lemon cake (vegan and gluten free)

You know, I know I say this about a lot of things but anything lemon flavored is my go-to dessert. When I go out to eat, or go to a bakery, I always get tunnel vision and end up picking the lemon flavored cake or cookie or macaron.

So, when we decided to try vegan, gluten-free recipes I was ready to find a lemon cake one. It couldn't be that hard right? WRONG. I looked through a lot of recipes to find this one. And then I realized I had to use aquafaba. Aquafaba is the juice in a can of chickpeas. CHICKPEAS! Anyways, I was really grossed out by this until it actually worked and didn't taste like chickpeas. We took a page out of Nora's cookbook to make this recipe!

Here's what you need to make vegan, gluten free lemon cake:

For the Cake:

1 1/4 cup almond milk

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup aquafaba- measured after whipping

8 tbsp vegan butter- room temp

1 1/2 cup granulate sugar

2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

1 tsp pure lemon extract

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups gluten free measure- by-measure all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

For the Frosting:

16 tbsp vegan butter- room temp

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Here's how you make vegan, gluten-free lemon cake, again we followed Nora's steps for this:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease two 8 inch cake pans, line with parchment rounds, and grease the parchment paper as well. Sprinkle lightly with gluten free flour. This might feel tedious, but it's worth it, the cake comes out great.

In a measuring cup, combine the almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Let sit a few minutes until it curdles (this is your vegan buttermilk). I definitely let this sit for more than a few minutes, I think it works better if it's had time to curdle.

In a medium sized bowl, drain the chickpeas to collect the liquid from the can. With a hand mixer, mix on low-medium speed for about 1 minute, until light and foamy. Again, while many recipes say just do this for a minute, I do this for closer to two, to make sure it's extra foamy.

In a stand mixer, add the softened butter, sugar and lemon zest. Stir to combine. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Now add in the lemon and vanilla extracts and beat to combine.

On low speed, add in the almond milk mixture and aquafaba and mix. Now add the flour, sprinkle the baking powder and salt on top of the flour and mix on low until well combined, about 1-2 minutes, scraping the sides as needed with a spatula.

Divide the batter equally in the prepared pans. Bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool on wire racks for 5-10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to loosen, and carefully invert the cakes onto your hand. COOL COMPLETELY.

Frosting Time: Using a standing mixer , beat the vegan butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed, add in the 2 cups of the powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Beat on low, then switch to medium speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Now add in the remaining 2 cups powdered sugar and mix. If it's too thick, add some non-dairy milk (We didn't need to do this). If it's too thin, add more sugar!

Enjoy this cake! If you have any questions or comments or want to send us some love, contact us on instagram @maddieandmarlymake