This Vegan Lemon Cobbler has a sweet and tangy lemon sauce under a soft, "buttery" topping. It's also gluten-free and refined sugar free. A comforting dessert that's perfect for sharing and entertaining!
How is the lemon sauce made?
The lemon sauce is made using shop-bought custard powder.
This is my favourite custard powder - it's vegan, gluten-free and sugar-free, and contains just 4 simple ingredients!
Not only does this custard powder act as a thickener, making the lemon custard extra creamy, but it also adds a lovely colour without having to use something like turmeric.
What can the custard powder be replaced with?
If you can't get hold of a shop-bought custard powder, you can replace it with the same amount of cornflour (cornstarch) or arrowroot, which will result in a similar texture, though the colour will be considerably less yellow.
To add yellow colour, I would suggest adding a tiny pinch of saffron, which I much prefer to turmeric as it has a much milder flavour.
What type of plant-based milk should you use to make the lemon sauce?
You can use any type of plant-based milk, though results do vary depending on which you choose: cashew, oat or coconut milk make a super thick and creamy sauce, whilst almond milk will be less creamy. I like to use rice milk as it creates a sticky lemon curd-like consistency which I love.
How to make the lemon sauce
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Measure out the rice milk in a measuring jug.
- Pour the milk into a pan, leaving behind a few tablespoons of milk in the jug.
- Heat up the milk.
- Add the custard powder to the remaining milk in the jug and mix well, ensuring it has dissolved completely.
- Once the milk in the pan is steaming, add approximately half of the hot milk to the bowl with the dissolved custard powder, mix well and transfer the custard powder mixture to the pan.
- Mix well and keep stirring on a low heat for around 5 minutes, until thickened.
- Add the lemon juice and maple syrup.
- Pour into a baking dish - I used one measuring 26 cm (10 inch) by 18 cm (7 inch) and 7 cm (2 ½ inch) tall.
How to make the cobbler
- Place all the ingredients for the topping in a mixing bowl and mix well.
Tip: Add the plant-based milk a little bit at a time until you get a fairly soft dough.
- Use two tablespoons to place a heaped tablespoon of the dough on top of the lemon sauce.
- Repeat for the rest of the mixture - you should be able to make around 12 balls.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until browned and an inserted skewer into the topping comes out clean.
- Best enjoyed immediately!
Serving suggestions
This Lemon Cobbler tastes especially good with some vegan vanilla ice cream!
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.
- If you don't need the cobbler 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 and use a nut-free plant-based milk.
Substitutions to be careful of
I would recommend making the lemon sauce with rice milk - you can use any type of plant-based milk, but results do vary depending on which you choose: cashew, oat or coconut milk make a super thick and creamy sauce, whilst almond milk will be less creamy. I like to use rice milk as it creates a lemon curd-like consistency which I love.
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 keep for?
- It's best eaten straight out of the oven while it's still warm and the lemon sauce is still runny.
- It does keep covered in the fridge for up to a couple of days, but the sauce won't stay runny.
More vegan lemon desserts
- Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Lemon Bars
- Lemon Cookies
- Lemon Crumble Bars
- Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Lemon Bread
- Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
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.
Vegan Lemon Cobbler (Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
For the lemon sauce:
- 530 ml (2 ¼ cup) unsweetened rice milk * (see notes for substitutions)
- 35 g (⅓ cup) custard powder ** (or sub cornflour/cornstarch or arrowroot)
- 8 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
For the topping:
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (use unwaxed lemons)
- 10 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 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)
- 120 ml (½ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
Instructions
For the lemon sauce:
- Measure out the milk in a jug or measuring container.
- Pour the milk into a pan, leaving behind a few tablespoons of milk in the jug.
- Heat up the milk in the pan.
- Add the custard powder to the remaining milk in the jug and mix well, ensuring it has dissolved completely.
- Once the milk in the pan is steaming, add approximately half of the hot milk to the bowl with the dissolved custard powder, mix well and transfer the custard powder mixture to the pan.
- Mix well and keep stirring on a low heat for around 5 minutes, until thickened.
- Add the lemon juice and maple syrup, and mix well.
- Taste and add extra lemon juice or maple syrup, if desired.
- Transfer the sauce into a baking dish - I used one measuring 26 cm (10 inch) by 18 cm (7 inch) and 7 cm (2 ½ inch) tall.
For the topping:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place all the ingredients for the topping in a bowl and mix well (no need to sift in the flour) - add the milk a little bit at a time until you get a fairly soft dough (you can also add a tiny splash more milk if it's looking too dry.
- Use two tablespoons to place a heaped tablespoon of the dough on top of the lemon sauce.
- Repeat for the rest of the mixture - you should be able to make around 12 soft balls.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until browned and an inserted skewer into the topping comes out clean.
- Best enjoyed immediately!
Notes
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.
Anonymous
I'll make it this weekend!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, hope you'll love it!