Eggless Vanilla Cake Recipe

This eggless vanilla cake recipe is moist with a soft crumb. It is made without condensed milk and tastes absolutely delicious. Great on its own with tea or dressed with frosting for an elegant celebration cake. It can also be used to carve as a novelty cake or tweaked to make many different flavors and combinations. Perfect for your next celebration.

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It’s been a while since I perfected this eggless vanilla sponge cake recipe for my customers. I love how moist and tender the crumb is, but mostly how easy it is to make. And the best part is that I customize this same recipe to make many different flavors of a moist orange cake or lemon cake, etc. I will also share those with you in the near future.

Why make this eggless cake?

• This cake is moist and soft. It has a firm texture, yet light and airy, with a soft crumb.
• It is perfect to fill and frost for a celebration cake. And it can also be used to carve for sculpted or novelty cakes. It can also be used as a tiered wedding cake, as well as covered with fondant.
• And unlike most eggless cakes, this one has no condensed milk. (I do have a recipe for Eggless Sponge Cake using condensed milk, too.)
• The options for filling and frosting recipes that can complement this are endless.
• Today, I am using vanilla pastry cream, but you can use other fillings like eggless vanilla pastry cream,  strawberry filling, blueberry filling, mango mousse, chocolate mousse, as long as you use a frosting dam!! You will find more than 30 buttercream frosting recipes to try. You can see my video tutorial on how to level, fill, and frost a cake.

Ingredients and substitutes

• All-Purpose Flour –  You can use all-purpose flour, plain flour, or maida for this cake. Do not use cake flour. I find that cake flour tends to make the texture very crumbly.
• Oil – I find that oil works best to keep the cake moist and the texture just right. I have tried it with butter – it works, but oil gives me the best results in texture.
• Sugar – It is best to use fine-grain white sugar or caster sugar as it melts easily in the mixture. If you don’t have fine-grain sugar, just pulse the sugar in the food processor to ensure it’s fine and not too coarse.
• Yogurt – I used a plain store-bought natural yogurt. You can also use homemade yogurt. If your yogurt is not sour, you can add 1/4 tsp of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to it.
• Water – You can substitute water with milk, orange juice or buttermilk, BUT do ensure that it’s warm, not cold.

Step-by-step: Eggless vanilla cake recipe

• Preheat the oven to 325°F / 165°C / Gas Mark 3
• Grease and line one 8-inch round baking pan or 2 x 6-inch round cake pans. You will need to double (2x) this recipe for 2 x 8-inch round cakes.

Eggless batter

• Combine dry ingredients in one bowl – Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  Pro tip – In baking, sugar is considered a wet, not dry, ingredient because it melts when heated.

• Combine wet ingredients in another large mixing bowl – Yogurt, sugar, canola oil, and vanilla extract.
  Pro tip – Use a whisk to ensure there are no lumps. If necessary, whip the yogurt with a whisk first to remove lumps.
• Next, combine the wet and dry ingredients until smooth with no lumps.
  Pro tip – Use a whisk to ensure you have no lumps, but do not overmix, as we do not want to activate the gluten in the flour.
• Finally, add warm water or milk and stir well to combine.
  Pro tip – This step must be immediately followed by baking, so ensure the oven is well preheated at this time.

Bake the cake

• Pour the batter into the baking pan or pans, lined with parchment paper, and immediately transfer to the preheated oven. Scrape the bowl with a spatula to remove all the batter.
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until a skewer (or a toothpick) inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then, invert onto a cooling rack and cool completely before decorating.
  Pro tip – The cake must be completely cold before frosting, or the frosting will melt on warm cake.

Tips for making an eggless vanilla cake

• Don’t Overmix the Batter: Overmixing can lead to a tough cake. Mix the dry and wet ingredients until just combined to avoid overdeveloping the gluten in the flour.
• Sift the Dry Ingredients: Sifting the dry ingredients, including the flour, baking powder, and salt, helps to aerate them and ensure a smoother batter.
• Use Room Temperature Ingredients: Let the butter, milk, and any other liquid ingredients come to room temperature before using them. This will help the ingredients incorporate evenly and result in a more tender cake.
• Add Acidic Ingredient: Since eggs provide structure and tenderness, it’s essential to include an acidic ingredient, such as vinegar or lemon juice, to react with the baking powder and create lift in the cake.
• Adjust Baking Time: Eggless cakes may take slightly longer to bake than traditional cakes. Keep a close eye on the cake and use a toothpick or cake tester to check for doneness.
• Use Good-Quality Vanilla Extract: Since vanilla is the dominant flavor in a vanilla cake, using high-quality vanilla extract will enhance the taste of your eggless cake.
• Do Not Open the Oven Door Too Early: Avoid opening the oven door during the first half of the baking time, as this can cause the cake to sink or collapse.
• Let the Cake Cool Completely: Allow the cake to cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring it to a wire rack. Let it cool completely before frosting or serving to prevent the frosting from melting.
• Experiment and Adjust: Baking eggless cakes can sometimes require a bit of experimentation to find the right combination of ingredients for your taste and texture preferences. Don’t be afraid to adjust the recipe and try different egg substitutes until you achieve the desired results.

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Troubleshooting

• My cake became very hard.
  This cake must be baked at the right temperature and time. Overbaking or high heat will dry out the cake and make it hard.
• Cake became too dense.
  This cake uses no eggs, so it has less leavening. Which is why you must bake the cake soon after you add the hot milk. This helps the hot air in the oven get the best out of the baking powder and soda.
• The cake was raw in the center, but cooked outside.
  • Sounds like the oven was too hot, so the outside was ready, but the inside still needed some time.
  • Always bake for the right amount of time. That said, every oven works differently. So the baking times are just guidelines.
  • In the case of cakes, a skewer inserted in the center is a great indication. If your cakes often bake too quickly or too slowly compared to the time given, it might be a good idea to check if your oven needs calibration.
  • An oven thermometer is a great little gadget to help keep the oven temperature in check. All you need to do then is adjust the temperature accordingly.

Here I have stacked this vanilla cake with alternating layers of my eggless chocolate cake recipe with alternating layers of my Eggless Vanilla Pastry cream cake filling, and an eggless chocolate mousse filling.

• One bowl vanilla cake
• Light and fluffy vanilla cake
• Vanilla Cream cake using fresh cream in the batter
• White Wedding Cake Recipe
• See all vanilla cake recipes or see all layer cakes

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Frequently asked questions

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