Lemon & Coconut Loaf Cake

Delicately soft, zingy and coconutty. This vegan cake is drizzled with a warm, lemony syrup before finished with a lemon glaze (yes, more lemon!) and toasted coconut flakes. Not too sweet, not too tart, just perfect.

Pouring the warm, lemony syrup over the baked cake makes this cake especially moist and moreish. It's basically a vegan lemon drizzle cake, but with added coconut. Delicious!!

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, MAKE LEMON CAKE

Last week we had so many lemons in the kitchen, it seemed the best solution to get through them all was to bake this lemon and coconut cake, you know, to avoid food waste. This was the ONLY solution according to my husband. Now who can argue with that, right?

This is easy and quick cake recipe. And a real crowd pleaser.

OTHER CAKE RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE

vegan whole orange & almond cakes

gluten-free dark chocolate cake

easy vegan lamingtons

THIS CAKE IS

• soft

• light

• delicate

• zingy

• coconutty

• moist (sorry!)

• not too sweet

• not too tart

After cutting into the loaf cake, I noticed that the coconut flakes and the fresh lemon zest actually look like little flowers. So pretty!

HELPFUL TIPS!

• Grease the bread tin well to ensure the cake does not stick. Lining the baking tin with parchment paper makes it even easier to remove the cake from the tin.

• Adding the lemon zest adds more zing to the cake and counterbalances the sweetness, I highly recommend not leaving this out.

• Make sure the cake or the syrup is hot (or both) to ensure the syrup gets soaked right into the cake and doesn't sit on top of the cake. We want the zingy, lemony taste in every bite.

FOR MORE VARIATIONS

• Swap the fresh lemon for fresh oranges for a less zingy and a sweeter flavour.

• Add a couple tablespoons poppy seeds to the batter.

• Toasting the coconut beforehand adds a wonderful flavour, but it is not necessary to do. I only toasted the coconut chips which I used for decorating the cake.

• I have not tried baking this with gluten-free flour. If you have and had success let me know in the comments below.

LEMON & COCONUT LOAF

Delicately soft, zingy and coconutty. This vegan cake is drizzled with a warm, lemony syrup before finished with a lemon glaze (yes, more lemon!) and toasted coconut flakes. Not too sweet, not too tart, just perfect.

Makes : 1 (small) loaf

Prep time: 10 min

Baking time: 50 min

FOR THE CAKE

INGREDIENTS

• ¾ cup brown cane sugar, preferable organic

• 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted) or vegetable oil

• 200ml almond milk or milk of choice

• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice

• 1 ½ tbsp lemon zest

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 200g cake flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

• ½ tsp salt

• ½ cup fine desiccated coconut

• To finish: toasted coconut chips and lemon zest

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and prepare a bread loaf baking tin.

2. Mix the sugar, salt, coconut oil, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a large bowl until well combined.

3. Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarb and gently mix until well combined. Do not overmix.

4. Add in the coconut and mix one more time.

5. Pour the mixture into the baking tin and bake for 40 – 45 min, until the baking needle or skewer comes out clean.

6. Remove from the oven, but keep the cake in the tin.

7. In the meantime make the lemon syrup.

FOR THE LEMON SYRUP

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp brown, cane sugar

• Juice from 1 large lemon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. On a low heat or in the microwave, heat lemon juice and sugar and stir to dissolve the sugar.

2. Using a toothpick, poke holes all over the cake and pour the warm syrup over the warm cake.

3. Let the cake cool in the tin for at least 20min before removing.

FOR THE LEMON GLAZE (optional)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup icing (powdered) sugar sifted

• the juice of ½ - 1 lemon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix the fresh lemon juice and icing sugar, until a runny paste (you should be able to drizzle it nicely). If it's too runny add more icing sugar. If the mixture is too thick simply add more lemon juice.

2. Drizzle over the cooled cake and sprinkle with toasted coconut chips and lemon zest.

3. Let the cake cool completely before cutting into it. Enjoy!

Have you made this?

If you have, I would love to see your creations on Instagram.

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