I love lemon, especially in the Spring. It’s just so light and refreshing and it pairs perfectly with warm weather. I made this Vegan Lemon Loaf Cake last weekend and ate literally ¾ of the cake in two days. I just kept cutting off slivers until it is was gone. Definitely not healthy, but it was so delicious I could not stop myself. This would be a perfect light dessert for Easter. When I think of Easter, usually I think of chocolate bunnies and sugary candy filled Easter baskets. As an adult, I obviously don’t get an Easter basket, but it just feels wrong not to have some kind of a treat! This lemon cake if the perfect sweet treat. It reminds me of the Starbucks version, but healthier. It has all the flavor but not all of the fat and calories. This cake is Vegan and does not use any eggs or dairy products. It calls for non-dairy yogurt or sour cream. If you don’t care about it being Vegan, you can certainly sub regular yogurt or sour cream and get the same results. If you try this cake, let me know how you like it!
Note: You can sub coconut oil for the canola/vegetable oil, but you will most likely taste the coconut. (Which for the record, I think would be delicious and I will probably try next time). You can also use all all-purpose flour, but I like to sneak in whole wheat whenever I can!
Active Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 12
Ingredients:
For the Cake: 1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup coconut sugar (or granulated sugar) zest of one lemon ½ cup vegetable or canola oil 1½ tablespoons water 1 cup vegan sour cream or yogurt (or regular Greek yogurt) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup vegan butter, melted (or sub regular butter)
For the Glaze: 1½ tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup powdered sugar
Directions: Preheat oven to 320 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan and sprinkle with flour. Set aside. Combine flours, baking soda, salt, coconut sugar, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Add the water, vegan sour cream/yogurt, vanilla, lemon juice, and melted butter. Stir to combine, but do not over-mix.
Pour into the loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake and allow to cool completely.
For the icing, combine the lemon juice and powdered sugar until creamy. Spread over the cake and allow to cool before slicing.
Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories: 279 Fat: 14g Carbs: 38g Protein: 3g Sodium: 252mg Sugar: 22g
*Nutrition information is based on the products I used personally in this recipe. Different products may yield slightly different information.
