Vegan lemon poppy seed cake recipe

 ♡ Vegan Lemon Poppyseed Cake ♡

Praise God this year we've had a bountiful harvest from our back yard lemon tree. In turn our family has been drinking lots of lemon and honey tea! But we still cant keep up with these lemons even with our tea intake rate. ;)  And so yours truly was inspired to try all the lemon recipes she saved to Pintrest for a rainy day. I had a few fails on my hands so I decided to perfect this cake recipe and share it with you!

If you didn't know I am the only vegan in my family. So what I cook or bake has to be in small portions, or so delicious that even my non-vegan loved ones will gobble it right up. This cake, I am happy to announce, is the latter.  Its fluffy, tangy, sweet, and definitely a crowd pleaser!


Lets get started!

☞Prep-Time: 25 minutes ☞ Bake time: 1hr

1.) Turn on some good music to keep you company while you bake! Or here's a link to a sermon you can listen to! (Where's your joy? John Piper)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtD-NaqZBRs

2.) Pre-heat your oven to 370˚F  (about 187˚Celsius)

-Ingredients list-

Dry Ingredients:

☑ 2 cups flour (substitute for gluten free if you prefer) 

☑1 cup white sugar (3/4 cup if you prefer a tangier cake)

☑1 teaspoon baking powder

☑1/2 teaspoon baking soda

☑1/4 teaspoon salt

☑Zest of 3 large lemons

☑3 tablespoons of poppy seeds

Wet ingredients:

☑1 cup of non-dairy milk (I used coconut milk) 

☑1 teaspoon of apple cider vinger

☑1/2 cup of light colored oil (I used grapeseed)

☑1/2 cup Lemon juice (about 3 1/2 large lemons) [Save 1/4 of the juice for a glaze if you choose garnish your cake that way]

☑1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract 

Begin by zesting and juicing your lemons so they are ready when you need them.
In a bowl add sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, poppy seeds, and the zest of the lemons. Mix the zest well with the dry ingredients using the back of a spoon and a pressing motion. ☜This is important because the flour will absorb flavorful oils released by the lemon zest. This will ensure your cake is not sour but instead beautifully lemony. Set the bowl aside and work on the "butter milk"

Butter milk:
Mix the non- dairy milk with the apple cider vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes. Magic will in-sue and you will end up with a slightly thicker milk on your hands. Ta-da this will now act as butter milk for this recipe.

Add all the wet ingredients (including your "butter-milk") to your dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

You will see tiny air bubbles form in your mixture, this means your butter milk, baking powder, and baking soda are getting to know each other. Do not fear, you've done everything right! This reaction makes for a moist, fluffy, and velvety cake.

Pour your mixture into a lightly oiled cake pan (I use a cute pie dish) and put it into your now pre-heated oven for 55 minutes at 370°F. For the last 10 minutes of baking pop some aluminum foil over the top of your cake, to make sure the edges don't get too brown.

-Enjoy the heavenly smell that ribbons its way through your home-

Cool cake before glazing or topping with powered sugar. 

Glaze:
-leftover /saved lemon juice
-teaspoon of non-dairy milk
-splash of vanilla
-powdered sugar.
(this is not exact, but you're looking for the consistency of fresh honey)
Add more powdered sugar to thicken <---> add more milk/juice to thin out.


Let glaze set before eating (or don't... no judgment) :-)

Garnish with lemon slices if you're a fancy Nancy. 

Let me know if you make it and how you liked it! 

☺

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year friends! 

-Anna