Eggless Chocolate Cake
This moist eggless chocolate fudge cake has a firm texture with a soft, tender crumb. Made without condensed milk, this is a very versatile cake with so many flavor variations. Try it with your favorite buttercream frosting, light whipped cream, or fill it with a chocolate mousse filling as I have.
Back in university, I had this amazing group of friends who adored chocolate cake. But one of my closest pals couldn’t eat eggs, which made finding the perfect cake recipe tricky.
I scoured recipes, experimented, and tried a few. Some were too dense, while some had too much leavening. After all that trial and error, I finally decided to make my version. It wasn’t hard being the daughter of a wonderful baker and all. When I presented the cake to them, they couldn’t believe it was eggless! And, they were surprised that I even knew how to frost a cake!!
This cake became a staple at our gatherings then, and every time I bake it, I’m reminded of those beautiful university days and the bond we shared over a love for cake and chocolate. Good times!
Why is this the best cake recipe?
- Moist and Tender Texture: The yogurt helps create a moist and tender crumb, making the cake incredibly soft and enjoyable. Plus, this cake is rich in chocolate flavor, perfect for chocolate lovers.
- Easy to Make: The recipe uses simple ingredients and straightforward steps, making it easy for anyone to bake a delicious cake.
- Versatile: The cake can be enjoyed on its own or dressed up with a variety of toppings, fillings, or frostings to suit different preferences and occasions.
- Crowd-Pleaser: Whether for a birthday party, potluck, or just a sweet treat at home, this cake is likely to be a hit with everyone who tries it.
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.
- Brown sugar – I use brown sugar, and it adds that fudge flavor and texture to the cake. And yet, if you can’t find brown sugar, use white sugar. It’s still an absolutely delicious chocolate cake, just not a chocolate fudge cake.
- Yogurt – This is actually a substitute for eggs in the recipe, so do not substitute with anything else.
- Water – You can substitute milk or buttermilk, but ensure it’s hot, not cold.
- Cocoa powder – I am using Dutch-processed cocoa powder, but you can use any unsweetened cocoa powder. In some brands, such as Hershey’s, the cocoa powder has a lighter color, and the cake might be slightly lighter in color.
- Acid – Most eggless cakes use apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, or lemon juice, but in this one, the acid found in yogurt is all you need to help this cake rise.
Step-by-step: Eggless Chocolate 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 with parchment paper. You will need to double (2x) this recipe for 2 x 8-inch round cake pans.
- Dry ingredients – Sift dry ingredients – flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Pro tip – In baking, sugar is considered a wet ingredient, not a dry one, because it melts when heated. - Wet ingredients – In a large bowl, combine yogurt, oil, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Stir until the sugar is almost dissolved.
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 mixture 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. - Then add the hot water, and whisk to combine well.
Pro tip – This step must be immediately followed by baking, so ensure the oven is well preheated at this time. - Pour the batter into the baking pan or pans and immediately transfer to the preheated oven.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely before decorating.
Pro tip – The cake must be completely cold before frosting, or the frosting will melt on warm cake.
Vanilla buttercream frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Once all the powdered sugar is in, whip for 2 to minutes on high until light and fluffy, similar to a whipped cream consistency.
Pro tip – The mixture will be soft consistency, but as the heavy cream whips, it will gain volume.
Eggless Chocolate buttercream frosting
- Add the cooled, melted chocolate to the Vanilla Buttercream frosting to make a chocolate buttercream frosting.
Assemble (if you choose to frost it)
- Prepare simple syrup – cool completely before using.
Pro tip– Simple syrup is just sugar water that has been boiled and cooled. Used to keep cake layers moist. - Using a bread knife or cake leveler, cut the domes off the cake layers. Cut each layer horizontally in half. Brush each layer with the cooled simple syrup
- Place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand. Top with a big dollop of buttercream – spread evenly using a straight-edge spatula. Place the next layer, followed by more buttercream, and the remaining layers.
- Place the cake in the fridge to chill for 10 to 15 minutes.
Pro tip – Chilling the cake at this point will ensure the layers don’t move when you frost the outside. Though if you leave the cake uncovered in the fridge for too long, it can dry out. So, 10 minutes is all you need. - Spread the frosting around and on the top of the cake. Place any remaining frosting in a piping bag with a round tip and pipe borders on the top and around the cake. Top with chocolate shavings or similar decorations
Pro tip – A straight edge spatula for the top, an offset spatula, and a bench scraper for the sides work better.
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. - My 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 at the right baking time. Having said that, 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.
- Eggless Vanilla Cake Recipe
- Mom’s Eggless Chocolate Cake
- Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes with Pink Buttercream
- BEST Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
- See all eggless recipes
Frequently asked questions
How long will this eggless cake keep?
If properly stored, this fudge cake will last for 2 to 3 days at room temperature. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 or 6 days.
Can I use this for tiered cakes?
This is the perfect celebration cake to fill and frost into a layer cake. It can also be used to carve for a sculpted or novelty cake. It can also be used as a tiered wedding cake, as well as covered with fondant
What other baking pans can I use for this cake?
You can make 2 x 6 -inch round baking pans to make a two-layer cake or pour this batter into a sheet cake – ‘eggless chocolate sheet Cake’.
You can also pour the batter into a well-greased and dusted bundt pan for an ‘eggless chocolate bundt cake’.
This recipe can also be baked into 12 beautiful eggless chocolate cupcakes.
How do I frost this chocolate cake?
There are many ways to use this chocolate cake as a layer cake or slice it into desserts. The options for filling and frosting recipes that can complement this are endless.
Today, I am using chocolate mousse cake filling, but you can use other fillings like eggless vanilla pastry cream, strawberry filling, blueberry filling, mango mousse, or 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.
Leftovers make a wonderful trifle with chocolate cake slices, pastry cream, and whipped heavy cream.
Eggless Chocolate Fudge Cake
This moist eggless chocolate fudge cake has a firm texture with a soft crumb. Made without condensed milk this is a very versatile cake with so many flavor variations. Try it with your favorite buttercream frosting, light whipped cream, or fill it with a chocolate mousse filling as I have.
Ingredients
Makes 1 x 8 inch round or 2 x 6 inch round cakes
Cake Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup (220 g) All-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (65 g) Cocoa powder
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ cup (120 ml) Cooking oil flavorless
- 1 cup (240 ml) Yogurt
- 1 cup (220 g) Brown sugar
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 ml) Hot water (with 1 tsp instant coffee – optional)
Vanilla buttercream frosting
- 1 cups (227 g) Unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 4 cup (480 g) Powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- 1 cup (240 ml) Heavy cream 38% fat, no less
- ½ tsp Salt
Chocolate buttercream frosting
- 4 oz (113 g) Bittersweet chocolate melted, cooled (optional for chocolate buttercream)
Plus
- ½ cup Simple syrup Boil ¼ cup sugar and ½ cup water to make simple syrup
Method
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325°F/ 165°C/ Gas Mark 3. Grease and line one 8" round baking pan or 2 x 6-inch round cake. You will need to double (2x) this recipe for 2 x 8-inch round cakes.
- Dry ingredients – Sift dry ingredients – flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.1 ¾ cup All-purpose flour, ¾ cup Cocoa powder, 1 tsp Baking powder, 1 tsp Baking soda, ½ tsp Salt
- Wet ingredients – In a miing bowl, combine yogurt, oil, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Stir until the sugar is almost dissolved. Next, combine the wet and dry ingredients until smooth with no lumps. Then, add the hot water – use a whisk to combine well.½ cup Cooking oil, 1 cup Yogurt, 1 cup Brown sugar , 2 tsp Vanilla extract, ½ cup Hot water
- Bake – Pour the batter into the baking pan or pans and immediately transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until a skewer 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.
- Eggless Vanilla Buttercream Frosting – In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed with the paddle attachment cream together the butter, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Once all the powdered sugar is in, continue to whip for 2 to minutes on high until light and fluffy similar to a whipped cream consistency.1 cups Unsalted butter, 1 tsp Vanilla extract, 4 cup Powdered sugar, 1 cup Heavy cream, ½ tsp Salt
- Eggless Chocolate Buttercream Frosting – Add the cooled, melted chocolate to the vanilla buttercream frosting to make a chocolate buttercream frosting.4 oz Bittersweet chocolate
Assemble
- Prepare simple syrup – cool completely before using.½ cup Simple syrup
- Using a bread knife or cake leveler cut the domes off the cake layers. Cut each layer horizontally in half. Brush each layer with the cooled simple syrup
- Place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand. Top with a big dollop of buttercream – spread evenly using a straight-edge spatula. Place the next layer followed by more buttercream, and the remaining layers. Place the cake in the fridge to chill for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Decorate – Spread the frosting around and on the top of the cake. Place any remaining frosting in a piping bag and with a round tip and pipe borders on the top and around the cake. Top with chocolate shavings or similar decorations
Notes
- Ingredient Quality: Use high-quality ingredients for the best flavor and texture. Opt for good quality cocoa powder, chocolate, and other key ingredients.
- Accurate Measurements: Ensure precise measurements of ingredients, especially when it comes to leavening agents like baking powder or baking soda. Even small deviations can affect the final outcome.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Allow ingredients like butter, milk, and yogurt to come to room temperature before incorporating them into the batter. This ensures proper mixing and a smoother texture.
- Proper Mixing Technique: Mix the batter just until all ingredients are combined. Overmixing can result in a dense or tough cake.
- Baking Time and Temperature: Follow the recipe’s baking time and temperature guidelines closely. Use an oven thermometer to ensure your oven is calibrated accurately for consistent results.
- Cooling Properly: Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before removing it. This helps prevent the cake from sticking to the pan and ensures a smoother texture.
- Frosting and Decoration: If frosting the cake, ensure it has cooled completely before applying frosting to prevent it from melting. Get creative with toppings like chocolate shavings, fresh fruit, or whipped cream for added flair.
- Storage: Store the cake properly to maintain freshness. If not serving immediately, store it in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator, depending on the climate and ingredients used.
- Practice Patience: Baking is a process that requires patience and attention to detail. Don’t rush through any steps, and take your time to enjoy the process.
Equipment you will need
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Mention @veenaazmanov_kitchen or tag #veenaazmanovkitchen!- Eggless Vanilla Sugar Cookies or Eggless Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Homemade Eggless Eggnog Recipe
- Vanilla Pastry Cream – Eggless
Did you LIKE this recipe? Save it for later on Pinterest.
Follow on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok
Subscribe to receive new recipes right to your inbox.
- One Bowl Chocolate Cake
- Simple Moist Chocolate Cake or The Best Chocolate Mud Cake
- Chocolate Ganache Chocolate Cake
- Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake or Death By Chocolate Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe or Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
- Raspberry White Chocolate Cake
- See all chocolate cake recipes or all layer cake recipes
Hi
Would love to try this. How hot should the water be?
Thanks
I usually use boiling water
I’ve tried to make this cake twice now, baking on two 6inch cake tins. First time, timing was off, and due to other things happening in the kitchen the cakes went really flat after raising beautifully in the oven. Oh well, they were delicious, but not enough to make the cake I was hoping for. So tried it a second time. Cooked on lower heat for longer to make sure it cooked
throughly. Again raised beautifully in oven. Was confident I could cut them into two layers each, making four layer cake. Was cooked throughly. But after leaving them to cool they sank again! 🙁 I did find that the cooking time for me was much longer than suggested in the recipe. Any ideas what may be causing this?
Hey Lisa. Not sure what happened but as you can see from the comments that many have tried this recipe successfully. Since you use a 6-inch cake you should have had enough to cut into two and frost.
Hi Veena,
We were looking for an eggless chocolate cake recipe that used yogurt and came across your recipe. It seemed easy to make and so have it a try. It turned out amazing!!! So moist and delicious… this one is a keeper… thank you so much ❤️
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for coming back to write this feedback.
Made this recipe for my daughter’s bday!!!…It was absolutely delicious so soft and chocolatey…..Thanks a lot !!! I will definitely keep this one in my fav cakes list
Thank you, Prethi.
I made this cake today. Till now, I had another recipe for egg-less version. This one is out of this world!!! I will be sealing this as my base for all egg less choco cakes!!
one doubt though- while stacking, I always prefer butter cakes. Can I replace the oil by butter and add 1-2 tbsp oil for making it moist?
Thank you, Mary. Happy you enjoyed this recipe so much. Thanks for coming back to write this feedback. I have not tried substituting butter in this cake so I can’t tell you for sure how the texture will be. If you do use butter would love to know the out come. Thanks
Hi Veena!
I need to make a 2 tiered cake 8inch and 6inch. Two 8inch each cut into 2layers so 4layers and same with 6inch fill and frost with ganache and cover with fondant. I baked the 6inch and it’s just tastes awesome and soft. Can I use this for tiered cake as I mentioned with dowels will it hold. This will be my first order outside of family and friends. any inputs will be very helpful
Thanks a ton!
Yes, you can use this for a tiered cake. You will need to double the recipe to make 2 x 8-inch cakes. I suggest you chill the cakes well before you frost.
You may find these videos useful –
How to level, torte, fill and frost the cake.
How to cover a cake with ganache
Hello Veena,
I don’t work with eggs at all. I tried this cake and have to say that till date I haven’t got such soft, delicious and great looking chocolate cake.
But it was too soft to handle, so was wondering how can we cut n frost the cake? Thanks
Hey, Jayshri. Yes, the cake is soft, very light and fluffy. The water does contribute to the cake being so light and airy. You can add less water to make it dense. I usually split the cake horizontally in half then layer it with frosting. I have even used this cake to crave in a handbag class. Thanks
Hi Veena,
It looks lovely and I am planning on trying it this week. I;d like to add coffee to this receipt for a friend who loves coffee flavor. If I have to add coffee, how much of brewed coffee can I add to this and would I have to reduce any other ingredient to compensate for adding coffee? Would love to get your thoughts.
Hey Subha, There is hot water in the ingredients. You can either add coffee powder to the hot water or you can replace the hot water with the brewed coffee. So if you used 1/2 cup brewed coffee – just reduce 1/2 cup hot water in the recipe. I hope that helps. Thanks. Let me know how it was.
Hi Veena,
The cake tastes great but sank in after I removed it out of the oven 🙁 . It rose beautifully inside and skewer came out clean at the end of 35 mins 340F. All measurements accurate. I mixed 2 tbsp of espresso powder to 1/2 cup hot water and mixed with wet ingredients after it cooled and then added 1/2 cup hot water at the end like the recipe says. I placed the batter as soon as oven hit 340F and didnt open the oven door until the timer went off.
What might I Have done wrong?
Ah. Not sure what happened Subha. Was the cake cooked in the middle? Sounds like it was taken out early but not sure since you say the skewer inserted came out clean.
35 minutes sounds about right. The liquid is ok as long as you post the total amount mentioned in the recipe.
Sorry, can’t suggest anything more since I can’t see the cake.
Veena, I randomly came across your recipe on the internet- while I have a lot of go to cake recipes- just wanted to try something new!! I went ahead and made 4 times the quatities you had mentioned in 2 – 8 inch pans!
As soon as I put the pans into my oven- i realized that i hadnt added the oil to the cake??? #panickattackmode
How’d i go in the middle of the night to pick up fresh ingredients for a repeat batch?! With a glum face and a heavy heart i patiently waited for the cakes to bake fully!!
Once they were out of the oven- to my surprise!!! they were sooo amazing!! Soft spongy and chocolatey! Infact it looked more like an eggless chiffon sponge ?
With or without oil- this recipe is a keeper! Thank you sooo much for sharing such a detailed one! Much love!
Thank you so much, dear. I am so happy that despite the oil issue – it all worked out well. Amazing that this cake did well even without oil. Thank you so much for coming back to give me this feedback. Love hearing back from those who try my recipes.
Hello Veena,
Thanks again for the wonderful cake made this cake just now, its really delicious, but my question is i did this cake for a vegetarian who wants a car cake to be done for his 4 years old, if i double the recipe and place one more cake on top of this, will this cake hold?? I really do not want their party to be a mess, please help
Hey Veer. I have made novelty cakes with this recipe. So technically it should be ok. Don’t know the size of your cake but if necessary use dowel. If its a small cake – just two layers no need for dowels.Thanks
Would this recipe go for structure cakes and carved cakes
Hey Nasima. I have used this cake for my classes often. It is easy to carve. I highly recommend you freeze the cake before carving so it’s easier.
Thanks I used oil n part white sugar came out very nice.Thanks for a great recipe
You are very welcome Anita. So happy to hear you had success with this recipe and enjoyed it. Thanks for coming back to write this feedback. Have a good day.