Summer meets breakfast in this buttery vegan lemon crumb cake bursting with citrus and drizzled with sweet glaze. Enjoy this cake with your morning coffee or a late night snack.
Sweet and tender lemon cake topped with buttery crumb, this coffee cake will quickly convert any non-believer that vegan desserts are just as delicious as their dairy filled counterparts.
SO GOOD.
You are going to love this lemon crumb cake!
How to make this vegan lemon crumb cake
This coffee cake recipe is so easy to make and comes together quickly. You will be dunking pastries and sipping coffee before you know it.
Here’s the ingredients you’ll need to get started:
- all purpose baking flour – I used King Arthur brand
- tapioca starch/flour
- organic cane sugar and powdered sugar – sugars provide more than sweetness, it lends to the overall texture as well
- vegan butter – I like to use vegan butter in stick form when baking so brands such as Earth balance and Melt are best
- plant milk – I used almond milk
- unsweetened applesauce – this replaces the eggs that would typically be needed in a cake
- coconut oil – or neutral oil of choice like vegetable oil
- lemon juice and zest
- vanilla extract
- baking powder, baking soda and salt
Commonly asked questions
This cake will keep at room temperature in a lightly covered container for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Since this recipe already calls for lemon juice, you can’t substitute it for the zest.
IF YOU LOVED THIS SPRING RECIPE…
You are going to love some of my favorite lemon recipes on the blog:
Vegan Lemon Muffins with Poppy Seeds
Vegan Lemon Crumb Cake
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- food processor
- 6 inch cake pan
Ingredients
Lemon Cake
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp tapioca flour or corn starch
- ½ cup organic cane sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
- zest from 1 lemon
- ¼ cup almond milk or plant milk of choice
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Crumble Topping
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup organic cane sugar
- ⅓ cup cold vegan butter chopped
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
Lemon Glaze
- ⅓ cup organic powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp almond milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F° and prepare a 6-inch (3-inch deep) round cake pan with non-stick spray.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, tapioca starch, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and zest. Add in the the almond milk, lemon juice, applesauce, coconut oil and vanilla extract and stir using a rubber spatula just until no spots remain.
- Place all the crumble ingredients into a food processor and pulse until everything is well combined and crumbles form.
- Transfer the batter to the pan and top with crumbles. Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes and cooked through and topping is golden. Remove from the oven and let cool. Stir together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over the cake.
LOVE this recipe!!! The absolute most delicious muffins I’ve made (didn’t have an available cake pan at the time). I added lemon zest to the glaze and WOW. What a zing
Thanks so much!! It’s one of my absolute favs!!!