by Raquel Smith
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Do I even need to say more about this pound cake?? I mean, just look at this photo…
I can’t even. So buttery/sugary/lemony/delicious. All in one bite (and every bite).
This cake is for Easter. Everything about it screams “spring!” from the lemon in the cake to the lemon glaze on top to the lemon flowers (definitely not necessary). I don’t know what our plans are for Easter this year, but I do know it involves this vegan pound cake.
This pound cake took me all week. I tried and tried and tried again until I had the perfect vegan pound cake to give you. And here it is! There are a few things going on with this amazing cake. They’re all really simple and you most likely have everything you need to make it in your pantry right now… but stuffs going on.
The first thing? Flour. Let’s talk about flour.
Let’s just get this out on the table here… not all flours are created equal. If you want to get really high-quality baked goods, you have to start with high-quality ingredients. I always bake with unbleached, unenriched, organic flour because that’s what I’ve found gives me the best results.
Bob’s Red Mill Organic Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour available on Amazon
One of my go-to flours is Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour. It does an amazing job with anything from crusty breads to buttery cakes, like this one. Or, you can even grind your own flour at home using a grain mill.
Second, aquafaba. I know you’re either 1) looking at the screen super weird and about to close the window (BUT WAIT!) or 2) nodding your head thinking, “yes, yes… aquafaba…” For all you skeptics out there, I just have one thing to say: I totally get it and I am right there with you.
Aquafaba is the liquid on top of a can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans. There’s something about it that behaves remarkably similarly to eggs in baking and stove top cooking. A case in point, meringue cookies. Heck, you can even make mayo with the stuff.
It doesn’t leave any bean-y taste behind, or else I wouldn’t use it.
I tried making this cake with just flax seed but it didn’t rise quite as high and the texture wasn’t as good. It still worked, but it was about 85% of the way there. If you are weirded out by the aquafaba and/or don’t have a can of beans on hand, feel free to give it a shot using flax seeds.
Next up is this glaze. Super simple and definitely key. I didn’t glaze the first few cakes I made because I was mostly concerned about the texture of the cake, not the glaze. But once I got the texture right and added a glaze to this one I realized what I was missing out on the last ones.
Glaze your cake! Do not skip this step – it totally completes it.
Vegan Lemon Pound Cake
- Author: Raquel Smith
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 slices 1x
Description
This vegan lemon pound cake recipe is everything you love about regular pound cake… just without the dairy! With a simple & delicious lemon glaze.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cake:
- 1/2 cup vegan margarine plus more for greasing pan, room temperature (I used Earth Balance)*
- 1 cup vegan granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp almond milk
- 6 Tbsp aquafaba*
- zest of 1 lemon, finely grated*
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon’s worth)
- 1 3/4 cups organic all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/16 tsp turmeric (for color), optional
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup vegan powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Melt a bit of margarine and add to an 8×4″ baking pan. Use a pastry brush to spread it all around the pan, making sure to get in all the corners. Add about 2 Tbsp flour to the pan and shake it around until fully coated. Tap excess flour out and set aside.
- Add the margarine and the sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.* Beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- While the margarine and sugar are being creamed together, combine the almond milk and flax seed in a medium bowl to make a flax egg, and mix well. Grate the lemon zest and add it with the lemon juice to the milk mixture.
- In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and turmeric.
- Add the aquafaba to the mixing bowl 2 tablespoons at a time, and beat for about 20-30 seconds between additions.
- Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the mixer and mix on low until just incorporated. Follow with half the liquid, and mix on low to combine. Repeat with 1/3 the flour, the rest of the milk, and then the remainder of the flour.
- Pour the batter into the prepared 8×4″ loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, tenting with foil after about 45 minutes if needed to prevent over-browning. When done, a pick inserted into the center should come out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then carefully run a thin knife around the edges and invert to remove from the pan. Gently flip to right the cake, then let cool completely before glazing.
For the Glaze:
- Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add the lemon juice and stir until incorporated.
- Drizzle over the top of the cake, spreading with a spoon if needed. Let harden for 1-2 hours before serving.
Notes
- You can either let your margarine sit out for an hour or two, or heat it in the microwave for 20 seconds.
- Aquafaba is the liquid found in a can of chickpeas, and it makes an excellent vegan egg replacement in baking. You can omit if you’re weirded out by it, just replace with an equal amount of almond milk and an extra tablespoon of flax seed. The cake won’t rise quite as nicely.
- Use Meyer lemons if you can find them.
- I don’t recommend just using cooking oil spray to coat your pan – it’ll stick. Grease with margarine and then flour the pan for best results.
- You can use a hand mixer for this. I don’t recommend creaming the margarine and sugar together with just a whisk since it’ll be difficult to beat enough air in, but you’re welcome to try.
- I recommend letting the cake sit for 24 hours before eating – the texture improves a bit.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Baked Goods
Keywords: lemon, pound cake, vegan,
Every Easter growing up we’d do a big breakfast with bacon, eggs, and cinnamon rolls. My favorite part was always the cinnamon rolls – but mostly the cinnamon roll frosting. I’ve always had a sweet tooth. After making this cake, I’d be hard-pressed to choose between this or a batch of vegan cinnamon rolls for breakfast… maybe both?
For a non-vegan recipe with a similar flavor profile, bake a loaf of our lemon yogurt cake. It’s just as light and bright as this one! And if you prefer orange to lemon, we have a super moist orange pound cake you’ll love, topped with a white chocolate glaze!
Here are even more vegan cake recipes to keep that sweet tooth happy:
- Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes
- Chocolate Wacky Cake
- Blueberry Coffee Cake
Photos by Raquel Smith, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Originally published March 19th, 2016. Last updated March 21st, 2018.
Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.
About Raquel Smith
Raquel is a whole foods enthusiast, an avid mountain biker, and a dog lover. She works by day at Food Blogger Pro and formerly maintained her food blog "My California Roots" (now merged into Foodal).
