.
- Top the cake with mini eggs or chocolates to finish.
- Keep refrigerated for up to 4 days. Enjoy!
Notes
*If you can't get hold of self-raising flour, use 2 teaspoons of baking powder + ½ tsp bicarbonate soda, mixed with the flour.
Kel says
Can I use olive oil?
Aimee says
Hi Kel, it might work OK as long as you use a very mild one. Let me know how you get on!
Kelly Taylor says
I attempted this last night and a couple of requests for help.
1. the sponges didn’t rise very much – is there something I could have done wrong to cause this?
2. the buttercream separated – again any tips to avoid this happening?
Thank you!
Aimee says
Hi Kelly, sorry to hear that!
1) The only reasons I can think that might cause this is not mixing the batter well enough OR leaving the batter sit too long before baking. Also, did you definitely use self-raising flour and not plain flour?
2) I would be tempted to blame the brand of spread you used because I’ve not had this problem before, although it might be too much lemon juice. Perhaps you could try using the zest or lemon extract instead?
Hope this helps and let me know how you get on!
Trish says
I’ve never used caster sugar. Can regular cane sugar or coconut sugar be substituted?
Aimee says
Yes, regular cane sugar is fine! Caster sugar is just slightly finer, usually used in baking :-) Let me know if you try it!
Shiran @ Pretty. Simple. Sweet. says
This is one of the most beautiful vegan cakes I’ve seen :) Your photos are gorgeous, Aimee!
Aimee says
Thank you, Shiran! Coming from you, that’s so nice to hear!
Donna says
What a pretty cake – looks like absolute perfection! I am also super intrigued about those mini-eggs – will have to check them out :)
Aimee says
Thanks Donna! Yes, I was so excited when I found them :-)