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Citrusy, moist, and oh so fluffy vegan lemon poppy seed cake with sweet vanilla icing or glaze! It’s a fuss-free, one-bowl snack cake that always brings a little sunshine to the dessert table.
Bright and Zingy Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Snack Cake
Vegan lemon desserts are some of our favorites during spring and summer. In our easy vegan lemon cupcakes, the fresh lemon flavor pops in your mouth and instantly makes you feel refreshed! This vegan lemon poppy cake recipe is no different, but is a little more simple to put together and is great for sharing with your family and friends.
The lemon poppy seed cake is easy to make in one bowl with simple vegan baking staples. Fresh lemon juice and zest fill it with a bright citrus flavor that lemon lovers will adore, while poppy seeds add gorgeous black specks throughout and a delightful crunch. Pour the foolproof batter into your cake tin and let it bake to perfection!
The best part comes when it’s out of the oven and cooled down—the frosting! Choose the frosting you love, whether it’s homemade vanilla vegan buttercream frosting, a zesty 3-ingredient lemon glaze, or an accidentally vegan store-bought frosting. You can have a lot of fun decorating this easy lemon and poppy seed cake (as well as this vegan red velvet cake) any way you like.
Whether it’s Easter, Mother’s Day, a backyard barbecue, or a birthday party, everyone will smile when you hand them a slice of this easy lemon cake. Don’t fret if you end up with leftovers—they stay fresh in the fridge or freezer for weeks!
Looking for more vegan lemon desserts? Check out our lemon lavender cookies, easy vegan lemon bars, vegan lemon shortbread cookies, vegan lemon loaf cake, and easy lemon popsicles!
The Ingredients and Substitutes
What to Add to Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- Nuts and seeds: Add a little more crunch to the cake by folding in ½ cup of sunflower seeds, chopped walnuts, pumpkin seeds, or chopped almonds.
- Fresh berries: Blueberries would be perfect in this cake, just as they are in our lemon blueberry cookies and vegan lemon blueberry scones. You could also add raspberries or diced strawberries. We recommend only adding ½ cup of berries to the batter.
- Zucchini (Guide to Zucchini): Sneak some veggies into this cake with 1 cup of shredded zucchini (not drained of its excess water). Remember to omit 1 cup of water from this recipe if you add the zucchini since it naturally contains water already. Check out these 14 Delicious Zucchini Recipes if you’re a zucchini lover!
- Earl Grey tea: Simply add the leaves from two tea bags into the cake batter, and voila! You could also use regular black tea, but I find that lemon Earl Grey cake tastes the best.
- Turmeric: Make the cake more yellow with a pinch of turmeric powder in the batter (you won’t taste it).
- Lavender: Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried, food-grade lavender to the cake batter for a delicate floral flavor.
- Vegan chocolate chips: It’s not traditional, but ½ cup of your favorite dairy-free dark, milk, or white chocolate chips/chunks in the cake will add a nice, chocolatey twist. Alternatively, swap out the vanilla frosting for a melted vegan chocolate drizzle.
- Decorations: The iced vegan lemon cake wouldn’t be complete without a sprinkle of lemon zest and extra poppy seeds on top!
How To Make Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Step 1: Whisk the sugar, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, applesauce, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl until combined and then stir in the water. Gently stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt until just combined.
Step 2: Gently stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt until just combined.
A few small lumps in the batter are okay! It means you haven’t overmixed the cake batter.
Step 3: Gently fold the poppy seeds into the smooth batter. Pour the cake batter into the prepared sheet pan. Then bake the lemon poppy seed cake until the edges are golden or a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Step 4: Set the cake aside to cool completely. Frost and decorate the cake, then slice and enjoy!
Is the cake not quite done, even after the 35 minutes? Continue baking in 5-minute intervals until it’s done.
Enjoy each slice of vegan lemon and poppy seed cake with vegan yogurt or vegan whipped cream and berries, or scoops of vegan banana ice cream!
FAQs
While it hasn’t been tested, you can try reducing the granulated sugar to ¾ cup or replace it with a granulated sugar alternative, like monk fruit sweetener or erythritol. You can also omit the frosting or glaze from the cake.
To make a gluten-free lemon poppy seed cake, replace the flour with an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend, like King Arthur’s or Bob’s Red Mill.
Yes, you can split the batter into two round 8-inch cake pans, a large bundt pan, or two 9-inch loaf pans.
Pro Recipe Tips
- Measure the flour accurately: To avoid adding too much flour and ending up with a dense cake, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level off the excess on top with the back of a knife. DO NOT scoop the cup into the bag of flour.
- Don’t overmix the cake batter: Use a silicone spatula to gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until the dry mix is just incorporated. A few lumps left behind are okay!
- Use room temperature ingredients: Place all of the wet ingredients on the kitchen counter for at least 30 minutes before baking so they have time to come down to room temperature.
- Let it cool: The cake needs to be completely cool before you slice it or add the frosting!
Storage Instructions
Once fully cooled, store the lemon poppy seed sheet cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days.
You can also freeze the whole cake or individual slices (unfrosted). Keep them in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Let the leftover cake thaw on the counter for several hours or in the fridge overnight.
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups of granulated sugar
- ½ cup of vegetable oil
- Juice and zest of 2 small lemons
- ¼ cup of unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 cups of water
- 3 cups of all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- ⅓ cup of poppy seeds
- Storebought or homemade vanilla frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, applesauce, and vanilla extract until well-combined. Add water and mix thoroughly.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and stir until just combined. (Your batter may have a few small lumps and that's okay. You don't want to overmix.)
- Fold in the poppy seeds.
- Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until the edges are golden and begin to pull away from the pan. Take a toothpick, insert it into the middle of the cake and make sure it comes out clean. If it doesn’t, bake in 5 minute increments until it does.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
Notes
- Measure the flour accurately: To avoid adding too much flour and ending up with a dense cake, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level off the excess on top with the back of a knife. DO NOT scoop the cup into the bag of flour.
- Don’t overmix the cake batter: Use a silicone spatula to gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until the dry mix is just incorporated. A few lumps left behind are okay!
- Use room temperature ingredients: Place all of the wet ingredients on the kitchen counter for at least 30 minutes before baking so they have time to come down to room temperature.
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Such a yummy cake!
Hi! I was wondering about the substituting seeds for Poppy Seeds.
You can omit them completely if you’d like. 🙂