Moist and delicious gluten-free lemon cake is layered with coconut whipped cream and fresh berries. The perfect dessert to welcome spring!
Spring is my favorite time of year, aside from fall. I love the in-between seasons when the weather’s more mild and I get to bring out my clothes that have been in storage for the last several months. It’s almost like having a new wardrobe. Isn’t it nice to find clothes you forgot you had? 😉
Having a cold on top of allergies for the last several days hasn’t been fun, but the sun shining and the birds chirping somehow makes it a bit more bearable. The sickness started from my hubby who must’ve picked something up from work. He passed it to me and it has making its way through the family. Of course my hubby is totally better now, as I sit around with my tissues, sneezing every five minutes. It’s so not fair. On top of that he keeps reminding me that this is how he felt a few days ago…”yep, that’s exactly how I felt,” and “see, I wasn’t exaggerating.” I’m like, of course this is how you felt, you’re the one who brought the sickness into the house and infected the rest of us!
Through my annoying cold, I mustered up the energy to bake and I knew exactly how I wanted to celebrate—with cake, of course! After all, this beautiful season, where everything’s in bloom and the weather has finally warmed up a bit, deserves to be celebrated! With a hint of lemon and fresh berries, I can’t think of another cake that screams spring like this one does! Enjoy!
Lemon Layer Cake with Fresh Berries
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 8-inch cake 1x
Description
Moist and delicious gluten-free lemon cake is layered with coconut whipped cream and mixed berries. The perfect dessert to welcome spring!
Ingredients
Lemon-Berry Cake – Vegan version here
- 2 cups gluten-free flour I use Bobs Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
or King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour
- 1 cup Super Fine Blanched Almond Flour
* (see notes below for substitution)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup softened butter (can use dairy-free)
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons oil of choice like vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
- 1 cup honey or maple syrup (or combo of both)
- 2/3 cup almond milk or other milk of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 2–3 large lemons, to taste
- Lemon Whipped Cream (recipe below)
- 3–4 cups mixed berries (some sliced and halved for in between layers)
- edible flowers, optional
or 
* (see notes below for substitution)
Lemon Whipped Cream :
- 16 oz. regular or dairy-free cream cheese or mascarpone
- 1–2 (14 oz) cans coconut cream
or full-fat coconut milk refrigerated overnight (about 1 3/4 cup firm coconut cream, liquid discarded. Can also use 1 cup regular whipping cream if not dairy-free)
- 3–5 tablespoons honey
or other sweetener of choice (more or less to taste)
- juice and zest from 1 lemon (more or less to taste)
or full-fat coconut milk refrigerated overnight (about 
or other sweetener of choice (more or less to taste)Instructions
Cake:
- This cake makes two 8-inch
or three 6-inch
cakes. To make a 3 layer 8-inch cake, use 1 1/2 cake recipe.
- Preheat oven to 325F. Grease cake pans and line the bottom with a parchment paper circle (cut to fit the bottom.) Set aside.
- Combine flours, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add softened butter, eggs, coconut oil and sweetener. Begin beating together with the flour mixture. Slowly mix in the milk, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure all the flour is evenly incorporated.
- Evenly distribute cake batter into the pans and place on the middle rack in the preheated oven. Bake for 25-35 minutes OR until cake is golden brown, center is set, and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Bake time will vary upon pan and thickness of batter.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for a bit, then run a knife along the edge of the cake (if sticking to the pan) and invert cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.
or three 
cakes. To make a 3 layer 8-inch cake, use 1 1/2 cake recipe.Whipped Cream:
- In a large mixing bowl, begin to beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add sweetener and lemon juice/zest and continue to beat until fluffy. Add cold, hardened coconut cream and beat on high until light and fluffy, a few more minutes. Taste and adjust sweetener or lemon flavoring. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
- If using regular whipping cream, beat whipping cream separately until fluffy (about 3-4 minutes) and then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.
Putting it together:
- Place one of the fully cooled cakes onto your cake plate. Top with 1/3 or 1/2 of the whipped cream (depending on how many cake you have) and about 1 cup of sliced berries.
- Top with another cake layer and repeat the process.
- At the end, top cake with remaining whipped cream and a pile of whole and halved berries. Decorate with edible flowers and a light dusting of powdered sugar (optional).
- Serve right away and store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
- *If you need to substitute almond flour, use the cake in this recipe. Just add the lemon zest from this recipe to keep the lemon flavor.
- Cake recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dessert, Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar Free
You May Also Enjoy These Similar Recipes:
Vegan Lemon Cake with Fresh Berries
Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream
Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes with Fresh Berries
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Hello Joscelyn! I made this cake yesterday, but the cake was a bit like harsh, it doesn’t look like the pictureee. I dont know if it’s because first, in the standing mixer, y mix at the same time the butter, eggs, coconut oil and honey, and then, I added the solids and after that, I added the milk, vanilla and zest. I mean, idk if I did it in the correct order.
Also my whipped cream is a bit liquid; I use regular lyncott whipped cream and I beat it before folding it to the cream cheese. Idk what could happened there too:/
Idk if everything went a bit wrong because I made 1/2 of the whole recipe. Plz let me knoww if the process I did was wrong or it was because of the measures. Thanks!
Hi Alexa, sorry your cake didn’t turn out as expected. Sometimes adding things out of order can affect a recipe, but it doesn’t sound like it was much different, as long as you blended everything together well. Also, what flours did you use? When you say “harsh” do you mean it fell apart or didn’t rise? Describing how the cake turned out will help me determine what could’ve went wrong. As far as the whipping cream goes, there should be no reason why it was liquid, unless the cream didn’t get beaten enough initially. You also need to beat the cream cheese on its own before folding the two together. It does need to stay at a cool temperature or it can melt, causing it to turn liquidy.
Making 1/2 of a recipe is sometimes challenging, because it’s hard to remember to half all of the ingredients. I know I’ve sometimes accidentally halved most of the ingredients, but forgot to half the baking powder or salt, etc. If this happened, that could be a reason for the cake not to turn out as pictured. I’d love to help you trouble shoot the issue though! I definitely want you to bake up a successful cake! If you can share more details of what exactly happened with the cake I can try to help you figure out what went wrong!
Well, I used ap flour (instead of the gf one), and I also used the almond flour. By harsh I mean, it did rise and it was good, it was just like not too porous, maybe it was way too much zest, because when I tried it, it was too bitter, I used like 2 lemons and it was 1/2 of the recipe haha. Also I added 2 eggs, should I use only 1 for 1/2 of the recipe?
And for the whipped cream, I used the cream cheese at room temperature and I did beat it before adding the other ingredients, but Could be that I over beat it? Because it was not fully liquid but it didn’t turn out very firm
Thnksss Joscelyn!!
Oh, yeah it was probably too much lemon zest! And you may already know this, but make sure not to get any of the white pith when zesting the lemon; just the yellow part! The white part is really bitter!
I actually haven’t tried this recipe using regular all purpose flour, so I’m not sure how it works. That may be the reason it didn’t turn out spongey. Gluten-free flour and regular flour usually need a different amount of milk/liquid, so too much or too little can affect the texture of the cake. I have two lemon cake recipes that I specifically used regular all-purpose flour with, so I’d recommend giving one of them a try instead! They’re vegan friendly (made without eggs) but they are still fluffy and delicious!
https://www.wifemamafoodie.com/vegan-lemon-cake-with-fresh-berries/ and
https://www.wifemamafoodie.com/lemon-yogurt-bundt-cake/
With the whipped cream, if you whip it for too long, it curdles and begins to separate, which can make it watery. Make sure the whipping cream is super cold and beat it just until fluffy and the peaks stay up when you lift the beaters. Mix 1/3 whipped cream into the cream cheese, just until incorporated, then fold in the rest. That should help to not overbeat it. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions and also how it goes if you give it a try again!
Can I make this with regular flour (instead of a gluten free version?) Same amount of flour? Thank you – looks delish! 🙂
Hi Kate, you may be able to get away with replacing the gf flour blend with ap flour, but I’d keep the almond flour part, because it adds moisture that can’t be replaced by regular flour. I also have another lemon cake here (https://www.wifemamafoodie.com/vegan-lemon-cake-with-fresh-berries/) that uses just all-purpose flour and it’s really delicious if you want to try that instead?
Wow! Both look delicious. Thank you for the quick reply. Im picking out my own birthday cake. May have to try both!
Oh, well happy early birthday! I hope you enjoy it, whichever you decide to try!
I accidentally put baking soda in the batter instead of baking powder. Is there anyway to fix this?
Hi Sadie, unfortunately they aren’t interchangeable. Baking soda has a high sodium content and will make the baked good salty. It also needs an acid to activate it, 1 teaspoon acid for every 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. You can try adding additional lemon juice, but it still may not rise properly. It’s worth a try if you already blended it together. At least there’s a chance it will be halfway decent, but it may not be good at all. I’m sorry, I know it’s upsetting to waste ingredients. One time I forgot to add sugar to my cake and had to throw the whole thing away! 🙁
This looks amazing! Wow, if mine turns out half as good I will be amazed.
Hi I was wondering if you could help me out! This cake looks absolutely delicious and I would love to bake it for my boyfriends birthday. However, my boyfriend is diabetic and tries to avoid flour…even gluten free flour as it has the same amount of carbs which can cause his sugar to increase. I was wondering if this recipe could be made from all almond flower. Or if you could recommend a alternative. Thank You !
Hi Maddie, I haven’t tried this cake with any alternative flours, so unfortunately I don’t have any suggestions on how to make it low carb. I’ve seen almond flour cakes online, King Arthur Flour actually has one on their website that uses almond and coconut flour, but I’ve never made it so I can’t vouch for the results. It’s an option if you’d like to give it a try though! Sorry, I don’t have one on my site yet, but I’ll work on including one in the future! I hope you’re able to find something delicious to make for him!
I don’t know what Happened , the cake has been is ife the oven for 50 min and is. It rising n.
It looks like a big cookie .
As soon as I started to beat al the mix I knew something was wrong .
O used coconut flour instead of almond … could that be the Reason? … I’m really sad , this was my daughter’s birthday cake ‘
Hi Olivia, it’s definitely the coconut flour. Unfortunately coconut flour can’t be used interchangeably with almond flour. Coconut flour is much more absorbent than almond flour and if used 1:1 will make the product very dry and crumbly. I hope you’re able to try the recipe as stated with almond flour because it’s really a delicious cake!
Hi! Such a beautiful cake! I was wondering if using AP flour instead. Would I substitute the 2 cups or 3? I appreciate your guidance.
Hi Lauren, thank you for the kind words! The almond flour adds a bit more moisture than regular or gf all purpose flour provides, so if you want to use regular ap flour, I would just substitute it for the gluten free flour (2 cups) and then still use the 1 cup of almond flour. If you’d like to use only all purpose flour, I have another recipe you can try instead: https://www.wifemamafoodie.com/vegan-lemon-cake-with-fresh-berries/. Let me know if you have any other questions about these recipes or if I can help you in any way! Have a great weekend! 🙂
This is awesome!! Mouth watering!
hello!
Can i use your cake pictures? 🙂
i had to make homepage for school and now i’m looking for pictures so i can make my homepage look pretty and cool!
Such a GORGEOUS cake! My husband was actually just requesting a cake like this one, so I’ll definitely have to keep this in mind for this summer 🙂 Can’t WAIT to try!
Aw thank you sweet friend! I hope you’re doing well! Have a wonderful week!
This cake looks delicious!!! I saw your vegan vanilla cake with strawberry buttercream and I want to use the strawberry buttercream and the lemon cake recipe from this page. I was wondering if this recipe could be used to make two 9-inch cakes, instead of three 8-inch cakes? Thank-you!
Hi Solange! Thank you very much! You can use two 9-inch pans, but there will likely be a little extra batter left over. You can probably make a few cupcakes or a small sample cake to enjoy aside from the main cake. Let me know how it goes!! Enjoy!
I realized that the lemon cake was not vegan because of the eggs, so I added the lemon zest from this cake and some extra lemon juice in the vanilla cake and it was wonderful. The buttercream was so fluffy and it made such a nice vegan treat for the holiday. I could never find a strawberry lemonade cake that I liked and combining the recipes (kind of) was so yummy! I might’ve already cut a slice…
I’m so happy you enjoyed the cake, Solange! Adding lemon flavor to the vanilla cake is very delicious idea, especially in combination with strawberry buttercream! I may just have to go and recreate that cake for myself this weekend!! Thanks for stopping back by to let me know how it turned out for you too!! Have a wonderful weekend!
Hi there! What kind of flowers did you use?
Hi Cali! The white flowers are strawberry blossoms and the purple were some flower I picked up at my local organic nursery. Some of the others I like to use though, that are also edible, are pansies, violas, and micro dianthus. Hope that helps!
I love your yummy recipes Joscelyn!
I just tried to make your cake and all seemed fine when I took it out of oven. However, it “collapsed” shortly after. Any idea why would that happen? I followed your recipe exactly.
Thank you
Hi Ilona, thank you for the sweet compliment! Sorry that happened to your cake! I sometimes find that gluten-free cakes will shrink slightly after coming out of the oven, unlike the ones I make that use regular all-purpose flour, which often have a dome. I’ve experimented in the past with adding less liquid, which helps it dome better, but it was a little too dry for my liking. I prefer a very moist cake, even if it shrinks a little 😉 Now, if it collapsed a lot, then it’s possible it wasn’t fully cooked in the center or that too much liquid/not enough flour was added. If you can give me a little more detail, I’ll try and help you troubleshoot what could’ve went wrong!
What can you substitute the almond flour for??
Hi Sarah! Since almond flour has a lot of moisture and fat, it’s hard to substitute 1 for 1 without further changing the recipe. You can use the yellow cake from one of these recipes, which has regular flour or gf flour with a little coconut flour (http://www.wifemamafoodie.com/white-chocolate-summer-berry-cake-2/ OR http://www.wifemamafoodie.com/vegan-vanilla-cake-with-strawberry-buttercream/) and then you’d just add the lemon zest from this recipe. Please let me know how it turns out!
Could you substitute the gluten free flour for request flour and stil use almond flour with it? Or would it ruin the cake? I want to make it for my parents anniversary today but I scared to make a gluten free cake haha
*Regular flour haha
Haha, darn spell check! Hi Emily, yes I’m thinking it would work as I often swap out gf flour for all-purpose flour, although I haven’t tried it with this particular recipe. Please let me know how it turns out if you give it a try though and maybe I can update the recipe to include both! Hope your parents have a wonderful anniversary! 🙂
Lemon is my favorite flavor, so this is right up my alley!
xoxo, SS
Southern And Style
Thank you! I love lemon too, especially combined with berries with a side of good coffee.
You are just Awesome! I think you make the most delicious cakes Joscelyn. I just cannot hold my mouth from watering on each and every recipe you make. Pinning of course!
Thank you so much dear friend. You’re so sweet. I hope you’re having a wonderful week and here’s to a great weekend xoxo
I’m on a diet now for summer body but this makes me want to break my diet 🙂 Looks so good
Lol, so sorry Bee. Thank you for the fun comment 🙂
Yumm!! This looks so beautiful and delicious!!
Thank you, Amanda!
These are so gorgeous. I love this lemon layer cake. I would have never thought to put berries in the layers, but it looks sooo good.
Thank you, Michelle!
Are you freaking kidding me!! This cake is beautiful! Seriously, you are an artist! I cannot wait to make this cake! Pinning it now! xo
http://thebbar.org/
Thank you for pinning and for the love, Bea! I really appreciate the encouragement!
You make the most delicious cakes Joscelyn and this one is no exception! IT is indeed perfect for Spring and I love how pretty it looks with all the berries and flowers 🙂 Hope your cold is better now 🙂
Aw, thank you sweet friend! I love how Spring inspires so many colors and flavors. I really appreciate how you always find such nice things to say. You are one of the most thoughtful, considerate people I know. Have a lovely weekend! xoxo
This cake is absolutely stunning! I can’t imagine how delicious it must be. Definitely filing this one away to try out in the future!
Molly // Miss Molly Moon
Thank you, Molly! The cake is so good. I hope you try it out and let me know how you like it.
Omg this looks absolutely divine! Definitely one to try. 🙂
Aw, thanks Clare! I hope you’re having a great day!
Looks so tempting. Love strawberries.
Yes, me too! Thanks for your comment. Have a fun weekend 🙂
It looks too perfect to eat!! wow! I may have to try this in the summer, it looks refreshing.
Thanks, Nicole!
This looks devine! Your photos are always beautiful. I love how light and fresh this recipe is!
Thank you for being so encouraging sweet friend. Have a lovely evening xoxo
This is the prettiest cake for spring – I just adore those layers and all those gorgeous berries! 🙂
Thank you, Laura. I hope you’re having a great week!
This looks really delicious. Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Danielle! Have a lovely evening!
This looks like ART, never mind food! Beautiful cakes – love your photography! I am pinning this for later, hoping I can tackle one of these someday.
Thanks for pinning and for your kind words 🙂 I hope you’re having a wonderful week!
This is INSANELY beautiful and looks so delicious!! I absolutely love lemon and berries – can’t wait to make this this summer and literally stick my face in it, haha!
Lol, I love this! What a fun comment! I think it’s a great idea! Haha!
This looks perfect!! I want it now 🙂
OMG this is perfect!!! I wish I can tap it and it can appear right on a plate in front of me. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Jewels! I hope you have a great week!
This cake is STUNNING. I especially love the close-up shot of the cake. Your photography is amazing, Joscelyn! Hope you get better soon!
Lemon layer cake? It looks gorgeous and sounds delicious! I love lemon cake 🙂
Ohh wow this looks so yummy and it’s absolutely beautifully decorated. I have the hardest time making cakes look nice. I guess I just need to practice!
What a beautiful cake! I couldn’t help pinning it! The pictures are amazing!!!
My husband LOVES anything lemon so this is getting Pinned! The edible flowers put it over the top (in a good way!) for company. Soooo pretty.
This cake is absolutely breath taking. I would like a big fat slice in front of my mouth, RIGHT NOW!
This looks really good and, like you said, perfect for spring! I hope you’re feeling better soon.
I hope you feel better soon.
This cake looks DELICIOUS!!! Baking is not something I do often, but I should because I love desserts. Then again I might eat it all in a day or two, lol!
WOW!! This looks delicious and perfect for spring and Easter 🙂 Thank you for sharing!!