An easy vegan loaf cake drizzled in sweet, flowery elderflower cordial. Celebrate the arrival of summer with this beautiful elderflower cake.
I always remember my Nan’s famous lemon drizzle cake that she would serve at tea time. And I was always especially excited by the prospect of getting the end slice, which was the sweetest, stickiest piece!
As the youngest in the family I was almost always the lucky one that got to enjoy the end piece! Sometimes I even had both ends, before the cake was finished, hehe!
Paul’s Austrian Oma makes Hollersaft, Elderflower Cordial, every year. Made with fresh elderflowers, sugar, lemon and citric acid, it’s full of blossomy flavour, just the right amount of sweetness and a citrusy tang.
So this cake is a tribute to both our grandmothers, combining our favourite childhood recipes into one – a delicious elderflower cake!
Making the cake
Our vegan elderflower loaf cake is easy to make. All you need is:
- Plain flour
- Baking powder
- Sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Soy milk or other plant milk
- Lemon juice (if you fancy you can also add some zest as well)
- Elderflower cordial
The process is simple. Mix together the dry ingredients. Then, mix the wet ingredients. Next, combine the wet and dry mix together into a smooth batter. It’s that easy!
For best results, line your loaf tin. Pour the batter into the tin, and then bake at 180C (350F) for 40 minutes until golden brown on the top.
To test that the cake is fully cooked, insert a skewer into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready to take out. If the skewer has still got uncooked batter on it, then put the cake back in the oven for 5 minutes and test again, and repeating until done.
When you take the cake out of the oven, use the skewer or a toothpick to make small holes all over. Then pour over the elderflower cordial. The holes help the drizzle soak into the cake to make it deliciously moist.
We like to use our own homemade elderflower cordial (it’s sooo tasty, and really fun to make!) but you can also use store bought.
If elderflowers are currently in season you can also add fresh flowers to the top just before serving.
Elderflower foraging
Elderflowers are the edible flowers of the Elder tree, and are typically found in May and June in the UK. For our tips on how to identify and forage your own elderflowers, and what else you can make with these beautifully fragrant blossoms, check out our other vegan elderflower recipes.
Serving
After the drizzle has soaked in, you can enjoy our elderflower cake still slightly warm with a scoop of ice cream (Our Vegan Elderflower and Coconut Ice Cream goes very well!) or serve it when it has cooled.
The cake keeps well in an airtight container for a couple of days.
We hope you enjoy our elderflower cake. You might like to try these other tasty vegan cakes too!
Our Vegan Apricot Cake that’s topped with juicy fruits
This easy Vegan Chocolate Pear Cake with whole pears inside
Or how about the classic Austrian Sachertorte!
Vegan Elderflower Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) soy milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (half a lemon)
- 1 tbsp elderflower cordial
For the elderflower drizzle
- 3 tbsp elderflower cordial
- 1 fresh elderflower head optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C (350F)
- Mix the flour, baking powder and sugar together
- Whisk the oil, soy milk, lemon juice and elderflower cordial together
- Add the liquid mix to flour mix and mix until you have a smooth batter
- Pour into a lightly oiled or lined loaf tin and bake at 180C for 40 minutes
- Use a skewer or cake tester to check that the cake is fully cooked inside. If the tester doesn't come out clean, cook for another 5 minutes and check again.
- Take the cake out of the oven, and poke holes all over it using a skewer, so that the drizzle can soak in.
- Pour the elderflower cordial over the cake and let it soak in while it cools in the tin
- If using, strip the small flowers from the elderflower head and sprinkle over the cake just before serving
Nutrition
We hope you enjoyed our elderflower cake! More vegan elderflower recipes coming soon. Sign up to our newsletter so you don't miss them!
Lots of love and sunshine!
Sophie and Paul
Deva says
The idea of the recipe is great and i like how simple it is. I tried to bake it, but it didn’t rise at all... so, how do you get it to rise? I followed the instructions. Do you have any idea why it turned out the way it did?
Best regards.
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Deva,
Glad you like the idea! Sorry you had trouble getting the cake to rise. As you can see from the pictures, we get a nice rise to the cake when following the recipe. The baking powder makes the cake rise so the most likely reason is that your baking powder is old or expired. To test it is still good - test 1/4 tsp baking powder in 1/2 a cup hot water. It should bubble vigorously if it's still working. Some other possible things that can cause a cake to not rise as expected are: using a different size tin, oven temperature running hotter/colder, opening the oven during baking, variations in types of flour, humidity and altitude in different parts of the world... Hope that helps! Sophie
Emily says
Hello! This cake looks delicious! I want to bake it for a family member who is sensitive to gluten. Do you think using 1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour would work in place of the plain flour?
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Emily!
When you bake gluten free, you have to make sure your flour contains a gluten-substitute, such as xanthan gum or guar gum. Then you can use it 1:1. (If you are not sure, let us know the brand and we can look it up for you 🙂 )
Also, add an extra teaspoon of baking powder to compensate for the denser flour.
And also, check if the baking bowder is gluten free!! Some baking powders contain gluten. There are also certified gluten free baking powders available.
If you need any more help, feel free to email us.
We're happy you are trying our recipe 🙂 Let us know how it turned out!
Best wishes, Sophie & Paul
Alex says
Can you use oat milk instead of soy? We have loads of it in the house!
Also I assume the cordial is undiluted in this recipe?
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Alex, We haven't tried oat. It should work, but the cake might be a little more crumbly in texture. And yes, undiluted cordial. Happy baking 🙂
Alex says
Excellent thank you