This Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Yogurt Cake is sweet, tangy and seriously moist. It comes together in one bowl and is refined sugar free too. It's great for dessert, but also for breakfast or brunch!
What type of yogurt should you use for baking yogurt cake?
- I'd recommend using an unsweetened plain yogurt that doesn't contain any additional flavourings.
- For this recipe, you can use any type of plant-based yogurt: almond, soy, cashew or coconut yogurt all work well.
Tips for baking with lemons
- 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.
- For optimum lemon flavour, I would recommend using fresh lemons (not ones that you've had sitting in your fruit bowl for weeks!) and use organic lemons if possible.
- 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 make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Tip: Make sure to use a measuring jug to measure out the exact amount of plant-based yogurt!
- Transfer the batter into a 18cm / 7 inch springform baking tin lined with greased baking paper.
Tip: To prevent the sides of the cake from getting burnt, make sure that the baking paper is covering both the bottom and the sides of the tin.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool before slicing.
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 liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can use any type of plant-based yogurt: almond, soy, cashew or coconut yogurt all work well.
- You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you're not gluten-free.
- You can replace the ground almonds with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (¼ cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds and use a nut-free plant-based yogurt.
Flavour substitutions you can make
- You can add some fresh or frozen blueberries, raspberries or cherries.
- You can add some dried fruit, such as chopped dried figs or dried cranberries.
How long does this Lemon Yogurt Cake keep for?
It keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
More gluten-free vegan cakes
- Red Velvet Cake
- Tropical Carrot Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Orange Cake
- Strawberry Cake
- Vanilla Cake
- Coconut Cake
- Almond Cake
- Olive Oil Cake
- Yogurt Cake
- Raspberry Cake
- Almond Loaf Cake
- Cherry Cake
- Olive Oil Yogurt 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 Yogurt Cake
This Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Yogurt Cake is sweet, tangy and seriously moist. It comes together in one bowl and is refined sugar free too.
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Servings: 8
Calories: 328kcal
Ingredients
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 230 ml (1 cup) unsweetened plant-based yogurt * (I used coconut yogurt but you can use any other plant-based yogurt)
- 8 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (make sure to use unwaxed lemons)
- 12 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)
Instructions
- 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 yogurt 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 of plant-based milk if it's looking too dry.
- Transfer mixture into a greased baking tin lined with baking paper (I used a 7inch/18cm springform baking tin) - make sure that the baking paper is covering the bottom and the sides of the tin, to prevent the sides of the cake from getting burnt.
- Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes until risen and golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool before slicing.
- Keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Notes
*You can use any type of plant-based yogurt: almond, soy, cashew or coconut yogurt all work well.
**You can alternatively use almond flour.
- 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.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Yogurt Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 328
Calories from Fat 162
% Daily Value*
Fat 18g28%
Saturated Fat 7g35%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Sodium 41mg2%
Potassium 111mg3%
Carbohydrates 40g13%
Fiber 4g16%
Sugar 21g23%
Protein 6g12%
Vitamin A 2IU0%
Vitamin C 11mg13%
Calcium 133mg13%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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jacquie
The recipe looks delicious. However, it looks to be exactly the same as your lemon pound cake so i'm curious as to what the difference is between the two. I'm sure it is something obvious that i am just not seeing. Thanks.
Rhian Williams
Thank you for asking! It is a very similar recipe, the difference is that the pound cake recipe gives instructions for how to make it in a loaf tin (as all pound cakes are!) and this one has instructions for how to make it in a round baking tin, which is more traditional for yogurt cake. I like to post similar cake recipes with slight modifications like these, as my readers are often asking me about how to adjust a recipe for different shaped baking tins etc. I like to give different options so that people can make whatever they want depending on what shape of cake they want and what baking equipment they have on hand at home. The other main difference other than the shape, is that this one has a much shorter baking time than the pound cake recipe, so readers can pick whichever one depending on how much time they have to spend baking a cake. I hope that helps!
Kathryn
Hi - this looks delicious. I'd LOVE to try it, but I need to know something first.
Where I live, maple syrup is really expensive. Do you think the case would turn out okay to use coconut sugar instead?
Rhian, I'm really looking forward to your reply! 🙂 Thank you. Kathryn
Rhian Williams
Hi Kathryn, thank you so much for asking! Of course, it'd be perfectly fine to use coconut sugar instead of maple syrup. Or you can replace the maple syrup with the same amount of any other sweetener such as agave syrup etc, or normal cane sugar works too. I hope that helps!
Mgo
Are you thinking of adding air fryer instructions to your bakes/recipes?
Rhian Williams
Hello - no, I'm sorry I unfortunately don't own an air fryer myself so won't be able to add air fryer instructions to any of my recipes. I may think about buying one in future though. Thank you so much for your interest!
JJM
12 TABLESPOONS of sweetener? I believe that is one cup?
YIKES.
Rhian Williams
Hello - thank you for asking. Yes, it is a lot of sweetener, however lemon dessert recipes always call for a large amount of sweetener because if you want a sufficiently strong lemon flavour you need to use a lot of lemon juice, but lemon juice is naturally very sour so it requires a lot of sweetener to balance it out to make a cake that's sufficiently sweet. It is totally understandable if this recipe requires a lot more sweetener than you might want to use, in which case I would recommend using my Yogurt Cake recipe instead! It's a very similar recipe, but is not lemon-flavoured, so requires much less sweetener. I hope that helps! https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/yogurt-cake/
Shambhavi Singh
Hi,
Can plant based yougurt be replaced with buttermilk (Plant based milk + Apple cider Vinegar)?
Rhian Williams
Yes that should be fine!