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.
If you tried this Eggless Chocolate Layer Cake recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
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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)
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