This Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake is so easy to make, super fruity, and is topped off with a delicious and healthy "cream cheese" frosting. It's made in one bowl, is easily customisable and refined sugar free too!
Substitutions you can make to this recipe:
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (¼ cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds.
- You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.
- If you're not into blueberries, you can replace them with raspberries, blackberries or cherries.
- If you can’t get hold of coconut milk for the frosting or are feeling lazy, you can use a thick coconut yogurt instead, which adds a lovely fermented flavour reminiscent of real cream cheese, as well as a ton of gut-friendly probiotics!
Can you use frozen blueberries?
- Yes, you can use either fresh or frozen blueberries.
- If using frozen blueberries, be careful when mixing them into the batter. Otherwise, the juice from the blueberries could bleed into the rest of the batter and spoil the colour of your cake.
Tips for making this Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Make sure to use the right amount of baking powder – 2 heaped teaspoons! Use too little baking powder and your sponge won’t be fluffy, too much and it’ll have a bitter taste.
- Adding the lemon juice is crucial as it’s acidic, which means it reacts with the alkali bicarbonate of soda to create a bubbly batter, and fluffy sponge. If you can't get hold of lemon juice, add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar instead.
- Make sure to use an all-purpose shop-bought gluten-free flour blend (or a homemade gluten-free flour blend), as opposed to just using any type of gluten-free flour you can find (such as almond flour, coconut flour, buckwheat flour etc).
Tips for baking with lemons
- For optimum lemon flavour, I would recommend using fresh lemons (not ones that you've had sitting in your fruit bowl for weeks!) and organic ones if possible.
- You have to be careful when baking with lemon juice as the acidity and lemon flavour can really vary depending on the lemons you use.
- I would recommend tasting the lemon juice you're using and adjusting the amount of lemon juice you use accordingly.
- For the lemon zest, make sure you use unwaxed lemons.
How-to and tIPS FOR MAKING the “CREAM CHEESE” FROSTING
- Keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight (or for at least 12 hours) for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom.
- Make sure you use full-fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won’t happen and you won’t be able to whip it up.
- Open the tin upside down – the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid.
- Save the watery liquid you pour off for adding to soups or smoothies.
- Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl along with the other ingredients (maple syrup, lemon juice and vanilla extract).
- Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip until light and fluffy.
- Make sure the cake has cooled completely before applying the frosting, otherwise the frosting will melt!
EQUIPMENT YOU NEED TO MAKE THIS GLUTEN-FREE VEGAN LEMON BLUEBERRY CAKE:
- glass mixing bowl – for mixing the cake batter.
- measuring jug – for measuring out the plant-based milk.
- 18cm / 7 inch springform baking tin – for baking the cake.
- baking paper – to line the baking tin.
- cooling rack – to leave the cake to cool on before applying the frosting.
- electric whisk – for whipping up the coconut cream to make the vegan “cream cheese” frosting.
- palette knife for frosting – to effortlessly apply the frosting.
HOW LONG does this LEMON Blueberry Cake KEEP FOR?
Although this cake does taste best when fresh, it does keep well covered in the fridge for up to a few days. For super fluffy frosting, you should make it fresh just before serving, but the frosting will retain its shape and texture for a good few days.
More Gluten-Free Vegan Cakes:
- Red Velvet Cake
- Tropical Carrot Cake
- Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Orange Cake
- Strawberry Cake
- Vanilla Cake
- Coconut Cake
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 200 ml (⅘ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice *
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (use unwaxed lemons)
- 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) **
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 100 g (1 cup) blueberries (fresh or frozen) ***
For the frosting
- 400 g (14 oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk ****
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
To decorate:
- 150 g (1 ½ cups) fresh blueberries
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
- Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the lemon juice, lemon zest, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ground almonds.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry.
- Add the fresh blueberries and fold in gently - make sure you don’t crush them.
- Transfer mixture into a greased baking tin lined with baking paper (I used a 7inch springform baking tin).
- Bake in oven for around 30 minutes until risen and golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Once out the oven, leave to cool completely on a wire rack before applying the frosting.
For the frosting:
- You’ll need to keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom. Make sure it is full fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won’t happen and you won’t be able to make this cream!
- Open the tin upside down – the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid (save this for adding to soups or smoothies).
- Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl.
- Add the lemon juice, maple syrup and vanilla extract.
- Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy.
To decorate:
- Carefully spread the frosting over the top of the cake.
- Top with fresh blueberries.
- Best when fresh but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Notes
Tips for baking with lemons
- For optimum lemon flavour, I would recommend using fresh lemons (not ones that you've had sitting in your fruit bowl for weeks!) and organic ones if possible.
- You have to be careful when baking with lemon juice, as the acidity and lemon flavour can really vary depending on the lemons you use.
- I would recommend tasting the lemon juice you're using and adjusting the amount of lemon juice you use accordingly.
- For the lemon zest, make sure you use unwaxed lemons.
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
Clara
Looks amazing! Thanks for explaining everything so well! Would rice flour do the trick and should I change the quantity?
Many thanks!!
Rhian Williams
Yes you can use rice flour in place of the gluten-free flour - just use the same amount then add a tablespoon of tapioca flour, which will helps it stick together. Hope that helps!
Stacy
Made into muffins but was not my favorite.
Rhian Williams
So sorry to hear that but thank you for your feedback!
Anna
This cake is sooooo good! It was so moist and flavoursome.
I was dubious about not putting and sugar in and only maple syrup but wow best vegan cake I’ve ever made to date
Rhian Williams
Aw yay thank you so much, so so happy to hear that!
Ginger
The texture of my cake came out like a very very moist sticky muffin I'm not sure what I did wrong. Are you supposed to add the milk, lemon juice, flours etc. In the bowl over boiling water after the coconut oil melts or once the coconut oil melts remove it from the heat and then add the ingredients? Sorry I'm new to baking.
Rhian Williams
Hi! I'm sorry to hear that and thank you for your feedback. Did you add enough baking powder? You're supposed to remove the bowl from the boiling water once the coconut oil has melted. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Pia Massaro
Hi there. I made this cake today and I thought it was delicious. I followed the recipe without making any changes or substitution, and my batter was quite liquidy. All of the blueberries sunk to the bottom of the cake and it look close to an hour to bake. Do you have any idea why this happened or what I might be able to do differently? I plan to make it again this weekend for a party. I’m also wondering how much salt I should use? Thank you!
Rhian Williams
Hi Pia, thank you so much for making this cake and sharing your feedback! I'm sorry you had a problem with the batter, it does sound like it was too liquidy but I'm not sure why that happened - if making again I would suggest adding less milk, maybe adding it a bit at a time and mixing it until you get a batter that's fairly loose but still retains its shape. For salt I would just add a very small amount, or you can completely omit it, it doesn't make too much of a difference to leave it out! Hope that helps and please let me know if you have any other questions!