This nostalgic vegan strawberry lemonade cake consists of a soft and light lemon cake paired with a sweet strawberry buttercream. This cake is perfect for feeding a small crowd!
Ingredients you’ll need for the lemon cake
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Fresh lemon juice for the best flavor and it makes the cake soft and light. This recipe contains just enough lemon juice so you can taste it, but not too much that it makes the cake dense and stodgy.
Lemon zest adds extra flavor, without having to add more lemon juice.
Neutral oil adds moisture to the cake, and melted vegan butter adds some richness. Alternatively, you can use all oil or vegan butter.
To decorate the cake, you’ll need your usual ingredients including vegan block butter and powdered sugar, but also strawberries and conserves/jam.
Make the cake batter
The mini lemon vegan cake is adapted from my larger layered lemon cake.
First, I recommend rubbing the lemon zest with the sugar. This releases its natural essential oils and zesty flavor and also gives the cake a beautiful golden color. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients until combined.
As there’s lemon juice in this recipe, your baking powder may start to react when it’s at room temperature. So, it’s even more important to avoid overmixing the batter, otherwise it can knock the air out of the batter.
Baking and decorating the strawberry lemonade cake
This cake bakes into pretty flat layers, especially if you use cake strips. However, if your cakes dome, use a sharp knife to trim it off.
I used my strawberry frosting and a quick berry jam to decorate this cake. Please make sure your cake layers and jam are at room temperature! If they have any warmth, your frosting will melt and it will be messy.
First, spread a thin layer of the frosting to cover the top of the cake, then use a piping bag to create a ‘dam’ of frosting around the edges. The ‘dam’ helps prevent the jam from oozing out of the strawberry lemonade cake.
Place the second cake on top, then coat the top and sides of the cake with the remaining strawberry frosting. If your cakes are a little crumbly, feel free to crumb coat your cake (I didn’t need to do this).
At any stage, if your frosting looks a little soft or the frosting is oozing out of the sides, chill your cake in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
You can decorate the top and sides of your cake in whatever way you want! I went with a simple border of frosting and filled the center with fresh strawberries and slices of lemon.
Customizing this recipe
To make a 2-layered 8-inch (20cm) cake, use my lemon cake recipe and a whole batch of my strawberry frosting. The quantities are almost exactly the same as this cake. You’ll need about ½ cup of thickened jam for the filling.
For a 3-layered 6-inch (15cm) cake that’s as tall as my biscoff cake, increase the ingredient quantities by 150% of this recipe. Tap on the number next to ‘Servings’ in the recipe card, and drag to ’12 servings’.
For cupcakes, use my lemon cupcake recipe. You can spoon out some of the cupcake, fill it with jam and top it with my strawberry frosting.
All recipes have similar ratios, but different amounts of lemon juice. I found that the smaller the cake, the more sensitive it was to lemon juice.
I have only tested this recipe with gluten-free all-purpose flour and Bob Red Mills 1:1 flour, but do not recommend it. In my tests, the cakes sank and had a gummy texture. The recipe may work with King Arthur’s measure for measure flour but I haven’t tested it.
More vegan layer cakes
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Vegan Strawberry Lemonade Cake (small-batch)
Servings: 8
Ingredients
Strawberry Jam Filling (note 3 for store-bought):
Strawberry Lemon Buttercream Frosting (note for 4 alternatives):
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Instructions
Make the cake batter:
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Add the sugar and lemon zest to a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub them together until fragrant. Add all the rest of the dry ingredients to the bowl and whisk until very well combined. Add all the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
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Evenly divide the batter between your prepared pans. Bake the cakes in your preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. They are ready when you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are fine).
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Cool the cake in their pans for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the jam:
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Add all ingredients and a dash of water to a small saucepan and stir until combined. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes while stirring and mashing the berries. Add more water for a thinner jam or cook longer for a thicker jam.
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When the jam has thickened, set aside to completely cool. It will thicken more while it cools.
Make the frosting:
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Please follow the directions in my Strawberry Frosting post. The above ingredient quantities makes enough frosting for this small-batch cake. I also replaced milk with lemon juice for flavor.
Decorate:
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If the cakes have domes, use a serrated knife to trim them off. Place one cake layer on a serving platter. Spread around ¼ cup of frosting on the cake.
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If you’re using the jam, pipe a ‘frosting dam’ on the edges of the cake then spread the jam in the middle. Place the remaining cake on top. Use the remaining frosting to cover the rest of the cake and pipe any decorations on top. Top with fresh strawberries and slices of lemon.
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Store the cake at room temperature in an airtight container in a cool spot until serving. Store any leftovers in the container at room temperature for 1 day, or until the fridge for up to 3 days. Let the cake come to room temperature before serving.
Notes
- Ensure you measure the flour accurately otherwise, your cake may be dry. Fluff up the flour in its container, use a spoon to add flour to your measuring cup, and level it off with a knife. Using your measuring cup to scoop flour out of the container will pack too much flour into the cup, and result in a dry cake. For the best results, use the grams measurements.
- You’ll need around 2 medium lemons for the amount of zest and juice in the whole recipe.
- Alternatively, use around ⅓ cup (110g) of store-bought preserves and 2 ½ teaspoons corn starch. Store-bought preserves are often too runny to use as a cake filling, unless it’s a really thin layer. Mix the preserves and corn starch in a saucepan and cook until thickened.
- Alternatively, you can decorate your cake with a simple lemon buttercream (for a small batch vegan lemon cake instead of a strawberry lemonade cake).
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