The best vegan lemon poppy seed cake is light, fluffy and moist with loads of lemon flavor and poppy seeds. Topped with vegan lemon buttercream frosting.
It’s no secret that I LOVE a lemon dessert. So of course this vegan lemon poppy seed cake is my new favorite.
The recipe is based on our fabulous vegan lemon cake, with the addition of poppy seeds for flavor and crunch. And they look gorgeous too.
It’s frosted with vegan lemon buttercream frosting for the perfect layer cake.
It’s also versatile and can be made as a two or three layer cake.
Ingredients You’ll Need For The Cake:
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- White vinegar – distilled white vinegar reacts with the baking soda and creates the gorgeous rise for this cake. You can also use apple cider vinegar.
- Lemon zest – is added to the cake batter and adds a lovely subtle lemon flavor. We love using a zester for ease of use.
- Canola oil – can be switched for vegetable oil.
- Lemon extract – adds heaps of lemon flavor. You can use lemon juice instead if you can’t get hold of lemon extract, but the flavor will be much more subtle.
- Soy milk – can be switched for a different non-dairy milk.
Ingredients For The Frosting:
Frosting Notes
- Lemon extract – adds heaps of lemon flavor but if you can’t get hold of it then just use extra lemon juice.
- Lemon juice – should ideally be freshly squeezed.
How To Make Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl. Add white granulated sugar, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds and mix together.
- Add soy milk, oil, vinegar, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon zest and mix into a batter. Only mix until the ingredients are combined, don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between two 8-inch cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with parchment paper along the bottoms).
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- When the cakes are completely cool, frost with vegan lemon buttercream frosting.
Baker’s Tips
Weigh the flour. For the best results weigh your flour out on a food scale. If you don’t have a food scale then spoon and level. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup, level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup.
Don’t overmix the batter. Mix until just mixed.
Baking pan sizes. This cake can be baked in two 8-inch cake pans OR two 9-inch cake pans for a two layer cake. Or it can be baked in three 8-inch cake pans as a three layer cake. For a two layer 9-inch cake or a three layer 8-inch cake the baking time can be reduced by 5 minutes (from 30 minutes to 25 minutes).
Gluten free. We have not tested this cake as gluten free but our best guess is that a gluten free all purpose baking blend should work well.
Storing and Freezing
Keep your vegan lemon poppy seed cake stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
It’s freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Lemon Desserts
- Vegan Lemon Bars
- Vegan Lemon Curd
- Vegan Lemon Pie
- Vegan Lemon Cookies
- Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Pound Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ⅔ cups All Purpose Flour (330g)
- 1 ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ cup Poppy Seeds (34g)
- 1 ½ cups Soy Milk (360ml) or other non dairy milk
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 teaspoons Lemon Extract
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Zest
Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Extract
- 2-3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice Freshly Squeezed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and spay two 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl. Add white granulated sugar, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds and mix together.
- Add soy milk, oil, vinegar, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon zest and mix into a batter. Only mix until the ingredients are combined, don't overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between two 8-inch cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with parchment paper along the bottoms).
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
- Add vegan butter to the bowl of your stand mixer and beat it until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar, lemon extract and lemon juice and beat it in until fluffy and smooth.
- When the cakes are completely cool, frost with the lemon frosting and let it set in the fridge for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Weigh the flour. For the best results weigh your flour out on a food scale. If you don’t have a food scale then spoon and level. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup, level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup.
- Lemon extract – adds heaps of lemon flavor. You can use lemon juice instead if you can’t get hold of lemon extract, but the flavor will be much more subtle.
- Baking pan sizes. This cake can be baked in two 8-inch cake pans OR two 9-inch cake pans for a two layer cake. Or it can be baked in three 8-inch cake pans as a three layer cake. For a two layer 9-inch cake or a three layer 8-inch cake the baking time can be reduced by 5 minutes (from 30 minutes to 25 minutes).
- Gluten free. We have not tested this cake as gluten free but our best guess is that a gluten free all purpose baking blend should work well.
- Frosting. If you’re using a tub-style vegan butter then you can just add all your ingredients to the stand mixer at once, no need to beat the butter first before adding the other ingredients. In this case you may only need 2 tablespoons lemon juice as well. If you’re using a very firm stick-style vegan butter then beat it first in the stand mixer and then add the rest of the ingredients as per the recipe instructions. In this case you will likely need the full 3 tablespoons of lemon juice as stick style vegan butters have a lower water content.
- Storing and freezing: Keep it stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Let it come to room temperature before serving. It’s freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
Wow! Alison, my family loved it!
I used golden caster sugar, (UK) and substituted lemon essence, with lemon oil (1/8 of tsp per teaspoon of essence) it was perfect.
Look forward to trying out other recipes.
Thank you 🙏🏼
Awesome! Happy to hear you and your family enjoy the recipe Marcia!
Hi Alison,
Recipe sounds amazing along with the reviews. Would golden caster sugar work?
Can this be made as cupcakes/muffins?
Yes, you can make cupcakes from this recipe!
I’ve made this twice now, so delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, but the first time I made 2 cakes in loaf tins, and the second time I made 15 cupcakes. I’ll definitely make it again. So reliable and easy, no ‘weird’ ingredients. I’ve found all the cake recipes on this site to be no-fail and loved by both vegans and non-vegans, thank you Alison!
Thank you so much Wren! 🙂
This was delicious! Followed the recipe to a T although I used only one large cake pan and didn’t used butter for the frosting, only made a glaze with confectionery sugar, lemon juice and a bit of oat milk. I lt was absolutely delicious, moist and fluffy and so so good. Thank you!
So glad you loved it Carla, thanks for the amazing review!
First vegan cake my daughter and I ever made and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipes!
That’s awesome Dina! Thanks so much for sharing and the wonderful review!
Could this work in a loaf tin? Also if I used self raising gluten free flour should I just leave out the baking powder? Many thanks 🙂
Hi Natasha, I think if you only have a loaf pan it will be better to halve the recipe. The baking time will also likely be a bit longer. If you use gluten free self raising then you could try reducing the baking soda (bicarbonate of soda if you’re in the UK) by half.
This was perfect. I made it to celebrate our son’s 40th birthday with friends. He wasn’t there lol. It was perfectly moist. I only used lemon juice and zest no extract. It was lovely and is definitely in my saved recipes. Our friends were amazed it was vegan.
Thanks so much for the lovely review Ann! So happy everyone enjoyed it!
This cake was amazing! So moist and lemony!
Hi! How long would you suggest baking this if all the batter was put in a bundt pan? Thanks!
I haven’t tested this in a bundt pan but my guess is at least 45 minutes but it could be longer, up to an hour.
Absolutely amazing cake. I love lemon desserts but not a fan of the eggs in those desserts. This is something I will be trying.
Hi Alison! How’s this cake in a bundt pan with no frosting?
I haven’t tested it in a bundt pan but it should work fine, the only thing to adjust is the baking time, my guess is it would take at least 45 minutes but might be longer.
Is it possible to make this an oil free and butter free recipe?
You can try replacing the oil with applesauce. It usually works but it does have a slightly different texture. For the frosting you could just go with a powdered sugar and lemon juice glaze. Have a look at our vegan lemon pound cake for an example.