My mother was visiting us and I was lucky enough to have her with me for her birthday after 7 years. Another reason this birthday was very special because this was the first time I was going to bake her a birthday cake. So this cake had to be something very special. She loves chocolate and I wanted to bake a decadent chocolate layer cake to celebrate this special occasion.
I already have an eggless chocolate layer cake in the blog. You may know it as the "I can't believe it's chocolate cake" recipe. It's one of the most tried recipes in the blog with top reviews too. But that chocolate cake has only 2 layers. I wanted to make something big, a multiple chocolate layered cake.
That's when I found a moist chocolate layered cake recipe in a magazine. This cake has 4 layers. Even though it looks like you have to spend a lot of time making it, this is a simple chocolate layer cake recipe. It looked pretty easy and used only 2 eggs, so substitution was not a big issue.
I used homemade applesauce recipe in place of the eggs. Unlike the other cake recipe which uses oil for the fat, this chocolate layered cake calls for butter making it a very moist, rich and delicious cake.
Just one caution though, this one is super duper tasty, so don't blame me if you indulge and gain some pounds.
To make a vegan chocolate layer cake, substitute the butter with vegan butter like Earth Balance and for the buttermilk use non-dairy milk and vinegar.
Recipe
Eggless Chocolate Layer Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- ¾ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 and ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 and ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¾ cup Unsalted Butter at room temperature
- ¾ cup Granulated Sugar
- ¾ cup Brown Sugar lightly packed
- ½ cup Unsweetened Applesauce
- ½ tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 and ½ cups Buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Ingredients For Frosting:
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter at room temperature
- 225 grams Unsweetened Chocolate chopped and melted
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 6 cups Icing Sugar
- ½ cup Milk
- ¼ cup Water or Milk or Strong Coffee
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F/160C for 15 minutes. Line two 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper and grease it lightly with non stick cooking spray.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl. Stir until mixed.
- Beat butter with sugars in a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium for about 3 minutes.
- Add the applesauce in two additions, beating well and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition. Mix in the vinegar too. The mixture will look curdled but don't worry.
- Beat in vanilla.
- Reduce speed and beat one third of flour mixture into butter mixture, then add half the buttermilk.
- Repeat additions, scraping down sides until well mixed.
- Divide batter evenly between pans and smooth tops. Tap the pans lightly to burst air pockets if any.
- Bake in center of oven until a tooth pick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, 25 to 30 min. If using two racks, move the pan from the top rack to the bottom and the vice-versa in about 15 minutes.
- Cool in pans on a rack for 10 minutes.
- Run a knife around inside edge of each pan and then turn cakes out onto rack.
- Remove parchment. Let cool completely, about 1 hour. I actually left it overnight before I could frost the cake.
For Icing:
- Beat butter for icing in a large bowl, using an electric mixer/hand beater on medium, until creamy, 1 min.
- Add melted chocolate, vanilla, salt and 1 cup icing sugar. Beat for 1 minute.
- With mixer on medium-low, add remaining sugar in 3 parts, alternating remaining liquids (milk and coffee) and ending with sugar.
- Beat on medium-high, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until fluffy and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
Frosting the cake:
- Be extremely careful while slicing each cake into half because its very delicate. One of my layers actually split in half and I somehow managed to patch it up and used it as the bottom most layer and covered it with the frosting. I think shrink wrapping the 2 cakes with plastic wrap once it has cooled completely and storing it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours will harden it up a little bit and slicing it into half won't be much of a trouble.
My Notes
Nutrition
(Note: This recipe was updated & republished from the archives)
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Deepa says
Awesome Cake. Made for my friends B'day and it was a super Hit.
Madhuram says
Thanks for trying the recipe Deepa. Please rate the recipe.
rb says
Hi ,
I loved the website and tried this cake yesterday for my parents anniversary. They loved it and the cake tasted amazingly good. But I did just 2 layers of frosting instead of 4 ( personal taste as we dont like a lot of frosting) and it was YUM! But my cake was crumbling a lot after we had cut the cake, although I cooled the cake for almost a day before frosting it! Could something have gone wrong? I believe I followed the recipe as is.
Madhuram says
Thanks for trying the recipe RB. One of the many reasons for cakes crumbling is that you might have over mixed the batter. This results in incorporating too much air making the cake very light and fluffy, thereby makes it to crumble.
Tina says
Hi,
Wanted to ask you did you do the icing n frosting
in this recipe.OR You have done either of that
How did you do that?Frosting is done on top of the cake n icing is done inside the layer of the cake.Let me know.
THANKS.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Tina. I just prepared one frosting and used it to fill it between the layers and frost the cake too. Actually icing and frosting are used interchangeably, but technically icing is for cookies and frosting is for cakes and sometimes a different "filling" (like jam spreads, mousse, etc) is used in between the layers of the cake which is not the frosting itself. But most of the time the frosting and filling are the same to keep it simple.
Tina says
Hi,
The cake looks yummy will try this but before that wanted to ask you what do you mean by Unsweetened Applesauce & Apple Cider Vinegar.Are these 2 things easily available in the market. If I use white vinegar is it ok. please let me know. thanks.
Madhuram says
Unsweetened applesauce and apple cider vinegar are both available in all grocery stores in US and Canada. Applesauce is available in big jars as well as in snack size containers. Get the latter because the one in jar turns bad quite quickly. You can also make it at home by following this method: http://www.egglesscooking.com/2011/07/01/homemade-applesauce-recipe/
You can also use white vinegar but sometimes I feel that white vinegar gives an after taste/smell to the baked goods. It could be just me too. Try it for yourself and see which one you like better.
Tina says
Hi,
Thanks a lot for your help and suggestion.
Will definately mail u back once I make the cake.
Sonia says
hi,
can i use store bought frosting for the cake? running out of time, so will not be able to do it all. please let me know asap. planning to prepare tomorrow for my frnd's b'day. thanks.
Madhuram says
You can Sonia.
Vidula says
Hi,
Can I replace the sugar with maple syrup? I want to make this for my son's first birthday but I'm keeping him away from refined sugar.
Thanks.
Madhuram says
You can try it Vidula. Maybe you could use 3/4 cup of maple syrup and 3/4 cups of buttermilk instead of 1 and 1/2 cups mentioned in the original recipe.
M says
This is very tasty. I have been substituting sour cream for half of the applesauce for a truly decadent cake. I have been making the cake in cupcake form. From one recipe I get 20-24 cupcakes. I bake them at 325 for about 22 minutes. My daughter is allergic to eggs, and so I have been on the look-out for a great eggless recipe. Thanks to you, I finally found it!
Madhuram says
Those are some interesting changes you have made M. Thanks for trying the recipe. Please do rate the recipe when you find time.
Divya says
Hi
I've been reading your posts for a few months now.Your recipes are really good.
I tried this chocolate lake.It was unbelievably moist.But one thing I would like to suggest is to reduce the liquid/wet ingredients say buttermilk by 1/4 cup and also the amount of baking soda & bak.powder a little bit.
This way,the cake would retain its moistness but would be easy to slice/cut
Madhuram says
Thanks for the suggestion Divya. Hope I'll be able to try this recipe again with those changes.
varsha says
hi
please advise what we can use instead of the applesauce or the silken tofu as we do not get it here in south africa..
i would like to try this receipe..
thanks
Madhuram says
You can make applesauce at home Varsha. Check this recipe: http://www.egglesscooking.com/2011/07/01/homemade-applesauce-recipe/
Marg says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made this cake a few days ago and it has been a huge success with all who tasted it. My mother felt left out as she doesn't like chocolate cake so I was wondering if a vanilla version could be made by replacing the cocoa with more flour and baking powder, and the brown sugar with more white?
Madhuram says
Thanks Marg. That doesn't work. I have tried that in another recipe and the cake ended up being very dense and floury. Try some other white cake recipes I have in the blog. http://www.egglesscooking.com/eggless-baking-recipes/eggless-cake-recipes/
Devika says
Hello,
I am so glad I found your website. I wanted to bake a cake for Janmashtami and I found this cake recipe!
I made a practice cake before the actual event and it was a great success! Thanks to your eggless cake recipe! I really like all your eggless cake recipes and will try them out one at a time in the future!
Thanks a lot,
Devika.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Devika and thank you very much for giving your feedback. I really appreciate it.
preeti says
Hey!
I was wondering what we can sub instead of 1/2 cup Unsweetened Applesauce other than tofu. thanks:)
Madhuram says
You could use some other pureed fruit. Mashed bananas should be fine too. Banana and chocolate is a very good combination indeed. This recipe already uses buttermilk, so I would'nt suggest using yogurt. Moreover I would think that the eggs in the recipe acts more like a binder, so some pureed fruit should do it.
Radhika says
Dear Madhuram,
Isn't six cups of icing sugar a LOT for the frosting? I usually find that your recipes suit my sweetness requirements perfectly...is 6 cups correct here?
Madhuram says
Radhika, if I remeber right I think the sweetness was alright, this being a chocolate frosting. Otherwise I guess the flavor of unsweetened chocolate will overpower it and may also lend a bitterness. Usually for a cup of shortening 4 cups of icing sugar is used. So you can try that too and gradually increase the quantity of sugar if you want to.
Krsna says
Hi Madhuram,
What can i use in place of vinegar?
I don't eat vinegar.
Thanks for the nice recipe.
Madhuram says
You can simply omit it or add lemon juice instead. Somebody else tried it without the vinegar and still the cake came out good.
nk says
Can I use soymilk instead of buttermilk? What's a good substitute? Thanks
Madhuram says
In a measuring mug add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vinegar (white/apple cider) and pour soy milk until it reaches the 1 and 1/2 cups mark. Stir it with fork and let sit for 5 minutes. The mixture will curdle and you can use this instead of buttermilk.
gj says
I have everything else @ home except for vinegar & i wud luv to bake this early tomorrow morning for a pot luck.
Madhuram says
You can omit it GJ.
mahi says
Hey i dnt hv electric bearer.i tried with hand egg beater but cldnt mix milk n coffee.is there ne solution for this?
Madhuram says
Electric beater is not a must. You could simply use a wooden spoon but of course its a lot of muscle work. Or why don't you blend everything in a mixie.
Chitra says
Hi,
I am very much impressed with your recipe.Thanks!!!.
Can I try this without adding vinegar?
Madhuram says
Thanks Chitra. Yes, you can omit vinegar. One of the readers has tried that and left a positive feedback.
Ithaca says
Made this yesterday for my children's 10th birthday party (and for Mother's Day breakfast today!). I followed instruction carefully. Mine didn't look as good as yours, but this was_the_ best eggless chocolate cake my (lacto-vegetarian) kids have ever eaten. Thank you very much for all that you, Madhuram.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Ithaca.
didi says
I am NO baker, thus ask: Can this recipe be easily used for cupcakes? Please include cooking time, if the answer is 'yes'. Thank you! d
Madhuram says
I think you should be able to get about12-15 cupcakes or even about 18 depending on the size. Bake it at 350F for about 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Rishika says
i really found this cake good. my elder brother and sister felt very happy with me. it is easy to make also... thanks
Madhuram says
You're welcome Rishika.
deep says
Cake looks great !! And i wanted to if you can replace applesauce with silken tofu and just use white vinger
Madhuram says
You can Deep.
Tina says
Wow !
i am allergic to eggs alot and looking at this just made my day,
me and my mum shall be trying it as soon as!1 Thank you soo much!!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Tina.
Madhuram says
Do try it and let me know how you like it Tina.
Vera says
Hello Madhuram,
I tried this cake and loved the cake a lot, but the icing was too sugary for us. Thx for the recipe. Its very delicious.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Vera.
Nanda says
hi the recipe sounds delicious but i'd like to know what is all purpose flour and can I substitute with plain flour?
Madhuram says
All purpose flour is nothing but maida.
Debbie says
I freeze the cakes for about 1 to 2 hours. The cakes are then ready to be split without breaking.
Rupa Lakshminarayan says
Hi Madhu
I would like to share with you & other readers a vegan chocolate cupcake receipe i came across today.
The cake uses Avocado as egg replacement and the frosting uses silken tofu.
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/03/30/vegan-chocolate-cupcakes-recipe/?tm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+browneyedbaker%2Ffeed+%28Brown+Eyed+Baker+%29
Enjoy making & eating them !
luv
- Rupa
Madhuram says
Thanks Rupa. You can share recipes in the Forum too.
Rupa Lakshminarayan says
ok next time shall put in the forum...ddint realize you had one
so put the link here
But thanks for guiding me.
- Rupa
Madhuram says
No probs Rupa.
eugene says
Hello Madhu
I just use 1/4 Stick butter it's about 4 Tablespoon.
eugene says
Hello Madhu
I made birthday chocolate cake yestreday and it's very light and moist because I subtituted
1 1/2 cup buttermilk with 1 1/2 cup coca cola also I cut the butter 1/4 stick.
Thank you
Madhuram says
Wow! That's great Eugene. Did you use just 1/4 cup of butter or reduced 1/4 cup and used 1/2 cup butter instead?
eugene says
Hello Madhu
I s it 2 x 9 inch round cake pan or Just One 9 inch round cake pan? If just ONE 9 round cake pan it's no
problem because I just have ONE 9 inch springform pan.
Thank you
Madhuram says
It's two 9 inch pans.
eugene says
Hello MADHU
Can i subtitute 1 1/2 cup buttermilk with 1 1/2 cup coca cola?
Thank you
Madhuram says
I'm not sure about it Eugene. I have heard a lot about using cola as an egg substitute but haven't tried it myself, especially replacing it for the buttermilk. So I wouldn't know unless I give it a try.
eugene says
Hello Madhu
Can I substitute 2 9inch round cake pans with 9x13 inch pan?
Thank you
Madhuram says
I think it should be fine Eugene.
Radhika says
6 cups of icing sugar? I usually follow your recipes exactly as they are and I get the exact sweetness i need. but isn't 6 cups way too much?
Madhuram says
Hi Radhika, I agree that it looks like a lot but it is necessary because there are 4 layers in this cake. If you make it just a 2 layer cake, you won't need so much sugar/icing.
B_N says
Hi Madhuram:
You have a lovely blog. The chocolate cake looks great. I had couple of questions...if possible please answer them. Can you tell me which stores in US carry edible silver beads and tutti frutti.
Madhuram says
You have to check some cake decorating shop (Michaels may be for the silver beads). The tutti fruiti you should be able to find it in the baking section of the regular grocery store next to cherries. It will be named as candied peel and not tutti fruiti.
B_N says
Thank you 🙂
Lovliebutterfly says
Oh my! That's one seriously gorgeous looking cake! Looks really delicious too!
Geetha says
Mam!
Chocolate Layer Cake is really looking yummy! Recently I became crazy to prepare eggless cake and becoming popular among my friends for my cakes. Thank u so much for this website as well as yummy recipes. Keep posting many many such recipes. Sure to try this yummy cake soon.
Madhuram says
You're most welcome. Just call me Madhu, Geetha.
Lindsay @ Pinch of Yum says
This looks deeeelicious! I have a birthday party to go to tomorrow, maybe I will ask if they need a cake! 🙂
Vidya says
Cake looks stunning, Madhuram. Your mom must have been so happy to see this birthday gift.
Rupa says
Hi Madhu
You have improved on the layout and look of your site.
Looks really good.
luv
- Rupa
Madhuram says
Thanks Rupa. The credit goes to my husband. Will pass it on to him.
Jayshree says
Looks really good and yummy.
Just wanted to let you folks know that I have baked many a
chocolate cake with minimal butter (Like 50 gms)and Coco-cola
Coke)instead of buttermilk or water. The coke reacts with the
baking soda and produces a wonderfully light and moist cake.
About the layers the recipe does say bake in two pan so there
will obviosuly be 4 layers.
Madhuram says
Yes Jayshree, I too have heard about it but haven't tried it myself.
Rupa says
Hi Jayashree
Could you share the Coca Cola eggless recipes with us
Thanks
- Rupa
Latha says
Looks super yummy!
Rupa says
Hey Madhu
The cake looks awesome.
One question though....i see that your cake has 4 layers.
Did you cut one 9-inch layer cake into 4 layers????
or did you double the batch and made into 4 layers ??
Thanks as always for sharing your recipes with us.
- Rupa
Madhuram says
Rupa the ingredients listed will yield two 9 inch cakes and you will have to cut each into half.
Rupa says
Hey Madhu
In your above reply you said this recipe would yield two 9-inch layer cakes.
But on your website under the yield tab it says "one" 9-inch layer cake
Confused.
- Rupa
Vera says
I share the same worry with Rupa...
Madhuram says
It is 1 cake with 4 layers, which is actually one (layered) cake. The "layered" I have mentioned in the yield does not refer to the number of layers but its the type of the cake. I don't know if I have made it clear or confused even more.
Rupa says
Thanks Madhu !
Jaaee says
hello....
I have tried this cake today and it came out superb. Just omited applesauce as i didn't get that.
I am loving your recipes.
Thanks
Madhuram says
That was very quick Jaaee. Thanks for trying it.
Jaaee says
yes.
Previously i had only one option as egg substitute i.e. condensed mil. But since i came across your site i got lots more options to try. And love cooking.
Keep posting
thanks for everything.
Madhuram says
Jaaee, I had actually used 1/2 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar while baking the cake but forgot to include it when I posted the recipe and have updated it now. So I would like to know about the texture of the cake without it. How was it?
Jaaee says
it was also nice, fluffy as if u would find with with apple cider vinegar
i guess it was as i don't experienced with it. but cake was good.
Madhuram says
Thanks Jaee.
sheetal says
hi cake looks superb i hope when i make it i get the same result thanks for these recipe
Vera says
Sorry, but I have another question also. Looking at the cake, I can see that it has 4 layers of icing. Did u cut the cake to 3 horizontal parts or I need to bake 2 cakes to have the above seen result?
Madhuram says
You will be baking 2 cakes and will have to cut each cake into 2 halves, so you will get 4 layers.
Vera says
The above mentioned recipe will give me 2 cakes?
Madhuram says
Yes Vera. Two 9 inch cakes. You will have to split each into half, so totally 4 layers. When each layer is placed on the other its a (one) layered cake with 4 layers.
Jayasree says
Cake looks sinfully delicious...Bookmarked. Shall bake it soon.
Nishi says
The chocolate cake looks delectable. Beautifully presented and shot 🙂
Vera says
This looks great! Makes me crave to bake it ASAP. I have a question though. Buttermilk, what can I replace it with? We don't have buttermilk in Lebanon, so I need ur advice about this. Thx in advance!
Madhuram says
Hi Vera, if you can get yogurt just thin it out. Blend 1 cup of yogurt with 1/2 cup of water or adjust the ratio according to the thickness of the yogurt. Or else you could also curdle soymilk with a tablespoon of vinegar, which is a vegan alternative for buttermilk.
Mona says
Looks super yummy! You are torturing us with such delectable pictures.
Rupa says
agree on this...cant wait to try this !!
Sharmilee says
Perfect layer cake
notyet100 says
cake looks superyum