This moist vegan almond cake combines some nutty flavors with subtle lemon flavors. It's vegan and there are no eggs, no butter and no dairy involved. It's super easy to make and best be enjoyed with some Oat Milk Hot Chocolate or a cup of coffee such as our homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte.
This vegan almond cake recipe is the perfect cake to make when you're short on time. It requires only 1 bowl and 4 simple steps.
For more easy dessert recipes see 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Brownies, 2 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies or Vegan Pumpkin Brownies.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It gets its moist and soft texture from a mix of grated apples and olive oil.
- It's dairy-free and includes some monounsaturated fats.
- You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make it!
- It's the perfect vegan cake for when you're short on time but crave something sweet!
- There's minimal equipment needed (no hand mixer or food processor required).
Ingredients & Substitution Notes
- Almond Flour
- Ground Flaxseed: Flaxseeds (also called linseeds) have a slightly nutty flavor and can be used in sweet and savory dishes. They also have the ability to bind water and act as an egg replacer. It's really important to use ground flaxseeds. You could either buy them or grind them yourself using a blender, coffee grinder or food processor.
- Flour: I used plain flour (all-purpose flour). You could also use spelt flour.
- Baking Powder: Used as the rising agent.
- Brown Sugar: Could be replaced with coconut sugar or granulated white sugar.
- Plant Milk: Any type of dairy-free milk would work here. I used oat milk because it's naturally sweeter than most other types of plant milk. Soy milk or almond milk do the job as well.
- Olive Oil: The oil helps create a moist cake. You could use neutral-flavored vegetable oil instead (such as canola oil or coconut oil).
- Grated Apples (Peeled): Just like the olive oil they add some additional flavor and moisture.
- Fresh Lemon Juice: adds some refreshing, citrusy flavors. Could be replaced with fresh orange juice.
How to Make Vegan Almond Cake
For this vegan lemon almond cake, you'll need less than 10 basic ingredients- pantry staples that are easy to find or that you've probably even got at home.
STEP 1: Prepare flax egg. Start by preparing the flax egg. Whisk together water and flax seeds and set aside.
The mixture will slightly thicken and act as an egg replacer.
STEP 2: Whisk together dry ingredients. To a large or medium bowl, add all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, ground almonds, sugar).
Whisk until well combined. I usually whisk together baking powder and flour first, to ensure that small baking powder clumps are broken up.
STEP 3: Add wet ingredients. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture by pushing the dry ingredients against the sides of the bowl. Gently pour in wet ingredients (flaxseeds, plant milk, olive oil, grated apples, lemon juice).
Start mixing the wet ingredients in the center first. Once they are roughly combined, start mixing wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. With this method, we don't need a separate bowl for the wet ingredients to be mixed together.
STEP 4: Once you end up with a thick batter, it's time to include additional add-ins (optional).
Transfer the cake mix to a cake tin and bake at 355°F (180°C) for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let cool completely, then serve with toppings of choice (optional).
Variations
- Gluten-Free: For a gluten-free cake, you could try using a gluten-free flour blend (1:1) instead of regular flour. However, I have not tested this recipe using gluten-free flour.
Optional Add-Ins
- Candied Orange Pieces: Adds some delicious citrusy flavors as well as texture. Give it a try, almonds and oranges make an amazing flavor combination!
- Orange Zest: Make this a vegan orange almond cake by adding a teaspoon of orange zest. A little goes a long way, otherwise, your cake might turn out bitter.
- Lemon Zest: For more tangy flavors, add ½ teaspoon of finely grated lemon zest.
- Vanilla Extract: Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract for some subtle vanilla flavors!
- Almond Extract: Would add some additional almond flavor!
- Almond Slivers: I love adding a handful of sliced almonds as a topping.
- Powdered Sugar: Makes an amazing topping. Dust with some powdered sugar after the cake has cooled completely.
- Chocolate Chips: Never not a good idea to through in some extra chocolate, right?!
Topping ideas
- Chocolate Frosting: In case chocolate chips are not enough, you could add an additional layer of chocolate frosting. Chocolate and nuts make an amazing combination!
- Caramel Sauce: Alternatively, you could drizzle the cake with some Homemade 2-Ingredient Caramel Sauce!
- Whipped Cream: Serve with some homemade vegan whipped cream on the side or try this delicious Vegan Royal Icing.
Storage & Freezing:
- To store: Store the cake tightly covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. Put it out of the fridge about at least an hour before serving it.
- To freeze: This cake is also freezer friendly. Slice it and freeze the individual slices in an airtight container. Let thaw in the fridge or on the countertop overnight.
FAQs
No, for flaxseeds to mimic the binding effects of eggs, it's important that they are ground. Using whole flaxseeds won't have the same effect. You could either buy ground flaxseeds or grind them yourself using a coffee grinder, blender or food processor.
More Recipes To Try
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Almond Cake
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 3 tablespoon water
- 1 ¼ cup (200g g) (7oz) white, plain flour *see notes
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ¾ cup (200 g) (7oz) almond flour
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp (140 g) brown sugar *or sub coconut sugar/ white granulated sugar
- ¾ cup + 4 tbsp (200 ml) (7oz) plant milk
- ⅓ cup (70 ml) olive oil
- juice of ½ a lemon
- 2 apples ,peeled & finely grated
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together ground flaxseeds and water. Set aside.1 tablespoon ground flaxseed, 3 tablespoon water
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder until well combined.1 ¼ cup (7oz) white, plain flour , 3 teaspoon baking powder
- Then add almond flour and sugar and stir thoroughly to avoid any clumps.1 ¾ cup (7oz) almond flour, ½ cup + 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- Make a little well in the center of the flour by pushing the dry ingredients against the sides of the bowl.
- Gently pour in wet ingredients (flaxseeds, plant milk, olive oil, grated apples, lemon juice).
- Start mixing the wet ingredients in the center first. Once they are roughly combined, mix wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.
- Line a cake pan (9 inch/ 22cm) with some parchment paper or grease with oil.
- Transfer the cake batter to the baking dish. Sprinkle with some sliced almonds (optional).
- Bake on the middle rack at 355°F (180°C) for about 40 minutes or until a tooth picked inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving a big slice of cake topped with some Homemade Vegan Whipped Cream and a big cup of Oat Milk Hot Chocolate.
Video
Notes
- Flour: For a gluten-free cake, you could try using a gluten-free flour blend (1:1) instead of regular flour. However, I have not tested this recipe using gluten-free flour.
- Sweetness: This cake is sweet, but not overly so. Feel free to add a bit more sugar if your like your cakes very sweet.
- Storage: Store the cake tightly covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. Put it out of the fridge about at least an hour before serving it.
- Freezer Friendly? Yes. Freeze individual slices in an airtight container. Let thaw in the fridge or on the countertop overnight.
Joan says
Thanks for the recipe. It turned out tasty. Unfortunately there were so many mistakes in the recipe I was very frustrated and have to only give it three stars (for example, stating in the ingredients list that three completely different amounts all equal to "(7 oz)", not being clear about which flour is being added, step 9 says to cool the cake and step 10 says to bake it, and many, many more errors). Hope the recipe can be corrected because then it will be usable.
Katie says
Hi Joan, thanks a lot for your feedback- I switched steps 9 and 10 so it should be clear now- thanks for letting me know. 🙂 As for the flour, measuring the different types of flour by weight will add a greater volume of almond flour to your recipe, since almond flour weighs less per cup than all-purpose flour. This is why 7oz of almond flour equals 1 ¾ cup, whereas 7oz of regular flour equals 1 ¼ cup.