Vegan Lemon Cake With Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Vegan Lemon Cake With Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
This vegan layer cake is the lemoniest cake you'll ever try! Tangy lemon curd is sandwiched between two layers of tender cake, flavored using the zest of 4 whole lemons. It has a beautiful golden crumb that melts in your mouth. No one will guess that it's completely eggless and dairy-free. The cream cheese frosting also uses homemade lemon curd, which packs way more flavor than just lemons or lemon extract.
Method
- Lemon CakePrepare: Preheat your oven to fan-forced 160°C/320°F or conventional 180°C/356°F. Line the base of two 8" cake tins with a circle of parchment paper and liberally grease the sides with oil or vegan butter.
- Combine dry ingredients: Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Make vegan buttermilk: In a jug, mix the soy milk and lemon juice. Set aside.Flavor the sugar: Add the sugar and lemon zest to the bowl of your stand mixer or a large mixing bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar crystals feel "wet".
- Cream the butter and sugar: Add the softened butter to the bowl and beat using an electric whisk or the paddle attachment of your stand mixer for 1-2 minutes until combined.
- Add wet ingredients: Add the vanilla and yogurt to the butter in 2-3 parts whilst mixing until incorporated. Don't worry if the mixture appears a little split at this stage.
- Make the batter: Add around ⅓ of the dry ingredients and ⅓ of the vegan buttermilk to the batter and mix. Repeat this for the rest of the dry ingredients and buttermilk in 2 more increments until all of the ingredients are mixed into the batter. Stop as soon as there are no visible pockets of flour – don't overmix!
- Bake: Transfer the cake batter to the lined cake pans and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. To check they are done, insert a skewer or toothpick into the center – it should come out almost clean with a few crumbs.
- Cool the cakes: Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for 10 minutes and then carefully turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool further. Carefully peel away the parchment that will stick to the base of the cakes.
- Lemon Cream Cheese FrostingPrep the lemon curd: Make the lemon curd and let it cool to room temperature before use. If you prepped it in advance, take it out of the fridge at least an hour beforehand and whisk it until smooth.
- Whisk the ingredients: Using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer or a hand-held whisk, beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
- Add lemon curd: Slowly start adding 200g of the lemon curd (around ⅔ of the half batch) to the bowl and whisk until incorporated. The remaining lemon curd will be used for the filling.
- Add sugar: Slowly add the powdered sugar and whisk until combined.
- AssemblyFirst layer: Once the cakes are cooled, sit the first layer on a turntable. Add around ⅓ of the frosting on top of the first cake layer, and use an offset spatula to spread it in an even layer.
- Lemon filling: Pipe a ring of frosting around the edge to create a dam for the lemon curd. Add the remaining lemon curd inside the dam and carefully smooth it out using the spatula.
- Final assembly: Add the next layer of cake. Use the remaining frosting to coat around the top and down the sides of the cake. Carefully smooth everything out with a cake scraper. Garnish with fresh mint leaves, daisies, and lemon segments!
Notes
- Soy Milk: This gives the best result, but you can also use almond milk or oat milk.
- Lemon Zest & Juice: Use 4 medium unwaxed lemons. Zest the lemons first, then juice them.
- Vegan Butter: Take it out of the fridge around an hour before use and let it sit on your kitchen counter.
- Vegan Lemon Curd: A half batch is enough for the frosting and filling. You’ll need to make this separately.
- Vegan Cream Cheese: Take it out of the fridge around an hour before use and let it sit on your kitchen counter.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: This is key for both the cake and frosting to help ingredients emulsify easily.