It’s a first for us to make a gluten AND dairy free cake, and guess what, it was a HUGE success! I did a paid sponsorship with a plant based butter company who wanted an Easter themed recipe; our wheels were spinning and Pinterest came to the rescue (as usual) as we stumbled upon One Lovely Life’s blog and therefore, THIS recipe! This is a bright and tangy lemon cake that not only photographs beautifully, it tastes delectable. Want to give it a whirl? Here’s how:
FOR THE LEMON CAKE:
1/2 cup milk (We used unsweetened almond milk)
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar (you can use organic cane sugar, we used regular)
2 Tbsp lemon zest (about 2 lemons’ worth)
1/2 cup vegan butter (that’s where my sponsorship came in, we used Flora Plant Butter)
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup gluten free all purpose flour baking blend (like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
FOR THE LEMON-HONEY SYRUP:
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp lemon juice
FOR THE LEMON GLAZE:
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp milk (We used almond milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
FOR THE CAKE (recipe from One Lovely Life)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9″ cake pan with spray oil and line the bottom with a parchment paper circle*
In a liquid measuring cup (or a small bowl), combine lemon juice and milk. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
While the lemon juice and milk is sitting, rub lemon zest into the sugar in a large bowl. This gets the lemon oil into the sugar and distributes the flavor really well.
Add milk mixture, butter (or avocado oil), eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. (Or you can simply sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet before stirring)
Pour into your prepared 9″ cake pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Place on a cooling rack in the pan for 10 minutes to cool slightly before turning out onto a plate.
While the cake cools slightly, mix up your lemon honey syrup (see below)
After 10 minutes cooling in the pan, turn the cake out onto a plate or cake stand and brush with the still-warm cake with lemon honey syrup.
When the cake has cooled completely, top with glaze.
FOR THE LEMON-HONEY SYRUP:
Stir together lemon juice and honey. Brush over the cake when it’s still quite warm (as soon after removing the cake from the cake pan as you can). Let cake brushed with syrup cool completely before adding the glaze.
FOR THE LEMON GLAZE:
Sift powdered sugar into a large bowl. Add lemon juice, milk, and vanilla. Whisk or beat until smooth. (Ideally, you want the glaze to be opaque and to hold its shape when it drips down the sides of the cake. If yours is too thin, add more powdered sugar 1 Tbsp at a time. If it’s too thick, add more milk 1 teaspoon at a time until you reach the right consistency.)
Pour glaze over your cooled cake and gently spread it toward the edges. Let some of the glaze run down the sides. Let set completely before cutting and serving.
NUTRITION FACTS: SERVES 12
CALORIES 301
We don’t make a lot of gluten free recipes (like…never….) BUT Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour is a cup-for-cup substitute for white flour in recipes like this, and it is still a light, fluffy result very similar to traditional flour.
You could turn this recipe into cupcakes (how cute would that be??) and the fruit on top is totally your choice!! We love blueberries, strawberries and raspberries so we went with that!
Though we don’t eat a ton of desserts or sweets, lemon is definitely always a win in our household. Reese especially with this cake has loved it and has eaten a small slice the past few nights after her dinner. If you make it, tell me in the comments or post a favorite cake recipe of your own!
