This Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake is moist and fluffy, sweet and tangy and a little nutty from the poppy seeds! It's also covered in a rich, lemony frosting. It's easy to make as it comes together in one bowl, and is easily customisable too. It's also refined sugar free, and is great for birthdays, Easter, Mother's Day and baby showers!
As my Lemon Drizzle Cake is one of the most popular baking recipes I've posted, I decided to make more lemon dessert recipes, and this Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake is the answer!
How to make the cake
Scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together the ingredients for the cake in a glass mixing bowl.
Tip: Use a measuring jug to measure out the plant-based milk.
- Transfer the cake batter into a one-pound loaf tin.
Tip: Make sure to line the loaf tin with greased baking paper - this will make removing the cake from the tin so much easier!
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
- Transfer to a cooling rack to cool down before applying the frosting.
For the frosting
- Place the ingredients for the frosting in a food processor or blender.
- Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary.
- Use a knife (or palette knife for frosting) to spread the frosting over the top of the loaf.
How to decorate
I decided to decorate this cake with lemon zest and poppy seeds, but you can use whatever you like!
Substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, vegetable oil, olive oil etc.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, cashew milk, rice milk etc.
- If you don't need the cake to be gluten-free, you can replace the gluten-free flour with plain flour.
- The ground almonds can be replaced with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version, use ground sunflower seeds instead of ground almonds, use a nut-free plant-based milk and omit the frosting or make a different frosting.
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 long does this Lemon Poppy Seed Cake keep for?
This Lemon Poppy Seed Cake tasted best eaten on the day it was made, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
More vegan lemon cakes
- White Chocolate Lemon Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Mug Cake
- Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Lemon Poppy Seed Layer 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.
Watch how to make this recipe
Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 180 ml (¾ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 8 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (use unwaxed lemons)
- 12 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 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)
For the frosting:
- 100 g (⅔ cup) raw cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
- 6 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
To decorate (optional):
- Lemon zest
- Poppy seeds
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, poppy seeds 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.
- Transfer mixture into a loaf tin lined with greased baking paper (I used a one-pound loaf tin).
- Bake in oven for 45 minutes until risen and golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Once out the oven, transfer the cake from the baking tin onto a wired rack to leave it to cool completely before applying the frosting.
For the frosting:
- Drain the soaked cashews and add to a food processor or blender with the maple syrup and lemon juice.
- Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary.
To frost and decorate the cake:
- Use a knife (or palette knife) to spread frosting over the top of the loaf.
- Decorate with lemon zest and poppy seeds, if desired.
- This cake tasted best eaten on the day it was made, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
- 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.
Sunbeam
I substituted almond meal with coconut flour and it made the mixture crumbly almost like cookie batter.. so I packed them into muffin cups and it made some yummy muffin cookie things : ) not as fluffy as yours looks but definetly worked for what I already had in the kitchen. Thanks or sharing 🙂
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so glad you liked the recipe!! If substituting the almond meal with coconut flour, you can use a fifth of the amount of coconut flour and the recipe should turn out super fluffy like the almond meal original. Thank you again!
Tes
Hi x can the muffins be frozen and if not, How many days would they stay fresh? Thank you!
Rhian Williams
They keep in the fridge for up to a few days. They can be frozen though, I would suggest thawing them out and then reheating them in the oven! Hope that helps.
Anonymous
Was really looking forward to this but mine was a complete disaster. Recently had to go dairy free and have struggled to find any free from stuff that doesn’t taste like pure sugar.
Unfortunately even after following the recipe very closely and doing everything instructed, the cake wouldn’t set and then burnt. Covered it in foil to prevent it going any browner and still wouldn’t set. Where did I go wrong? Is there a reason why it wouldn’t set?
Rhian Williams
Hi - thank you for your feedback, I'm so sorry the cake didn't turn out. Did you add the right amount of liquid and what type of gluten-free flour did you use?
Morgan Lunsford
How about one loaf pan?? Or would it make two regular sized loafs? I don’t want to do muffins or have mini loaf pans :/
Rhian Williams
Yes you can use one loaf pan - see instructions for that in the recipe notes!
Morgan Lunsford
Use the cake instructions? I’m not seeing a regular sized loaf pan. Hoping you see this before morning!! Wanting to make this for a brunch I’m hosting
Rhian Williams
Hi! Sorry only just saw this. Oh I'm so sorry I thought I'd written the loaf pan option too but just realised it's a springform baking tin. It'll take around 40-45 minutes in a regular loaf pan, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Diane
This recipe looks great and well explained . It’s great to see a recipe with UK ( European ) measurements rather than just the US cup version . Will oatley milk work instead of almond mild as I’ve not always had success with it but that maybe down to the recipe or me !
Rhian Williams
Hi thank you so much! yes any type of plant-based milk will work!