This vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake has a soft, dense crumb with pockets of luscious blueberries and zesty lemon. On top, for more divine deliciousness, goes a topping of blueberries and lemons. Vegan, soy-free and nut-free recipe.
I had been dreaming of baking up this vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake for ages, and I finally got a chance to this past weekend. It was well worth the wait.
This is a wickedly good cake, with a moist, tender crumb and little gooey bits of blueberries and pockets of lemon zest infused throughout. But what takes this really great cake over the top is the blueberry lemon topping that I spooned on top.
This is a versatile topping that you can spoon over almost any breakfast goodie, like pancakes or waffles or crepes. But on this cake it is, in one word, amazing.
I decided to go with a fresh, fruity topping because it's infinitely lighter than a buttercream or even a glaze. If you know anything about my obsession with lemon cakes, you know I like them super lemony, and the topping gives me a great opportunity to infuse more lemony flavor into the cake.
This is a huge cake, and it's not a guilty pleasure at just 261 calories and seven grams of fat in one large slice. The blueberries, I daresay, even make it a tad healthy.
Tips for making the best vegan lemon blueberry cake
Both! This cake has a double dose of both blueberries and lemons, so it's important to add fresh blueberries to the cake batter, and also more blueberries in the topping. I add three cups of blueberries to the cake and another cup and a half to the topping, so there's a ton of blueberries in here.
This batter is thick enough to keep the blueberries suspended evenly throughout, but if you want more insurance, toss the blueberries with 1 tbsp of flour before you add them to the cake batter, which will keep them from sinking to the bottom.
You can keep the cake, covered, at room temperature, for a couple of days, or you can refrigerate it, tightly covered, for about a week. If you freeze the cake, be sure to do so before you add the topping. Thaw the cake and add the topping before you serve.
No, you can bake this in a bundt pan or in two eight- or nine-inch cake pans for a layer cake. Or use any pan you want to. Keep in mind that different shaped pans may require different baking times, so start checking for doneness after about 40 minutes in the oven.
Ingredients for the cake
- Unbleached all purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Vegetable oil
- Applesauce
- Sugar
- Pure vanilla extract
- Nondairy milk (I used almond but use any of your choice)
- Apple cider vinegar
- Lemons
- Blueberries
- Tapioca starch
Looking for more vegan cake recipes?
- Vegan Orange Cake with Orange Marmalade Frosting
- Vegan Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake
- Vegan Zucchini Cake with Orange Marmalade Glaze
- Vegan Lemon Yogurt Bundt Cake
- Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake with a Lemon Glaze
Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake
Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ⅔ cup unbleached all purpose flour (can sub whole wheat pastry flour)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups turbinado sugar (or vegan cane sugar)
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup applesauce
- 1 ¾ cup almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- Zest of two lemons
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups blueberries
For Lemon Blueberry Topping:
- 1 ½ cups blueberries
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Zest of one lemon
- ½ cup turbinado sugar (or vegan cane sugar)
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Oil and flour a 9-inch springform pan or a bundt pan.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
- Put the oil, sugar and applesauce in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed for two minutes. Scrape down the bottom and sides of bowl, then add the lemon juice, zest, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and milk.
- Add the flour to the milk-oil mixture in two batches, mixing for no more than 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything's mixed.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the blueberries. You can toss the blueberries with a tablespoon of flour first if you want to make sure they don't sink to the bottom of the cake. I didn't coat them and they didn't sink.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, place the pan on a baking sheet, and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cake pan to a rack and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before unmolding. If using a bundt pan, unmold by placing a plate over the mouth of the pan and flipping in a quick motion.
Make the lemon blueberry topping
- Place the blueberries in a saucepan with the sugar, ½ cup water and lemon juice and zest. Bring to boil over medium heat and let the blueberries cook, covered, until they begin to burst. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir in the vanilla.
- Whisk the tapioca with the water and add it to the blueberry mixture, whisking as you add. The topping should thicken. Turn off the heat. This is a fairly runny topping, which we like in our home -- if you want a thicker topping, double the amount of tapioca.
- Pour the topping over the cooled cake, slice and serve.
Nutrition
My family and I LOVED this cake! I'm pretty new to baking and had so much fun dripping this delicious sauce over the top ooff!!!!
Simple, light and delicious, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Thank you!
You don't address the VANILLA in the TOPPING in your instructions.
Added!
Hi! I'm in the process of making this cake now! I noticed your comment on the thickness of the batter...mine seems a bit soupy. Is the almond/non-dairy milk amount 1.75 cups? I also assumed the ACV is meant to be added to the nondairy milk a few minutes before adding to the rest of the batter, yea?
Thank you!
1.75 U.S. cups. And okay to add ACV earlier or later--doesn't really matter/
Hi! Can hardly wait to try this. Would frozen blueberries work for either the cake or topping? And if I have a six inch round cake pan, would you recommend halving the recipe to ensure it cooks through? Thank you!
Just add the frozen blueberries to the batter at the same point as you'd add the fresh. Frozen are fine for the topping, shouldn't make any difference.
Thank you! Do you think a 6” cake pan would be too small for this recipe and should be halved? Thanks again!
A six inch pan would be too small, unfortunately. If you use it, definitely halve the recipe.
I halved it and it was deliciously perfect. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Do you use unsweetened or sweetened almond milk?
Unsweetened!
Great!
Blueberry cake is a mouth watering dessert that everyone can enjoy after a meal!!!! It is one of my favorite desserts. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this beautiful recipe
A must try
Made this cake for my boyfriend for his birthday. Swapped the blueberry with a mixture of all sorts of summer fruits. He loved it!