Eggless Chocolate Cake
This eggless chocolate fudge cake is rich, moist, and chocolatey with a soft, tender crumb. Made with yogurt and cocoa powder, it needs no eggs, condensed milk, or vinegar and is sturdy enough for filling and frosting.
I specifically included “no vinegar” because you’re already getting impressions for that query, and it’s genuinely useful information about this recipe.
I first made this eggless chocolate cake during my university days for a close friend who couldn’t eat eggs. After trying several recipes that were either too dense or used too much leavening, I started experimenting with my own.
This version became a favorite with our group of friends, and I’ve continued making it ever since. It’s still one of my favorite eggless cakes because it has the rich chocolate flavor and soft texture you’d expect from a classic chocolate cake.
Why is this the best cake recipe?
- Rich and chocolatey – Cocoa powder and brown sugar give this cake a deep chocolate flavor with a slightly fudgy crumb.
- Soft and moist – Yogurt and oil keep the cake tender without using eggs.
- No condensed milk or vinegar – The yogurt provides both moisture and the acidity needed for the leavening.
- Perfect for layer cakes – The cake is soft but sturdy enough to fill, frost, and decorate.
Ingredients and substitutes
- All-purpose flour – Regular all-purpose flour works best for a soft but sturdy cake. Measure accurately to avoid a dry or dense crumb.
- Cocoa powder – Use good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder. Dutch-processed cocoa will give the cake a darker color and deeper chocolate flavor.
- Brown sugar – Adds sweetness, moisture, and a subtle caramel flavor. Light or dark brown sugar will work.
- Yogurt – Plain yogurt replaces the moisture and structure normally provided by eggs. Use regular full-fat yogurt rather than thick Greek yogurt.
- Oil – A neutral-flavored oil such as canola or vegetable oil keeps the cake soft and moist, even when refrigerated.
- Baking powder and baking soda – Both provide the lift needed for this eggless cake. The baking soda also reacts with the acidity in the yogurt.
- Vanilla – Enhances the chocolate flavor. Use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
- Hot water – Blooms the cocoa powder and helps intensify its chocolate flavor.
- Instant coffee – Optional, but a small amount deepens the chocolate flavor without making the cake taste like coffee.
- Salt – Balances the sweetness and enhances the chocolate flavor.
Step-by-step: Eggless Chocolate Cake Recipe
Prepare the pans
Preheat the oven to 325°F / 165°C / Gas Mark 3. Grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
Combine the dry ingredients
Sift together the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Combine the wet ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth and well combined.
Make the batter
Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix gently until almost combined.
Pour in the hot water with the optional instant coffee and whisk just until the batter is smooth. Do not overmix.
Bake
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and transfer them to the oven immediately.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Cool
Cool the cakes in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn them onto a wire rack and cool completely before filling or frosting.
Frosting the cake
Make your favorite buttercream or frosting and set aside about 1 cup for piping or decorating, if desired.
Make sure the cake layers are completely cool before frosting. If necessary, level the tops with a serrated knife for even stacking.
Fill and stack
Place one cake layer on a cake board or serving plate. Spread an even layer of buttercream over the top, then place the second cake layer on top.
Cover the top and sides with a thin crumb coat and chill for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the remaining frosting and smooth the sides and top.
Decorate as desired with piped buttercream, chocolate shavings, sprinkles, or fresh berries.
Eggless Chocolate Fudge Cake
This eggless chocolate fudge cake is rich, moist, and chocolatey with a soft, tender crumb. Made with yogurt, oil, and cocoa powder, it needs no eggs, condensed milk, or vinegar and makes two 8-inch layers perfect for filling and frosting.
Ingredients
- 440 g (3½ cups) All-purpose flour
- 130 g (1½ cups) Unsweetened cocoa powder Dutch-processed
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 2 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 240 ml (1 cups) Neutral cooking oil
- 480 ml (2 cups) Plain yogurt
- 440 g (2 cups) Brown sugar
- 4 tsp Vanilla extract
- 240 ml (1 cups) Hot water
- 2 tsp Instant coffee optional
Method
- Oven & Pan – Preheat the oven to 325°F / 165°C / Gas Mark 3. Grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
- Dry Ingredients – Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.440 g All-purpose flour, 130 g Unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tsp Baking powder, 2 tsp Baking soda, 1 tsp Salt
- Wet Ingredients – In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth and well combined.240 ml Neutral cooking oil, 480 ml Plain yogurt, 440 g Brown sugar, 4 tsp Vanilla extract
- Dry to wet – Add the dry ingredients to the yogurt mixture and mix just until almost combined. Do not overmix. Combine the instant coffee with the hot water, if using. Add the hot water to the batter and whisk just until smooth and combined.240 ml Hot water, 2 tsp Instant coffee
- Pan – Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and transfer them immediately to the preheated oven.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them onto a wire rack and cool completely before filling and frosting.
Notes
- Cocoa powder: Dutch-process cocoa gives the cake a darker color and deeper chocolate flavor, but regular unsweetened cocoa powder can also be used.
- Yogurt: Use plain yogurt rather than thick Greek yogurt. Bring it to room temperature before mixing.
- Coffee: The instant coffee is optional. It enhances the chocolate flavor without making the finished cake taste strongly of coffee.
- Mixing: Once the flour is added, mix only until combined. Overmixing can make the cake dense.
- Bake immediately: Once the batter is finished, divide it between the pans and bake right away.
- Even layers: For evenly sized cake layers, weigh the batter and divide it equally between the two pans.
- Make ahead: Cool the cake layers completely, wrap well, and keep at room temperature overnight before filling and frosting.
- Freezing: Wrap the cooled layers well and freeze for up to one month. Thaw wrapped at room temperature before decorating.
Equipment you will need
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Mention @veenaazmanov_kitchen or tag #veenaazmanovkitchen!Tips for Success
- Use room-temperature yogurt – It blends more easily into the batter and gives you a smoother mixture.
- Use hot water – Hot water helps bloom the cocoa and deepen the chocolate flavor. Add the optional coffee to the water before mixing.
- Don’t overmix – Once the flour is added, mix only until combined to keep the cake soft and tender.
- Bake immediately – Once the hot water is added, divide the batter between the pans and get them into the preheated oven.
- Divide the batter evenly – Weighing the batter between the two pans gives you even layers that bake at the same rate.
- Don’t overbake – Start checking toward the lower end of the baking time. Overbaking is one of the quickest ways to lose the moist, fudgy texture.
more chocolate cake recipes
- Death By Chocolate Cake
- One Bowl Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Fudge Cake
- Rich, Moist Chocolate Birthday Cake
- Chocolate Espresso Cake
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Possible cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Cake is dense or heavy | Batter was overmixed or sat too long before baking | Mix only until combined and bake immediately after preparing the batter. |
| Cake is dry or hard | Too much flour or cake was overbaked | Measure the flour accurately and remove the cakes as soon as a skewer comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. |
| Cake is raw in the center | Oven was too hot or cake needed more time | Check your oven temperature and continue baking until the center is fully set. |
| Cake rises then sinks | Cake was underbaked, oven door was opened too early, or leavening was measured incorrectly | Measure the leavening accurately, avoid opening the oven early, and make sure the center is baked before removing the cake. |
Frequently asked questions
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.
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
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.
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.
more eggless recipes
- Eggless Vanilla Cake Recipe
- Mom’s Eggless Chocolate Cake
- Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes with Pink Buttercream
- BEST Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
- See all eggless recipes
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Love your website. Just found it on google. Excellent tips with detailed instructions. So impressed. Gonna stick to your website for all my recipes going forward. Thank you for such amazing content.
Thank you, Bina. Welcome to my blog. I hope you will enjoy more of my recipes. Please do let me know if you try anything. Great day to you.
Hi Veena
I have been asked to make gluten free vegan Chocolate cake
Wondering if I can substitute flour with gluten free flour and yogurt with soy yogurt
Thanks
Zaheer I have not done that with this cake. I presume you need an eggless gluten-free cake? Unfortunately, my gluten=free cake does have eggs.
So delicious. My favourite eggless chocolate cake yet! Paired this with a simple chocolate ganache as icing and it was perfect. Thank you!
Thank you, Sarah. Happy to hear that you enjoyed it.
How do I adjust the recipe to make 1x 4” cake?
For 8 inch cake 4 inches tall you will need three layers so you will need to use 3X this recipe in the recipe card. If you want to make a 6-inch cake 4 inches tall you will need double this recipe.
Hope this helps.
How do I adjust the recipe to make 8″×12″ sheet cake ( rectangle shape) ?
Harathi. You will need to double this recipe Thanks
Week 2 Day 2 — again! One-bowl recipe didn’t turn out well for me so I switched to this one with success.
Hi veena,
I tried to make this cake and it sort of fell through and was not able to hold together.
I removed the cake at 35 th minute mark and checked whether the skewer is coming out clean.
After the cake cooled off the cakes fell through and were not stable.
Could you please help me if there is any mistake that you think I made in this?
Sorry for the late reply Sravani. Not sure what happened at your end. These are delicate cakes and must be handled carefully. Having said that I have used this to carve sculpted cakes and they have been fine.
I notice in the chocolate fudge recipe with egg real chocolate is included. Why isn’t that the case in this recipe?
All recipes are different Wanjala. This one works better with cocoa powder. Thanks
Just made this cake , I actually made cupcakes and they really turned out moistand so soft, the reason I have given 4stars is because there was after taste of baking soda. So the taste was not as expected.
Can you give advice on this if possible
Thank you
You can add less baking soda next time. But so far that has not been the issue with others who have tried the recipe.