- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease three 6″ or 8″ cake pans with olive or coconut oil.
- Mix together the dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside.
- Whisk together just the flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Next, you’ll cream together the softened vegan butter and sugar until the sugar dissolves into the butter for about 3 minutes. I used the flat beater paddle. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Then add in the unsweetened applesauce, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest, and continue to beat again on medium-low speed, then increasing it to medium speed until combine, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Gradually add in half of the flour mixture, followed by half of the vegan buttermilk, and continue beating until the entire flour mixture and the buttermilk are in the batter. Beat until the dry ingredients are just incorporated, being careful not to over mix. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Divide the batter evenly into the cake pans.
- Place cake pans into the oven and bake for 23-26 minutes (for 6″) or until the toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a drying rack to cool completely before frosting.
Vegan Vanilla Raspberry Buttercream:
- When ready to frost the cakes, add vegan butter to a large bowl or stand mixer and cream for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, continuing the beat the mixture until it’s a thick buttercream.
- Add in the fresh berries and mix until the fruit is well incorporated.
- Add in vanilla, lemon, and zest, and 2-4 tablespoons of dairy-free milk and continue to beat until desired texture.
- In between each layer, add 1/4 cup raspberry jam. It will begin to drip onto the sides of the cake. When frosting the sides of the cake, the raspberry jam will blend into the frosting. Frost the rest of the cake and top with lemon slices. Slice and enjoy!