Update: This recipe is updated Mar 7, 2021
Lemon cake is a refreshing dessert and snack to have, while I usually make this dairy free lemon cake with unbleached all-purpose flour I decided to change a portion of all-purpose flour to whole wheat flour. You will surely like this dairy free lemon cake because it’s dairy free and vegan.
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For the milk, I use unsweetened almond milk. Sometimes I would also use unsweetened soy milk or oat milk. I also use natural brown cane sugar instead of white. I added 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar to enhance the flavor of the cake. You can also use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
If you do not want to add rice vinegar, white vinegar, or apple cider vinegar use 2 tsp baking powder instead of baking soda.
The color of this dairy free lemon cake is a bit dark because of the brown sugar but I like it better. I’ve been using natural brown cane sugar in my baking instead of white it’s still sugar tho but at least better than white.
This lemon cake is not only dairy free but also vegan since it does not contain any eggs. But I also did not use flax egg for this recipe.
You can skip flax egg if you do not want the color to be affected, especially if you are using white sugar and I have tried it without flax egg and it works.
Instead of spreading a glaze, I use lemon buttercream frosting. You can still top it off with a glaze if you prefer. I spread it not covering enough to make it look more naked and since its already sweet I do not want to put too much frosting as well.
To finish it add some more lemon zest on top of the cake before serving. I live in a hot country so I decided to put my cake in the fridge for an hour.
There are no fancy ingredients in this dairy free lemon cake almost still the same as last time except that I increased the amount of flour used and added rice vinegar. You can use a loaf pan or cake pan for this recipe.
Benefits of Lemon
Lemon is good for the body and adding a few slices of lemon to your water is very refreshing.
- It can enhance the flavor of the water
- According to research lemons can aid to weight loss
- It is a good source of vitamin C
For more information about lemons check this article from Healthline.

Dairy Free Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup dairy free milk
- 1/2 cup canola oil or butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp lemon zest + 1 tbsp (extra)
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- For frosting
- 4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 1/4 cup shortening (optional)
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Prepare the lemons, wash thoroughly. Grate the lemon skins for the zest and prepare the lemon juice.
- Preheat oven to 350F or 180C.
- In a medium size bowl mix dry ingredients. All-purpose flour, whole wheat flour baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl add wet ingredients with sugar and lemon zest. Almond milk, melted butter, rice vinegar, vanilla, and lemon juice.
- Make a well and slowly pour liquid ingredients with dry ingredients. Mix well until there are no visible dry ingredients.
- Prepare your baking cake pan. I use my 8” cake pan. You can grease your pan or use a cake parchment paper and pour the batter.

- Bake for about 30 minutes until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool first before transferring in a wire cooling rack and to complete the process for frosting.

Frosting
- Combine butter and vegetable shortening. Beat together with an electric mixer or whisk by hand.
- After mixing add sifted powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla.
- Mix together until becomes well combined and thick for about 10 minutes. It should look spreadable.
- Spread through the cake.
- Top with lemon zest, serve and enjoy.
Notes
- You can use 3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and skip changing a portion to whole wheat flour. I do not suggest using whole wheat flour alone.
- You can use any non-dairy free milk and use white sugar of your choice.
- If you do not want to add frosting you can skip the process or add a glaze instead. I have tried it and it’s still delicious.
- Using shortening is optional just check the ingredients if you want the cake vegan to make sure it has no animal fat.
- My goal is to create a naked dairy free lemon cake so I did not fully cover it with the frosting.
- Optional glaze to replace frosting: 1 tsp lemon juice + 1/2 cup icing sugar
Nutrition
This recipe can yield up to 18 servings with 184 calories per serving and 289 calories with frosting. | Total Fat 9.5g | Saturated Fat 3.3g | Cholesterol 0mg | Sodium 141mg | Total Carbohydrate 22.6g | Dietary Fiber 1.6g | Total Sugars 6.6g | Protein 2.7g | Vitamin D 0mcg | Calcium 10mg | Iron 1mg | Potassium 62mg
Nutrition calculation is based using an online calculator (verywellfit) and for reference use only.

Dairy Free Lemon Cake
Equipment
- 2 mixing bowls
- spatula
- electric mixer
- measuring cups and spoons
- whisk
Ingredients Needed
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup dairy free milk (I use almond milk)
- 1/2 cup canola oil or butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp lemon zest + 1 tbsp (extra for garnishing)
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
Frosting
- 4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Prepare the lemons, wash thoroughly. Grate the lemon skins for the zest and prepare the lemon juice.
- Preheat oven to 350F or 180C.
- In a medium-size bowl mix dry ingredients. All-purpose flour, whole wheat flour baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl add wet ingredients with sugar and lemon zest. Almond milk, melted butter, rice vinegar, vanilla, and lemon juice.
- Make a well and slowly pour liquid ingredients with dry ingredients. Mix well until there are no visible dry ingredients.
- Prepare your baking cake pan. I use my 8” cake pan. You can grease your pan or use cake parchment paper and pour the batter.
- Bake for about 30 minutes until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool first before transferring in a wire cooling rack and complete the process for frosting.
Frosting
- Combine butter and vegetable shortening. Beat together with an electric mixer or whisk by hand.
- After mixing add sifted powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla.
- Mix together until becomes well combined and thick for about 10 minutes. It should look spreadable.
- Spread through the cake.
- Top with lemon zest, serve and enjoy.
Notes
- You can use 3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and skip changing a portion to whole wheat flour. I do not suggest using whole wheat flour alone.
- You can use any non-dairy free milk and use white sugar of your choice.
- If you do not want to add frosting you can skip the process or add a glaze instead. I have tried it and it’s still delicious.
- Using shortening is optional just check the ingredients if you want the cake vegan to make sure it has no animal fat.
- My goal is to create a naked dairy free lemon cake so I did not fully cover it with the frosting.
- Optional glaze to replace frosting: 1 tsp lemon juice + 1/2 cup icing sugar
Did you make this dairy free lemon cake? Snap a photo and tag #therunningbaker24 and @therunningbaker24 on Instagram
Other sweet dairy free treats

This cake looks so tempting with that wonderful frosting. I love anything lemon so this is sure to be a hit!
thank you Cindy
So delicious and perfect for that 2 o’clock snack or a Sunday dessert.
thanks Gab!
Hm… I love the idea of lactose free lemon cake. My brother in law is lactose intolerant so I will try to make this for him.
thank you Marita:)
I bake with unsweetened almond milk all the time and would never know the difference, it’s great. I love lemon cake, this one sounds delicious with the brown sugar!
thank you Leah
Yum this looks delicious! I love the lemon zest on top. Lemon is so great in sweets
thanks Kalin!
I have been into oat milk lately but hadn’t run across baking recipes that specifically call for it. I will be sure to try this one out!
thank you Maureen 🙂 I know many uses soy milk, but I like to interchange whatever I have and it works too!
I love lemon cake! This recipe looks great, and it’s so nice that it’s dairy-free! Thanks for sharing 🙂
thank you Alyssa 🙂 glad you like the recipe
Amazing!! I love a lemon cake. Will have to try this one!
thanks Lorna, let me know how it goes 🙂
I tried something similar with almond milk, oat milk sounds like a great idea. Will be trying next!
thank you evergreen, glad you like eat I also bake using Almond milk its great alternative too
This looks delicious! I love lemon cake, one of my faves x
thanks Jo
This cake looks fabulous and I love that it is dairy free. I love lemon cake as it is always refreshing. Thanks for a great recipe!
Glad you like it. You are welcome Kim 🙂
The recipe looks great! Is it possible to use soy milk instead of oat milk?
Hi Sara! I haven’t tried I usually use Almond and Oat milk. If you use Soy milk maybe choose unsweetened for a healthier option since Soy milk is sweet. Thank you 🙂
It looks so good! Lemon cake was my favourite growing up. Can’t wait to try.
aww thanks Lauren 🙂