Treat yourself to a slice of bright, rich, and moist Vegan Pound Cake with Lemon. It’s dense, buttery, soft and easy to make! No one will believe it’s vegan.
This Vegan Pound Cake with Lemon fits in just about anywhere. It’s a melt-in-your-mouth, classic cake recipe that can be served as dessert, for celebrations, or as a tangy snack with tea. The bright and vibrant lemon flavors and sweet glaze on top will fill anyone’s day with sunshine.
A traditional pound cake recipe is made with equal parts butter, flour, sugar, and eggs. My vegan pound cake tastes just as dense, rich, and buttery as the classic, but with no animal products.
The sweet and lemony slices are best enjoyed with a dollop of vegan whipped cream and berries on top, or take it up a notch with a spoonful of lemon curd. It’s a refreshing and delicious treat every lemon enthusiast is sure to love!
Ingredients needed (with substitutions)
- Vegan butter – Make sure it’s room temperature so it’s easy to work with and fully mixes into the batter.
- Granulated sugar – Another granulated sugar, like cane sugar or coconut sugar, should work just as well.
- Lemon zest – For flavor and gorgeous yellow flecks throughout the cake.
- Lemon extract – This should be easy to find at most major grocery stores or specialty kitchen stores.
- Vanilla extract
- Vegan sour cream – Or use plain vegan yogurt or cream cheese. Either choice will help the cake turn out very moist and slightly tangy.
- All purpose flour – I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour, but you could try using a 1:1 gluten free flour mix instead.
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Lemon glaze – Because cake just isn’t the same without icing! This lemon glaze is easy to make with melted vegan butter, powdered sugar, and fresh lemon juice.
How to make vegan pound cake
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Start by beating the softened butter, sugar, and lemon zest together until light and fluffy. Add the lemon extract, vanilla extract, and vegan sour cream, and mix again. Next, slowly mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Don’t over mix!
Pour the cake batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Make the lemon glaze while you wait. Simple whisk the melted vegan butter, powdered sugar, and lemon juice together in a small bowl until you have a sweet and smooth icing.
Pour the lemon glaze over the cooled cake and leave it to set for at least 30 minutes. Afterward, slice and enjoy!
Pound cake flavor variations
This vegan pound cake recipe is NOT just for lemon lovers. The citrus can easily be omitted or changed for a variation you may love even more. These are my favorites:
- Vanilla pound cake – Use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and omit all of the lemon zest and extract. Serve each slice with fresh berries, mint, and coconut whipped cream!
- Almond pound cake – Add 2 teaspoons of almond extract to the cake and omit all of the lemon flavor. Replace the lemon juice in the glaze with 1 teaspoon of almond extract and a few tablespoons of water. Serve the slices with crushed nuts and coconut whipped cream on top!
Frequently asked questions
- How is pound cake different from regular cake? Pound cake is very rich and dense, meaning it doesn’t rise as much as a regular vegan lemon cake. To keep it from tasting overwhelmingly rich, pound cake is best when it’s flavored with light flavors and simple glazes rather than decadent buttercream frosting.
- Why did my pound cake sink in the middle? Over mixing the batter will knock all of the air out, leaving you with a sunken pound cake. To achieve that beautiful dome shape, only mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until they’re JUST combined.
- How long does vegan pound cake last? The frosted or unfrosted cake should stay fresh and moist for about 5 days when wrapped in plastic and kept out at room temperature. Keep the glazed pound cake covered and in the fridge to help it last longer.
- Is it freezer-friendly? Yes! The whole unglazed cake or individual slices can be wrapped in plastic and frozen for about 2 months.
Want more lemon dessert recipes?
- Lemon Blueberry Lavender Cake
- Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie
- Vegan Lemon Bars
- Lemon Blueberry Bread
- 1 Bowl Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Vegan Pound Cake with Lemon
Ingredients
Pound Cake
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup vegan sour cream or yogurt or cream cheese
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Lemon Glaze
- 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a standard loaf pan (9×5 or 8 1/2×4 1/2).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or large bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat together the softened butter, sugar and lemon zest until fluffy and combined.
- Add the lemon extract, vanilla extract and vegan sour cream. Mix until combined, scraping the bowl as needed. It will look curdled, but it will be fine.
- Now add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl. Mix on low speed or stir with a large spoon until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
- Pour into the prepared pan, place in the center rack of the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean with no wet batter.
- Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then carefully remove the loaf from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack with parchment paper underneath it (to catch the glaze drippings).
- Make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the melted vegan butter, powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Pour the glaze over the loaf and allow it to set for 30 minutes if possible before serving. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
- Vanilla – Increase the vanilla to 2 teaspoons and omit all lemon zest, extract and juice. Consider serving with fresh berries and coconut whipped cream!
- Almond – Add 2 teaspoons of almond extract, omit all lemon flavorings. For the glaze, replace the lemon juice with 1 teaspoon almond extract and a few tablespoons of water. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, if desired.
Would this recipe work to make petit fours? If so, with the measurements given, what size pan would you recommend?
HI
I am looking for a pound cake recipe and this looks great. I have made many others from your site! I would swap GF flour and want to use this to cut up for dipping in fondue. Do you think the texture will hold for smaller pieces like that?
I think so, depending on the brand of gf flour you use. I like King Arthur Measure for Measure personally and usually have success. I hope you enjoy it!
Hi Nora, I recently left a comment on your recipe for vanilla cake (which I love), asking about adapting it for a sweet loaf bread made with high-protein flour. You suggested that I adapt your pound cake recipe (the vanilla version), which I did today. It came out beautifully, just what I wanted. I made 1 1/2 times the recipe and baked it in a two-pound loaf pan, without the icing. Thank you so much! I will be making it often.
Oh wonderful! I’m so happy to hear it worked out well, just as you hoped. Thank you!
My sister passed away, and I never got the recipe for her lemon poundcake. This recipe for lemon poundcake was amazing. It taste just like regular lemon poundcake. My family didn’t even know it was Vegan.
Hi Kimberly. How wonderful that you have found a pound cake recipe that you love! Thank you for sharing your terrific review! Wishing you lots of comfort and healing baking.
I plan on making this recipe for Christmas. Do I need to tweak anything if I want to add frozen blueberries?
That should be fine, I don’t think you need to change anything. Enjoy!
Well this is my second time making this cake but just the vanilla. But the cooking time for me was long like 1hr and 10 min. But the cake had a Liittle dent in the middle I don’t know why. But I turned it over let is cool and put a nice cream cheese vanilla glaze
Hi Nora what is the measurements for a 10-12 inch Bundt cake pan? I like to make one for a larger group and don’t want to mess up the ingredients.
I haven’t tried making this in a large bundt cake. You may need to double it and bake it for longer, until a toothpick comes out clean. I hope everyone enjoys it!
Hi Nora,
I have made this recipe many times and it always turns out amazing.
I have a question. Is it possible to turn this into a pumpkin pound cake?
For example, could I replace some of the butter and sour cream with pumpkin puree?
Thanks Jessie, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it before! I bet you could and that’s a really fun idea. I might try replacing the sour cream with pumpkin puree. Let me know how it goes if you try it! 🙂
Very tasty but looks lumpy. Maybe cause I added frozen berries? I’ll try again another time.
Yes, adding frozen berries will make it a bit lumpy perhaps. That won’t happen without them.
i live in ghana and can’t find vegan yogurt. will soymilk+lemon juice/vinegar work? it seem yogurt is the key to making moist vegan cake
I think it will probably work quite well in place of the yogurt. Or perhaps silken tofu if you have that. Thanks!
Made the vanilla variation last night for strawberry shortcake and it was delicious! Cake had a lovely crust while also being very moist. Thanks for another great recipe Nora!
Hi, can I add a vanilla protein powder to this and if so how much would be ok? I’m more concerned with it holding together the same as a poundcake versus flavor change. I’m working with a dietitian (who loves you by the way!) and she suggested I increased my protein. So I’m trying to do so but still enjoy stuff like this from time to time.
I’ve never tried it but I wonder if you could sub a little of the flour for protein powder and have it work out okay! Maybe 1/4 cup or so? I hope it turns out good this way, I’d love to know how it goes. Thank you and good luck!
Can I use 7 up in this cake?
I’ve never tried it but probably.
This was delicious, vegans and non-vegans enjoyed it! Great texture and flavor, wish I had made two!!!
Hi Rebecca. How great that the pound cake was a hit! Thanks for sharing your wonderful review and feedback! Wishing you happy cooking!
Hi Nora, please give us a marble cake option for this pound cake recipe. I miss marble cake too much.
Thank you.
That’s a wonderful idea, I’ll add it to my list!
I have a lamb pan to make a lamb cake. Do you think this pound cake will be able to rise and form a lamb in the pan?
I believe that should work fine, yes.
Can I make this using fresh lemon juice instead of the lemon extract?
You may, but the cake won’t be quite as lemony flavored, as lemon extract is more potent than lemon juice.
Ran out of lemon extract so just used a little extra zest and some lemon juice instead. Was worried because the batter was SO thick (I think bc Tofutti brand sour cream is really dense?) but it all turned out amazing. So soft but with a little crisp on the top!
Thank you for another amazing recipe!
I just baked using the almond extract version, O-M-G amazing!! Thank you for this recipe!
You are welcome, Samaria! I’m so glad you loved the cake! Thank you for your fabulous review. Happy cooking!
How can I adjust this recipe for a heavy Bundt pan?
I haven’t tried it to know for sure, but you could probably use a bundt pan and cook for a bit less time. Or double the recipe for a large bundt pan and cook for around an hour, I would guess.
I have doubled the batch and cooking in a Bundt pan as we speak! I will return with results. I used cream cheese and it was a very thick batter. Fingers crossed it turns out!
Hi Rachel! I look forward to hearing about the results!
Thank you, Nora. It’s very tasty, great texture. I’m sure I’ll be making it often.
You bet, Maja! I’m so glad you loved the pound cake! Thanks for sharing your wonderful review!
So good. I cut sugar to 75% and added some frozen blueberries. Delicious!
I was looking for a recipe to use up a bunch of vanilla yogurt and this was amazing! I’m sorry, I know authors hate when people do this but I did make several changes: I used half the sugar, no lemon extract because I didn’t have any and then I use unsweetened vanilla yogurt, I did not do any topping as it was sweet as is. this came together so easily, for some reason I thought poundcake was “tricky” but this was great, will be making again, thank you! <3 baked for about an hour
I am glad the recipe turned out well for you with your changes! Thanks for sharing your baking experience and wonderful review!
Delicious!!!
Thank you for sharing! Glad you loved the cake!
Can I make the vanilla version into cupcakes
I absolutely love this cake and would love to also do cupcakes
Same baking time? Will it work?
Yes, you can make cupcakes with this recipe, but they won’t need as long in the oven. Probably only about 20 minutes or so.
I am making the cupcakes with your leftover lemon curd from shortbread cookies and cream cheese frosting from your Hummingbird cake, I made both on Saturday Amazing!!!!
I will fill the vanilla cupcakes with the curd and frost with the cream cheese frosting
Thank you
Hi Mary. I love what you are doing with your leftover ingredients! Your idea sounds delicious! I’m glad you are enjoying my recipes! Thanks for sharing your feedback. Happy cooking!
I am confused by the sour cream / yogurt / cream cheese as they’re all a very different consistency. Would I just need to check the baking time depending on the liquid level in the item I choose?
A lot of things affect baking time, like the current humidity level in your house, etc. But I found either vegan sour cream, yogurt or cream cheese all work relatively the same in this recipe.
Ok, thanks! I love your recipes and look forward to trying this one too 🙂
Happy baking, Jes!
Very good cake. Was gone in one day. Until now, I’ve never been able to find vegan pound cake! Wonderful recipe.
I’m thrilled you loved the recipe Sheila! Thanks for your wonderful review and feedback! Happy cooking!