Vegan whole lemon cake

I loved this vegan lemon cake recipe from Rainbow Nourishments that uses all of the lemon without any waste! Here’s my twist on this idea that doesn’t require boiling the lemon so it’s quicker to make and saves on energy bills.

Ingredients

I’m still working out exact measurements for the oil, milk and sugar. If you’re used to making cakes you should be able to find a ratio that works by eyeballing the batter’s consistency.

• 250g fresh lemon, or another unwaxed citrus fruit like lime or orange
• 80ml neutral oil (raspeed, sunflower) + extra for the baking tin
• 100-150ml dairy free milk
• 300g plain or self raising flour
• 150-200g of sugar 
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Equipment

• Hand blender or food processor
• Fork or whisk
• Mixing bowl
• Measuring jug
• Baking tin
• Kitchen scale

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a baking dish with neutral oil and set aside.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl:  flour, baking soda and sugar. Set aside. 
3. Wash the citrus fruit with warm water - you can brush off any dirt with a vegetable scrubbing brush. Chop into chunks of 2-3 cm or bigger if your blender can cope with it. Remove all the seeds.
4. Add all the milk, oil, vanilla and citrus chunks to your food processor or a tall food safe container if you’re using a hand blender. Blend the ingredients into a smooth pulp. It won’t be completely smooth but there shouldn’t be any big chunks.
5. Little by little, mix your wet mix into the dry mix. Stir well until smooth. Taste your batter and add more sugar if it’s too bitter.
6. Pour the mixture in the baking dish. Cook at 180 degrees for 35-45 min. 
7. Insert a knife into the center of the cake: 

• Does it come out clean? Your cake is ready, get it out of the oven.
• Is the cake batter sticking to the knife? Turn your oven off and leave your tin in it for an extra 5 to 10 min baking time then check again.

Leave the cake to cool down. You can always dust with icing sugar or cover with a vanilla or lemon icing glaze  to make it look more fancy or to lower the bitterness a bit more.

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