Vegan Lemon Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (Sugar Free and Gluten Free options)

If you are on the hunt for a quick & easy summertime dessert to bring to your next barbeque, then look no further than this deliciously sunny vegan lemon sheet cake!  The cake itself is soft and fluffy, and bursting with lemon flavor.  The topping is a tangy, velvety smooth cream cheese frosting.  The whole thing can be made in one bowl, is fully vegan, and easily made gluten free AND sugar free!

If you are reading this during the warm months, then you have stumbled upon the PERFECT super quick but impressive dessert for this time of year!  If you are reading this during cold months, then make this vegan lemon sheet cake ASAP to be mentally transported to a bright and sunny day!  This cake is so quick and simple, I promise you’ll be able to put it all together in the morning, and be eating it by lunchtime alongside your (veggie) burgers or (vegan) ribs or corn on the cob or whatever is your BBQ food of choice! 

I can’t decide what I love most about this cake – the texture, or the flavor combo. The texture is PERFECTION. It is soft, it is fluffy, it is light, it is moist. But the flavor combo?! Also perfection!! Zesty lemon brightness alongside buttery vanilla cake goodness in the cake, topped with tangy cream cheese frosting – what can be better?! (though if you’re not a cream cheese fan then I offer up some alternative frosting options below, don’t worry)

Okay but the more time you spend reading my ramblings the less time you spend eating this VEGAN LEMON SHEET CAKE. 

How To Make It:

I cannot overstate how simple this cake is.  The most time consuming parts are letting the vegan butter and non-dairy milk come to room temperature before baking (I leave mine out around 2-3 hours before starting), and letting the cake cool before frosting it.

One thing I will note – in my lemon cake recipes, I use lemon zest for the lemon flavor, not lemon juice.  You will find this in my Lemon Pound Cake and my Lemon Curd Cake as well.  I personally find that the best and most vibrant lemon flavor comes from the zest, and that the juice can alter the consistency of the batter and often leave a sour taste behind after baking. 

Okay, cake time!  In a large bowl, combine the vegan butter, neutral oil, lemon zest, and sugar.  You want to cream this together fully until it is light and fluffy.  Whether you are using a stand mixer, hand mixer, or just getting down and dirty with your hands, do not skimp on this part.  Mix it for a solid few minutes until it looks like the below.

Next up..

Add in the other wet ingredients, the non-dairy milk and vanilla extract.  At this point the mixture will look separated, sort of like a weird oil painting (see above).  This is okay and correct, and it will come back together again with the dry ingredients, which you will add in next.  Gluten free (or all-purpose) flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix until fully combined, but try not to overmix or the batter will get tough.

Pour into a well-greased and/or parchment lined 9×13 pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  I turn the pan halfway through the bake time to ensure it bakes evenly on all sides, which I recommend for you too unless you know your oven is the most perfect oven of all time and there are no warmer spots or cooler spots.  Test for doneness by sticking a toothpick into the center of the cake and removing from the oven when the toothpick comes out with just crumbs, no wet batter.

Place the pan directly onto a cooling rack to make sure air circulates around the bottom as well, and let cool in the pan for at least 15-20 minutes before removing it.  Even if you used parchment paper I’d recommend removing by inverting the cake out onto a large cooling rack or large pan or cutting board or anything it’ll fit onto, since if you try to lift out using the parchment paper it may break in the middle.  You want the cake to cool entirely before frosting it, and the frosting will only take a few minutes to make, so wait til you’re ready to put it together before making it fresh. 

A quick note on frosting options..

I think the flavor pairing of the zesty lemon cake with the tangy cream cheese frosting is perfection.  But if you’re not a cream cheese frosting fan, fear not!  As promised earlier, I have three other possible frosting recommendations here:

• Mixed berry frosting – find the recipe on this other summery sheetcake page
• Lightly whipped cream – find the recipe on this triple berry layer cake page. *note this one takes advance prep in the form of chilling cans of coconut cream overnight, so if you’re going to opt for this one, prepare in advance!
• Vanilla buttercream frosting – find the recipe on this classic vanilla cupcake page

Combine your vegan butter and vegan cream cheese in a large bowl and mix together until soft and fluffy, I use a simple hand mixer, but of course you can use a fancier mixer if you’ve got one.  Add in the powdered sugar a little bit at a time, mixing and scraping down the bowl along the way, until you get to your desired consistency.  I also like to add a little lemon juice and lemon zest to the frosting, you can do this or omit it based on your own taste.  Have fun with it!

Lastly I will say that I think the amount of frosting that this recipe makes is perfect for the cake, but feel free to double it if you want to go very heavy on the frosting.  Since it takes no advance prep you can just make more as you go if you think you need it! TIME TO EAT YOUR VEGAN LEMON SHEET CAKE!!

Storage:

Store the cake in an air tight container and keep at room temperature for a day or two, or in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Pro Tips & Tools:

• Make sure you are measuring your flour either by weight or using the spoon and level method.  Do not scoop directly from the container, as you will wind up with too much! This is so important! If you want to buy a pre-made gluten free flour blend, make sure it’s King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour, it is BY FAR the best one for my recipes, NOT Bob’s Red Mills or any others. If you want to make a homemade blend, here is a link to the one I use.
• Make sure you measure your liquid ingredients using liquid measuring cups.  This will ensure accuracy!  I love this set.

Ingredients Needed:

• Lemons – I use the zest of about 3 lemons for the cake and another 1 for the frosting, plus you may want to use the juice from one lemon for the frosting as well.  Optionally you can get more lemons to decorate the top of the cake.
• Vegan butter – I use Earth Balance sticks
• Neutral oil – any should do, I always use grapeseed. 
• Granulated sugar – If you want to make these sugar free, I love using this Monkfruit Sweetener in place of granulated sugar.
• Non-dairy milk – any should do here!  I usually use soy or almond.
• Vanilla extract
• Flour – Make sure you are measuring your flour either by weight or using the spoon and level method.  Do not scoop directly from the container, as you will wind up with too much! This is so important! If you want to buy a pre-made gluten free flour blend, make sure it’s King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour, it is BY FAR the best one for my recipes, NOT Bob’s Red Mills or any others. If you want to make a homemade blend, here is a link to the one I use.
• Baking powder – I recommend using baking powder that has no added aluminum. This one is my go-to.
• Salt
• Vegan cream cheese – I am fond of the Kite Hill brand
• Powdered sugar – for the frosting. If you want this part to be sugar free, you can use this Monkfruit Powdered Sweetener in place of powdered sugar.

What To Bake Next:

• Want more lemon goodness? Try these Vegan Lemon Bars, or this Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake with Lemon Curd Filling, or this Vegan Lemon Pound Cake.
• Want more CAKE? Try this Vegan Triple Berry Cake, or this Vegan Carrot Cake, or this Vegan One Bowl Red Velvet Cake, or this Vegan Triple Chocolate Cake.
• Want more summertime party treats? Try this Vegan Mimosa Bundt Cake, or these Vegan Berry Crumble Bars, or these Vegan Cheesecake Brownies with Fresh Strawberry Sauce.