There’s something about lemon and blueberries that is a perfect match. Like pizza and beer or peanut butter and chocolate, some things are meant to be together. This cake is tender and delicious with a perfect crumb and studded with fresh blueberries and lemon zest then frosted with a luscious lemon buttercream. It’s perfect for special occasions or a weekend brunch.
This is my popular ultimate funfetti vegan cake recipe with a few adjustments (no Funfetti flavors) and lot of lemon zest instead. The zest (make sure not to get too much of the white pith!) lends the most authentic lemon flavor so that’s why I wouldn’t use extract here as it can taste too artificial. When I tasted the batter, it reminded me of Duncan Hines cake mix!
I made this as a sheet cake but it could be made as a layer cake or even a Bundt cake. You would have to adjust the baking times but that’s easily done with a google search. Speaking of ovens, they all vary a bit and if you use convection baking like I do, cakes can bake even faster than in a traditional oven so always start checking early.
What you’ll need:
- Fresh blueberries. You could use frozen in a pinch, but fresh is best.
- Fresh lemons. You’ll need zest for the cake and frosting so choose bright lemons hard to the touch. You always zest a lemon first, then juice afterwards. The other way around won’t work well.
- Vegan yogurt or sour cream. I feel a plain or vanilla vegan yogurt works best in this recipe but a loose style vegan sour cream will also work.
How to make it.
I often use a somewhat unconventional method of mixing cakes which is called the “reverse creaming” method. Basically, you add fat to the dry ingredients first before adding the wet and the fat coats it preventing strands of gluten from forming which can result in a tough cake. So many advantages to this method which include not over-mixing, no creaming of butter and sugar first and making it easy for beginning bakers and/or kids! I hope you enjoy this delicious cake and please rate and review if you try!
Vegan Lemon Blueberry Frosted Sheet Cake
12
servings15
minutes45
minutesA tender and delicious vegan sheet cake studded with blueberries and the zing of lemons!
Ingredients
- Cake
2 1⁄2 cups all purpose flour
1 1⁄2 cups vegan cane sugar
1⁄4 cup cornstarch
1 1⁄4 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup plain vegetable oil
1⁄3 cup plain vegan yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest (see notes!)
1 1⁄2 cups vegan milk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries tossed in 1 tablespoon flour
- Lemon Buttercream Frosting
1⁄2 cup vegetable shortening
1⁄2 cup vegan butter, softened
2 1⁄4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted to remove lumps
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
1-2 tablespoons vegan milk or cream
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350° and grease and flour a 13×9 baking pan and set aside.
- Add all of the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk by hand or if using a hand or stand mixer break it up and mix so that everything is well combined and there are no lumps.
- Add the vegetable oil and vegan yogurt and mix until the flour mixture is completely coated. This could take a minute and might look lumpy but that’s ok.
- Whisk the vanilla, lemon zest and juice into the vegan milk and let sit for a minute then add to the coated dry mixture and mix well to combine for a few minutes scraping down the sides once or twice in between mixing. The beauty of this method is that you can’t over-mix so don’t worry. You would be able to form gluten which makes the cake tough but don’t go crazy and mix for 10 minutes. A few should be all that’s needed. Toss the blueberries in the flour (it will help them not sink to the bottom) and fold them into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap a few times on the counter to even it out and remove any large air bubbles. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
- Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- Combine the vegan shortening and butter until well combined in a large bowl.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla d and lemon zest and mix well together. Add the vegan milk or cream little by little until the frosting is the right consistency which is not too loose or too thick. You can always test a bit on the cake to see how it spreads. Frost the cake with an offset spatula all over covering all edges. You can make a swirl pattern if you like. Cut into pieces and serve. You can refrigerate or freeze leftovers if desired.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Use a plain vegan yogurt or vanilla or a loose vegan sour cream.
- You can bake this cake as a layer cake, Bundt cake or another shape just adjust the baking time.
- Always zest a fresh lemon first before extracting the juice from it.
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