Perfecting a vegan cupcake may seem like a chore but I got you covered. These vegan lemon cupcakes are moist, delicious and lemony but not only that they are super easy to master and taste gorgeous served with my vegan frosting.
Even the most novice of cooks will be able to knock these up in a jiffy!
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Vegan lemon cupcakes
When I first went vegan finding a cupcake recipe that utilised easy to find ingredients AND was as good as an egg-based recipe was a huge difficulty. As someone who loves to bake I knew that I needed to master this one but it took A LOT of trial and error.
Everyone said to me ‘try chickpea liquid, it is a great egg replacer’ but alas aquafaba didn’t provide the rise needed for a good cupcake. So I tried vinegar and baking soda but this didn’t work well either, the cakes rose but they were too dense.
But after a lot of trial and error I nailed it and what we are left with is a perfectly moist, not overly sweet cupcake.
These vegan lemon Cupcakes are …..
- Perfectly moist with a delicious lemony taste
- Topped with my easy vegan frosting
- Perfectly risen
- Not overly sweet
- Easy to whip up in under 45 minutes
- Easy to adapt to incorporate other flavours
- Stay fresh and moist for 4 days (minimum).
What you need
Here’s all you need for these vegan lemon cupcakes and frosting. As you’ll see there’s no fancy egg replacers here. Instead, we’ll use apple sauce. Yep you heard me, apple sauce. Who’s have thought that is a good replacement. I’m not even sure why it works, I just know that it does.
- All purpose flour – this recipe uses all purpose flour. I find this flour works best but if you must you can sub it with self-raising flour but if you do halve the amount of baking powder used.
- Baking powder – we use baking powder to help our cakes rise. Just ensure you use baking powder and not accidentally use baking soda/bicarbonate of soda.
- Salt – an essential ingredient in all cakes. You’ll want to use high quality sea salt.
- Vegetable oil – You can use any neutral oil, it doesn’t have to be vegetable. Rapeseed, sunflower and even olive oil would work. This is used in place of butter, helping to make these vegan and keeping our vegan cupcakes moist.
- Caster sugar – the fineness of caster sugar is needed in this recipe so don’t sub with granulated sugar. This will need the added sweetness to our sponge.
- Vanilla extract – find yourself a good quality vanilla extract. It is worth paying a little more to get a good quality one. It is worth it i promise!
- Lemon extract - this is to give the cupcakes a citrus lemon taste. I tested it using lemon juice but you needed a lot to be able to taste it and this watered down the cake mix.
- Apple sauce - this is our egg replacer and helps us create moist, fluffy cupcakes.
- Powdered sugar (icing sugar) - this is used in our frosting. I found this great hack for when you’re out of powdered sugar. It helps convert granulated sugar into powdered sugar with just a blender, sugar and cornstarch.
- Vegan butter - another frosting ingredient. Luckily, vegan butter is sold at most supermarkets so it is easy to get a hold of.
How to make
This recipe is easy and straightforward. All you need is a mixer and this could be a stand mixer, hand mixer or even a whisk and a firm hand.
PREHEAT OVEN AND TINS
1. Preheat your oven to 170C/340F/Gas Mark 3 ½ and prepare your tins. To do this, get a 12-hole cupcake tin and line it with paper cases.
PREPARE DRY INGREDIENTS
Take out a large bowl and sieve the flour, baking powder and salt and mix together.
PREPARE WET INGREDIENTS
In another bowl, mix the liquid ingredients (oil, vanilla, lemon extract and water). Then stir in the apple sauce.
FINISH BATTER & FILL CUPCAKE LINERS
Using a stand mixer, hand mixer or whisk combine the wet and dry ingredients.
You want to be left with a smooth lump-free batter.
Fill each cupcake liner to two thirds and no more. Overfilling your cupcakes will lead to over rising and will leave you with cupcakes that are misshapen and undercooked in the middle.
BAKE 20 MINUTES
Bake 20 minutes these should be golden on top and prodding them should see the cake quickly spring back up.
Rest for 10 minutes – Let the cakes rest for 10 minutes, after removal from the oven they need that time to cool slightly and set the sponge. Taking them straight out will lead to damaged sponge since they are fragile when first out.
MAKE THE FROSTING
In a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and fluffy. Gradually, add the powdered sugar and mix into the butter. You want a thick but smooth frosting consistency. Add the lemon extract and mix until completely combined. Check the consistency - use soya milk to loosen or a little extra powdered sugar to thicken.
Best vegan frosting
There are so many types of frosting that you can top your cakes with. Whilst i’ve opted for a delicious vegan frosting using powdered sugar and butter, there are other types of frosting that can be used.
How to store
- Important: store in an airtight container.
- Unless it is really hot in your kitchen, these don’t need to be refrigerated, they can be stored in a kitchen cupboard.
- The naked cupcakes can be frozen. To do this I’d advise wrapping them individually in parchment or greaseproof paper then place in a freezer bag. Defrost at room temperature for 5-6 hours. DO NOT FREEZE frosted cupcakes. Frosting does not freeze well.
Tips and tricks
- Use cold butter in the frosting. This will prevent the frosting from curdling as the butter separates.
- Use lemon extract, don't use lemon juice. Extract has a stronger lemon taste.
- To make gluten-free, just sub the flour with a gluten free alternative.
- Read the recipe fully before starting. Ensuring you understand each step.
- Prepare your ingredients. I like to pre-weigh all my ingredients rather than try to find item as I go.
- Don't open the oven until the 20 minutes are up. Repeatedly opening the oven removes the heat and leads to sinkage.
What you need to know
- This recipe creates 12 deliciously moist lemon cupcakes.
- It also shows you how to make a delicious lemon frosting.
- These will keep for up to 4 days. Or up to three months frozen.
- Easy to adapt - try it with other flavours - I love adding cocoa powder to the butter for a great chocolate cupcake.
- Can be whipped up in 45 minutes.
- Use fridge-cold butter in the frosting.
- Opt for high quality sea salt if possible.
I hope you'll all love these vegan lemon cupcakes and my perfect vegan frosting and let me know if you try them. Don't forget to leave a review!
Vegan lemon cupcakes (with the perfect vegan frosting)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 225 grams all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 110 ml vegetable oil
- 225 grams caster sugar
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 140 grams apple sauce
- 200 ml hot water
For the frosting
- 65 grams vegan butter cold
- 325 grams powdered sugar
- ½ tsp lemon extract
- 1 tbsp plant based milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 170C/340F/Gas Mark 3 ½ and prepare your tins. To do this, get a 12-hole cupcake tin and line it with paper cases.
- Take out a large bowl and sieve the flour, baking powder and salt and mix together.
- In another bowl, mix the liquid ingredients (oil, vanilla, lemon extract and water). Then stir in the apple sauce.
- Using a stand mixer, hand mixer or whisk combine the wet and dry ingredients.You want to be left with a smooth lump-free batter. Fill each cupcake liner to two thirds and no more. Overfilling your cupcakes will lead to over rising and will leave you with cupcakes that are misshapen and undercooked in the middle.
- Bake 20 minutes these should be golden on top and prodding them should see the cake quickly spring back up.Rest for 10 minutes – Let the cakes rest for 10 minutes, after removal from the oven they need that time to cool slightly and set the sponge. Taking them straight out will lead to damaged sponge since they are fragile when first out.
- In a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and fluffy. Gradually, add the powdered sugar and mix into the butter. You want a thick but smooth frosting consistency. Add the lemon extract and mix until completely combined. Check the consistency - use soya milk to loosen or a little extra powdered sugar to thicken.
Notes
- Important: store in an airtight container.
- Unless it is really hot in your kitchen, these don’t need to be refrigerated, they can be stored in a kitchen cupboard.
- The naked cupcakes can be frozen. To do this I’d advise wrapping them individually in parchment or greaseproof paper then place in a freezer bag. Defrost at room temperature for 5-6 hours. DO NOT FREEZE frosted cupcakes. Frosting does not freeze well.
- Use cold butter in the frosting. This will prevent the frosting from curdling as the butter separates.
- Use lemon extract, don't use lemon juice. Extract has a stronger lemon taste.
- To make gluten-free, just sub the flour with a gluten free alternative.
- Read the recipe fully before starting. Ensuring you understand each step.
- Prepare your ingredients. I like to pre-weigh all my ingredients rather than try to find item as I go.
- Don't open the oven until the 20 minutes are up. Repeatedly opening the oven removes the heat and leads to sinkage.
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