Lemon Drizzle Traycake Recipe: A Vegan Lemon Cake Recipe From "BOSH! on a Budget" Vegan Cakes/Cupcakes Desserts

Lemon drizzle is probably Britain's favorite cake – so popular, in fact, that we made our own lemon cakes, which you can buy in stores! It's so great when you make it yourself, so here it gets a facelift in traybake form, making it easy to slice into bars for dessert and share with friends. 

We've taken the drizzle one step further and topped the cake with a beautifully feathered combo of classic white lemon icing and vibrant lemon curd. When life gives you lemons, make cake. And make a beautiful cake, like this one.

Cuisine: British
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 2 lemons
• 2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
• 1 cup superfine sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 7 tablespoons oat milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil or sunflower oil
• scant 1/2 cup water

Lemon Curd

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup oat milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Icing

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon cold water

Here's how to make it: 

1. Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F. Line a 6 1/2 x 10-inch ovenproof dish with parchment paper.
2. Make the sponge. Zest the 2 lemons and cut them in half. Measure the flour, sugar, baking powder and zest into a bowl and whisk to mix.
3. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon into a small bowl. Add the oat milk, mix well, and set aside. Pour the oil into the dry mixture. Add the water and the lemon milk. Whisk well, then tip into the dish and spread it out evenly. Transfer to the hot oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly golden and cooked through. Transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
4. Make the lemon curd. Tip the cornstarch into the small pan. Add a splash of the oat milk and whisk to combine, then add the rest of the oat milk, whisking to make sure there are no lumps. Squeeze in the juice of one of the lemons, catching the seeds in your other hand. Add the sugar and turmeric. Set the pan over medium heat and whisk until thick, about 5 minutes. Tip into a bowl and set aside to cool
5. Make the icing. Measure the powdered sugar and water into a bowl. Squeeze in the juice of the last lemon, half a drop or two at a time. Mix until smooth and the consistency of heavy cream.
6. Ice the traycake. If you're using a pastry bag, spoon the curd into it. Pop the cooled cake back into the oven dish. Pour over the icing and use the back of a spoon or a spatula to spread it over the cake. Working quickly so that the icing doesn't set, rotate the dish 90 degrees. Use a spoon or the pastry bag to draw lines of lemon curd about 3/4  to  1 1/4 inches apart. Use the long end of a spoon or a skewer to drag the curd left and right to create a marble effect. Allow the icing to set completely (about 1 hour ). Slice and serve.

Excerpted from BOSH! on a Budget by Henry Firth and Ian Theasby. Reprinted with permission of HarperCollins, 2022.

Need help converting cooking and baking measurements? Here are some handy kitchen conversion charts.

Take 30 seconds and join the 30Seconds community and follow us on Facebook to get recipes in your newsfeed daily. Inspire and be inspired.