If you love lemons, then this soft, sweet and slightly tart dairy free lemon pound cake is for you! A show stopping piece for any event! It’s a completely vegan lemon pound cake recipe.
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Whether you are new to the kitchen or a seasoned professional, you should have a least one show stopping dessert recipe that is your go to whenever you hear you’re going to be entertaining guests. Whether it’s a holiday get together or you just want to impress friends or clients, this dairy free lemon pound cake can do just that. Made in a bundt pan, it gives a really intricate look without much effort and the taste and texture will have everyone clamoring for more.
Key points about this delicious dairy free lemon pound cake are that it’s:
- dairy free
- egg free
- completely vegan
- cake is made in just one bowl
Watch how to make this dairy free lemon pound cake:
What ingredients do you need to make dairy free lemon pound cake?
If you are ready to make this delicious vegan lemon pound cake, you may be wondering what ingredients you are going to need. The ingredients that you need to make this homemade lemon pound cake are:
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- vegan butter
- cane sugar
- lemons
- vinegar
- almond milk (can sub another dairy free milk if nut allergy)
- vanilla extract
- unsweetened applesauce
- powdered sugar
- lemon extract
I know that sometimes 13 ingredients may seem like a lot, but this recipe has a lot of simple ingredients and mostly everything that you should already have on hand if you bake regularly.
Do I have to use fresh lemons to make this dairy free lemon pound cake?
You may be wondering if you need to use fresh lemons for this vegan lemon pound cake versus using bottled lemon juice. We highly recommend that you don’t use bottled lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice just doesn’t have the same freshness and the flavor profile in this cake will not taste as good. Plus, you need lemon zest for this recipe and you can’t get that using bottled.
If you want to prep ahead for making this lemon pound cake from scratch, then you can juice your lemons ahead of time and place them in ice cube trays. Just thaw out before you are ready to use them.
How do you make dairy free lemon pound cake?
There are three parts to this vegan lemon pound cake. The first step is making the cake. While the cake is baking, you are going to make a lemon syrup and a lemon glaze. Both of these things are necessary in order to have the most perfect and delicious, moist lemon pound cake recipe.
Preheat your oven to 350 degress. To start make the cake, you want make your vegan buttermilk by combining the vinegar and almond milk. Then, add the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Cream these together. If you are vegan and using cane sugar for the recipe, ensure that you really take your time and cream these together. You want to spend a few minutes really creaming these together. We find that a hand mixer usually does a better job at breaking this type of sugar down versus a stand mixer.
Next, add in the lemon zest, lemon juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat together again. Then, add your applesauce in four stages, beating just until combined. Now, sift in your flour. Yes, sift. Sifting gives cake lightness and airiness that you need to make it retain moisture. You really want to take the few extra seconds to sift rather than dump it in. Beat again. Finally, add in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat one last time just until combined.
Grease a bundt pan (we use this one) very liberally with coconut oil or other non-flavored oil. sprinkle with flour. If you don’t do both of these things, then you dairy free lemon pound cake is going to stick in your pan. Pour lemon pound cake mixture into the greased pan and twist the pan a few times (see video) to even out the cake. Bake for 50-60 minutes, testing the middle of the cake with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.
While the cake is baking follow the steps below to. make the lemon syrup and lemon glaze that will go on to of the cake. Once the cake it done, remove it. from the oven and let cool to touch. Flip out onto a cake stand and carefully and slowly pour the lemon syrup all around. The cake should soak up most of the lemon syrup. Wait 5 minutes, and then pour on the lemon glaze. Serve immediately or cover and eat within 3 days.
Tip: We REALLY love this zester. We’ve been using it for years and it’s one of our favorite kitchen appliances.
How to make lemon syrup for a lemon pound cake?
In a small pot over medium low heat, add in sugar and lemon juice. Stir together. Continue to stir for 5-10 minutes until it has started to thicken. Remove from heat and let thicken into a maple syrup like consistency while cake finishes baking.
How to make lemon glaze for a lemon pound cake?
In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon extract together. There should be no more sugar left and should be a pourable glaze. If it’s too thick to pour, squeeze a tiny bit more lemon juice into the bowl.
If you do not have lemon extract, you could increase the amount to 3 ½ tbsps of lemon juice. However, we HIGHLY recommend that you use the lemon extract because it has a more concentrated flavor and really make the cake pop with the extra burst of flavor.
Do I have to make this dairy free lemon pound cake in a bundt pan?
You do not have to make this vegan lemon pound cake in a bundt pan, although it does make it look really pretty. You could instead pour it into loaf pans. If you use loaf pans, grease and flour like stated above. You will likely need to evenly distribute between two loaf pans so it doesn’t pour over. Or, use 4 smaller ones if you want to distribute them to friends. Evenly pour the lemon syrup and lemon glaze over top of each.
What are other dairy free desserts or treats I can try?
We recommend you trying out some of these delicious non-dairy desserts. All recipes are dairy free, egg free, and vegan unless noted otherwise.
- Dairy Free Brownies
- Dairy Free Cinnamon Rolls
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Dairy Free Sugar Cookies
- Dairy Free Doughnuts (Not Vegan)
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Dairy Free Lemon Pound Cake (Vegan)
Ingredients
For Lemon Pound Cake
- ½ tablespoon vinegar
- ½ cup vanilla almond milk (can sub other dairy free milk)
- 1 cup vegan butter, room temperature
- 2 cups vegan cane sugar
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- Lemon Zest from 2 lemons
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Lemon Syrup
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup lemon juice
Lemon Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (more to desired thinness-see notes)
- ¼ teaspoon lemon extract
Instructions
For the dairy free lemon pound cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a bundt pan (we use this one) very liberally with coconut oil or other non-flavored oil. sprinkle with flour. Set aside.
- Make vegan buttermilk by combining the vinegar and almond milk. Set aside for 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl, add butter and sugar. Cream together for 5 minutes (see notes in post above).
- Add in the lemon zest, lemon juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat together again.
- Add in applesauce in four parts, beating just until combined after each.
- Sift in your flour. Beat again just until combined.
- Add in baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat just until combined.
- Pour lemon pound cake mixture into the greased pan and twist the pan a few times (see video) to even out the cake.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, testing the middle of the cake with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean. *Make syrup and glaze while cake bakes.
- Remove from oven. Let cool to touch.
- Flip out onto a cake stand.
- Carefully and slowly pour the lemon syrup all around. Wait 5 minutes.
- Pour on the lemon glaze.
- Serve immediately or cover and eat within 3 days.
For the Lemon Syrup
- In a small pot over medium low heat, add in sugar and lemon juice. Stir together. Continue to stir for 5-10 minutes until it has started to thicken. Remove from heat and let thicken into a maple syrup like consistency while cake finishes baking.
For the Lemon Glaze
- In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon extract together until very very combined. If it’s too thick to pour, squeeze a tiny bit more lemon juice into the bowl.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Pin this Dairy Free Lemon Pound Cake for later:
Hi – just checking – is it supposed to be 1 tablespoon of baking powder or 1 teaspoon ? I made this and it literally exploded over the pan into my oven – I did everything exactly. I’ve made it before and it was perfect. Did the recipe change? The only thing I did different was use that Pam spray with flour already in it. Do you think that could have caused the reaction if the recipe is correct?
Thanks for asking and I’m glad it worked for you before! This recipe hasn’t changed. It’s 1 tbsp baking powder and 1 tsp baking soda. Any chance you accidentally swapped them. It wouldn’t definitely explain the overflow. The greasing spray shouldn’t cause that kind of overflow by itself. Hope you try again! Let me know how it goes!
This came out really well. I took it to a work meeting and people loved it. Some people asked to take an extra piece home.
Don’t forget to let your butter soften before you get started. It does not say that in the ingredient list, but it is in the video.
YUM!
Glad it was a hit! Thanks for the catch, it’s fixed
This is by far the best pound I’ve had I made it regular pound cake it was delicious. It wasn’t dry and, it taste just like I remembered I made it for myself for my birthday.
Happy Birthday! So glad you enjoyed it
Is there a reason this cake should eaten in three days?
It’s just a recommendation for best results
I JUST finished making this cake & it is really awesome! Instead of using vegan cane, I used monk fruit sweetener throughout the recipe with the exception of the powdered sugar for the glaze. Next time I will “make” the powdered sugar using either coconut or date sugar as i prefer the sweetness of either over vegan cane or the monk fruit sweeteners. I didn’t have sufficient fresh lemon juice so i used a “high-end” bottled version which didn’t alter the lemon flavoring at all! Although I’m a tad late, my wife & I are so glad I FINALLY used this recipe! ❤❤ Please keep sharing the gifts you both have as it blesses others!
So happy to hear that you enjoyed it!
Sooo I made this cake while I was pregnant in 2022 and LOVED it! Since then, I told myself I would never use another cake recipe(I’m a sticks-with-what-she-likes type of person so I am loyal to recipes that knock my socks off). Long story short, yesterday I tried another recipe from another vegan chef and shake my head…I’m glad my husband ate it because I wasn’t… HENCE, I will never try myself like that again. For baking, yummylicious and simply recipe I’m loyal to MDF until I am no longer. God bless! Love all your work, believe in good <3.
HAHAHAH I love this comment so much. I mean I’m sad you didn’t enjoy your cake yesterday, but this is too funny
This is SUCH a good cake! Followed the recipe exactly (used apple cider vinegar + oatmilk for the buttermilk), and it came out perfectly. I was a little concerned after mixing all my wet ingredients together, it was very lumpy (I also should have taken my vegan butter out sooner to soften), but pushed on and am glad I did! Will definitely be making this again!
Glad it still worked out well!
Has anyone tried making this with GF flour? If so, how did it turn out?
We haven’t tried this one, but other ckes of ours have worked fine with 1:1 GF blends and we think this one would as well