Ingredients
Scale
- 250g (2 cups) – flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon – salt
- 1 teaspoon – baking powder
- ½ teaspoon – baking soda
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 200g (1 cup) – cane or granulated sugar
- 270g (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) – lukewarm non-dairy milk, I used soy
- 2 teaspoons – fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon – vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons – lemon extract
- 100g (½ cup) – neutral oil, I used vegetable oil
Lemon Drizzle
- 150g (1 cup)- powdered sugar
- 2–3 tablespoons – fresh lemon juice
- Extra zest for topping, optional
Equipment:
- Food scale
- Measuring spoons
- Electric Hand Mixer
- Standard loaf pan https://amzn.to/3hpmsEw
- Parchment paper
- Measuring spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Rubber spatula
- Wire Cooling Rack
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit, and prepare your loaf pan by greasing it with a bit of oil and lining it with parchment paper. You want the parchment paper long enough so it hangs over the sides of the pan, as they will act as handles to pull the cake out later on.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the lukewarm non-dairy milk, fresh lemon juice, vanilla extract, and lemon extract until well combined. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar. This helps release the oils from the zest and helps boost the lemon flavor. Then add the neutral oil, and milk mixture. Use a hand mixer to combine everything together until the sugar has dissolved.
- To the bowl, add a third of the dry ingredients. Mix on low until there is no dry flour left. Add half of the dry ingredients, and mix. Then add in the remaining dry ingredients and continue to mix until you get a fairly smooth batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the surface.
- Bake the pound cake for 40-50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove from the pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Do not pour the icing at this stage, it will melt right off.
Icing:
- In a bowl combine the powdered sugar and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice at a time, whisk it together until well combined. It might not mix well at first, but it will. You want the icing to be fairly thick, so don’t be tempted to add all the lemon juice at the start.
- Pour the glaze onto the cake and spread it around the top evenly. Sprinkle some extra lemon zest and allow the glaze to set before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly. I test my recipes, 100% in grams. A common reason baked goods fail is incorrectly measured flour. I always recommend using a scale for accuracy when baking. This greatly improves your chance for success and lessens room for error.
- If you measure by cups, avoid scooping the measuring cup directly into the flour. This tends to pack the flour into the cup, resulting in too much flour and a very dense or gummy finished product. Instead, aerate your flour (fluff it with a fork or spoon) and then spoon it into your measuring cups, leveling it with your finger or the back of a butter knife. Keep in mind though, that this method is not guaranteed to be accurate.
- Why do you use soy milk for baking? Soy milk has the most protein of all the non-dairy alternatives, so for baking projects that need a lot of structure (like cakes and bread), this is the best dairy-free option.
- Line your pan with parchment paper. You definitely don’t want to cake to stick to the pan, especially as beautifully as this cake. So lightly grease your pan, and line your pan with parchment paper – long enough so it hangs over. These will act as “handles” when you are ready to remove them from the pan!
- Wash your lemons! This goes without saying, but please wash your lemons before you start zesting. Unless you’re buying organic or farm fresh, you might want to get the chemicals off your produce before you use them for baking.
- Fresh lemon juice vs. concentrated. Fresh works better in this kind of cake, as it gives a tart flavor rather than a sour one from the concentrate. Besides, you’re already buying lemons, so why not right?
- Do not let the batter sit too long. Once the wet ingredients mix in with the dry ingredients, the baking powder will start to activate. This is caused by the acid in the vegan buttermilk. So once you make your batter, immediately pour it into the pan and get it in the oven. Otherwise, your cake will deflate in the oven if you wait too long.
Keywords: vegan, vegan lemon cake, vegan lemon pound cake, lemon dessert
