I was amazed when I saw this recipe, ‘vegan lemon curd’ I thought how did they make this without the eggs? but then I thought about it, it’s most probably made using cornflour as the thickening agent and I was right, yay. I do eat eggs but I’m not a huge fan of eating eggs as it does smell a lot, and also when you can taste an eggy taste in cakes, you probably thinking well yeh, when you eat eggs you are going to taste eggs duh! but it’s that strong and overpowering egg taste I’m really not keen on. Anyway most curds are made using eggs and I think it’s made with the egg yolk which are the richer more stronger in taste part of an egg and this is the part which is over powering. To avoid this taste I generally buy the cheapest lemon curd as they use egg powder instead of real eggs.
My mum and her love for lemons. This was made for her birthday as per usual baking anything lemon and she’s my best friend. I do like lemons in cakes too, I think that’s due to the amount of lemon cakes I’ve eaten which has made me like lemons a lot more. This cake had to be all eggless due to religious reasons and this recipe just came at the right time. I have made a few eggless victoria sponges and most haven’t really impressed me. They have either been too dry, too dense or too flat one problem or another. I think making eggless or vegan cakes are quite tricky to get right. I think this cake impressed me and my family, with the help of the lemon curd and the frosting this was a winner in taste and texture . This cake used golden syrup and boy could you smell that whilst it was baking in the oven it was soooo yummy and it brought me back to when I loved eating porridge with golden syrup but I stopped doing that and replaced it with honey.
You should definitely try this cake as its scrumptious, if you love lemons and more lemon with a hint of creaminess you would love this cake… yum yum yummy.
Please note that the lemon curd is usually made a day in advance so keep that in mind when making this cake.
- 1 lemon - finely grated zest
- 11/2 tbsp - cornflour
- 2 - juice of 2 large lemons (about 100ml)
- 50ml - water
- pinch salt
- 100g - granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp - almond milk unsweetened
- 2 tbsp - vegan spread (such as Vitalite or Flora freedom)
- 300ml - almond milk unsweetened
- 1 tbsp - lemon juice
- 150g - vegan spread
- 3 tbsp - golden syrup
- 275g - self-raising flour
- 45g - cornflour
- 1tsp - bicarbonate of soda
- 175g - caster sugar
- 3 - finely grated zest of 3 large lemons
- 150g - vegan spread
- 225g - icing sugar sifted
- 400ml - almond milk unsweetened
- 11/3 tbsp - lemon juice
- 200g - vegan spread
- 4 tbsp - golden syrup
- 375g - self-raising flour
- 60g - cornflour
- 11/3tsp - bicarbonate of soda
- 238g - caster sugar
- 3 - finely grated zest of 3 large lemons
- 200g - vegan spread
- 305g - icing sugar sifted
- 1. Make the lemon curd at least the day before you assemble the cake. Place the lemon zest (if using) and cornflour into a small pan. Gradually whisk in the lemon juice then whisk in the water, salt and sugar.
- 2. Stir over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved then continue to cook, whisking constantly, until it comes up to a gentle simmer and becomes very thick; cook for a further minute.
- Whisk in the almond milk and vegan spread and continue to stir over a low heat until melted and smooth then remove from the heat. If you like you can pass the curd through a fine mesh sieve to remove the lemon zest (I leave it in). Transfer to a bowl or jar, cover and place in the fridge overnight. It will thicken as it cools and will keep in the fridge for about 3 weeks.
- 1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Grease and line three 6" or 7" round tins.
- 2. In a small bowl stir the lemon juice into the almond milk and set aside to curdle.
- 3. In a saucepan add the vegan spread and the golden syrup and heat until the spread has melted, set aside to cool slightly.
- 4. In a large bowl, sift the flour, cornflour and bicarbonate of soda and stir in the sugar and lemon zest. Whisk in the milk mixture then the melted spread and until smooth.
- 5. Divide the mixture evenly between the three tins and bake for about 25 minutes, 30 mins for 7" until golden, pulling away from the sides of the tin and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- 6. Leave to cool completely.
- 1. Place the vegan spread in a bowl and gradually stir in the icing sugar, whisk until smooth.
- 1. Place one cake on a serving plate and spread third of the buttercream then spread over a generous layer of lemon curd. Repeat with the other two layers.
