Lemon Poppyseed Loaf Cake (Vegan)
A light, moreish and spongey Lemon Poppyseed Loaf Cake made with plant-based and egg-free ingredients, with a luscious gut-healthy cashew and coconut frosting. This cake is great for Spring.
I love lemon cakes, and it’s been a while since I created anything zesty, so here is upgraded classic. We all love lemon and poppyseed, it’s a traditional cake for a reason, but this one has a few tweaks like almond flour as well as plain flour for such a good texture, as well as a homemade frosting. Instead of buttercream, yoghurt or a simple lemon icing sugar glaze, I’ve made a coconut and cashew-based frosting which is so gorgeous and keeps this cake wholesome and fun.
Why will I love this cake?
This cake is so good:
- Zesty, lemony and fruity
- Spongey, cakey and soft
- Packed with poppyseeds
- With almond flour for a lovely texture
- Made in one bowl
- Easy to make and bake
- Perfect for Spring or all year round
- Everyone will love it
- Naturally egg-free, dairy-free and vegan
- With gluten-free options
- With nut-free options
- Topped with a gut-healthy frosting
- Made with coconut and cashews
- Delicious and vibrant
- Great for making ahead of time
- Pop in the freezer to keep it longer
- Make it for special occasions like birthdays or Mother’s Day
If you already love the sound of this cake, then skip ahead to the recipe card below. Or, first let’s discuss the recipe in more detail.
What ingredients do I need?
You can see the ingredients with weights in the recipe card below and see my favourite and recommended products in the “shop the recipe” section.
For the frosting:
- Coconut cream: this is the solid cream part from a chilled tin of coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk.
- Biomel gut shot: this is the natural coconut one and adds lots of fibre and gut-healthy live cultures to the frosting (use my code NOURISHINGAMY to save at least 25%!). Or, use some tinned coconut milk.
- Cashews: soak these in boiling water for 1 hour to soften them up.
- Lemon: for flavour.
- Maple syrup: for sweetness.
- Coconut oil: this helps the frosting set a little firmer so it’s creamy and holds shape.
And for the cake:
- Lemons: the zest and juice.
- Caster sugar: this keeps the cake nice and light.
- Dairy-free milk: like soya (this simple ingredient one is great), oat, almond or coconut.
- Dairy-free yoghurt: this keeps the loaf really moist and make sure it’s thick and creamy like Cocos organic or NUSH natural yoghurt.
- Light olive oil: to add moisture and fat.
- Vanilla extract: for flavour.
- Plain flour: to keep the cake nice and moist. I have not tried this with GF flour but can imagine it will work as long as your GF flour contains xanthan gum (or add ½ tsp of your own).
- Almond flour: this adds a lovely nutty flavour and moist texture.
- Poppyseeds: these are the specks you can see in the cake and on top.
- Raising agents: for the rise.
- Salt: for the flavour.
Is this cake gluten-free and nut-free?
I can imagine this cake will work well with a GF blend of flour that contains xanthan gum (or add ½ tsp of your own) and to make this nut-free, swap the almond flour for more plain flour. There are no swaps for the cashews in the frosting, so either make lemon buttercream, or a simple icing sugar glaze.
How do I make this?
This is ready in a few steps:
- Add the ingredients for the frosting to a high-speed blender: )AMY15 for 15% off all blenders) and process until smooth.
- Pour into a container and chill overnight: until thick and creamy.
- Rub the lemon zest and sugar together: and add the other wet ingredients.
- Sift in the dry ingredients: and whisk to a smooth thick batter.
- Pour into the loaf tin: and smooth over the top.
- Bake for about 40 minutes: until well-risen, golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Once cool, spread with the frosting: and decorate with lemon peel or zest and poppyseeds.
- Slice and serve: or keep for later.
How long will it last?
This cake will keep for 2-3 days in a sealed container (in the fridge overnight but enjoy at room temperature). You can freeze the unfrosted cake, wrapped well, for 1 month and allow to defrost before decorating.
What other recipes can I try?
For more cakes and bakes:
- Lemon and Pistachio Mousse Cake
- Raspberry Lemon and Coconut Loaf Cake
- Lemon Raspberry and Pistachio Muffins
- Carrot and Blueberry Loaf Cake
- Upside Down Orange Strawberry Cake
Lemon Poppyseed Loaf Cake (Vegan)
A light, moreish and spongey Lemon Poppyseed Loaf Cake made with plant-based and egg-free ingredients, with a luscious gut-healthy cashew and coconut frosting. This cake is great for Spring.
Ingredients
For the Frosting:
- 60g coconut cream*
- 60ml Biomel Gut Shot, Natural Coconut
- 35g cashews, soaked**
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 30g melted and cooled coconut oil
For the Loaf:
- 2 lemons, zested
- 120g caster sugar
- 120g dairy-free milk
- 120g thick coconut yoghurt
- 30ml light olive oil
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 180g plain or GF plain flour
- 100g almond flour
- 1 tbsp poppyseeds
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
To Serve:
- Lemon zest/peel
- Extra poppyseeds
Instructions
- Start with the frosting as this will need to chill for 4-6 hours or overnight. Add the solid coconut cream, Biomel gut shot, soaked cashews, lemon juice, maple syrup and cooled coconut oil to a high speed blender and process until really smooth.
- Pour into a container, allow to cool down if it’s warmed up, and then seal tightly and chill in the fridge for 4-6 hours or overnight. It will be thicker and creamy when ready.
- For the cake, preheat the oven to 160Fan/180ºC and line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Add the lemon zest and sugar to a bowl and rub with your fingers until it smells fragrant. Now pour in the milk, yoghurt, olive oil, lemon juice and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
- Sift in the flour and add the almond flour, poppyseeds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and whisk to a thick, smooth batter.
- Pour the cake batter into the tin and smooth over the top/ Bake in the middle of the oven for 38-42 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean and it’s golden and well-risen.
- Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then carefully lift out to cool fully on a wire rack.
- Once ready, spread the frosting over the cake and decorate with lemon zest/peel and more poppyseeds. Leftover frosting will keep for 3-5 days in the fridge in a sealed container.
- Enjoy straight away or keep leftovers in a sealed container. Store in the fridge overnight but best enjoyed at room temperature. You can prepare the cake ahead of time, freeze until needed (wrapped well) and defrost before decorating.
Notes
*chill a tin of coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk overnight and scoop off the solid part.
**in boiling water for 1 hour and then drain.
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Stay in touch
I look forward to hearing what you think of this Lemon Poppyseed Loaf Cake so please leave your comments below. If you do make this banana bread, I would love to see so please tag me in your loaves, I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – please say hello!
With poppyseed love x
p.s. this recipe was first made with Biomel, who I love, and this blog post is not sponsored.
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