My son turned 3 yesterday. For his birthday, I wanted to bake an eggless chocolate cake with frosting and all. Earlier, I baked an eggless carrot cake and also a chocolate cake without eggs, using soy milk.
This eggless chocolate cake was way before I started the blog, and for some reason, I did not save the recipe. It had a soy milk ganache for the frosting and came out very well. I wish I had saved the recipe.
I wanted to bake a layered chocolate cake because he loves it and was going through various resources to find a good chocolate cake recipe without eggs.
I bought the EnerG egg replacer from the grocery store earlier this month. I thought I would buy a ready-made cake mix from the store, use the egg replacer instead of the eggs, and bake the cake.
Then only I found that EnerG does not give desired results with store-bought mixes. So I dropped that idea.
I have read in many books/sites that tofu is a good egg substitute in baked goods. I also had silken tofu sitting in the refrigerator and decided to use it to make the cake.
Some of the chocolate cake recipes I was looking for had a minimum of 3 eggs. Then I found a recipe that required only 2 eggs in my "Baking for Dummies" book.
I proceeded with that recipe and used pureed tofu instead of eggs. The rule is adding 1/4 cup of tofu per egg to be replaced.
This was the first time I was baking a layered chocolate cake without eggs and also using tofu as an egg substitute in a cake recipe.
Even though I proceeded with the recipe, I was skeptical about the taste and texture until I cut the cake on Sunday and tasted it.
I baked the cake on Saturday, let it cool off until Sunday afternoon, and then frosted it. I was more anxious than my son to taste the cake.
We also talked about running to the grocery store on Sunday evening to buy a ready-made cake if this one flops.
But I need not have worried so much after all! The eggless chocolate cake turned out so moist, and together with the icing, it was no different than the usual cakes.
We did not taste/smell the tofu at all. More than anything, I was so happy that my son liked the cake very much.
Eggless Chocolate Cake Recipe |
| Prep Time | Cook Time | Makes |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Mins | 25 Mins | 12 Servings |
| Author | Category | Method |
| Madhuram | Cakes | Baking |
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 3/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 Cups Granulated Sugar (See My Notes)
- 1 Cup Vegetable Oil (I Used Canola Oil)
- 1 Cup Hot Coffee (I Mixed 1.25 Teaspoons Of Instant Coffee Powder With 1 Cup Of Hot Water)
- 1 Cup Milk (I Used 2% Milk)
- 1/2 Cup Silken Tofu Pureed (I Used Nasoya Brand Silken Tofu)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Packet Dr Oetker's Organic Chocolate Icing Mix
- 1/4 Cup Hot Milk/Hot Water (Heat It In The Microwave Oven For 15 Seconds)
- 1/3 Cup Soft Butter At Room Temperature (Which Is 5 Tablespoons + 1 Teaspoon)
- 1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- A Pinch Baking Soda
- Preheat the oven to 325F (160C) for 15 minutes.
- Grease and flour (I used cocoa powder to flour the base of the pan because it's a chocolate cake) two 9-inch cake pans.
- Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, and sugar into a large mixing bowl.
- Make a well. Add the canola oil. Then the hot coffee decoction.
- Add milk.
- Add the pureed tofu. (Remove the silken tofu from the packet using a spoon, add it to the blender, and puree it to a creamy mixture)
- And a few drops of vanilla essence.
- With an electric mixer, beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes. (At first, I did not use the hand mixer to combine the batter because I remembered reading somewhere that while using egg substitutes, in this case, tofu, beating the batter is not recommended, and I was so worried to see such a diluted batter and it was also having a lot of small lumps. So anyhow, I decided to use my hand mixer to get rid of the lumps, but still, the batter was considerably thin).
- Pour the batter evenly into both 9-inch cake pans. (or fill the 6 muffin cups halfway with batter and divide the remaining batter between both 8-inch pans).
- Bake this cake for 25 to 30 minutes until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (Check the cupcakes after 15 minutes). I placed 1 pan on the middle shelf and then another on the bottom shelf set the timer for 25 minutes, and switched the pans around 12 minutes. Switching the pan means moving the pan from the middle shelf to the bottom and the bottom shelf pan to the top. This is done to ensure the even baking of both cakes. One of my make was done exactly at 25 minutes, and the other one took 30 minutes.
- Let the cakes cool completely before removing them from the pans. The time mentioned in the original recipe was 15 minutes, so I tried to transfer the cake to a wire rack after 20 minutes, which was a little messy. So I left the other cake in the pan for quite some time. Maybe after an hour, I touched the bottom of that pan and found that it had cooled completely, so I transferred it to the wire rack.
- The cake should cool completely on the wire rack before frosting. I baked the cakes on Saturday and frosted them on Sunday. I left it on the kitchen counter and covered it with a bamboo basket. You could also refrigerate the cake to cool it off.
- Sift the mix.
- Add the melted butter, hot milk, vanilla, and baking soda. (I read in the same book that adding a pinch of baking soda to icings prevents hardening and cracking, so icing stays moist)
- Beat the mix using a hand mixer at medium-high speed. Add a few drops of water/milk if required.
- This was my first experience frosting an eggless chocolate cake, so I followed the steps in the book.
- First, I placed the bottom layer upside down so the rounded side (top of the cake would be on the serving plate). If you have a dome top on the cake, even it out by slicing it with a serrated knife and then place it upside-down.
- Spread about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of frosting on top of the bottom layer. Don't use hard strokes; spread it gently using an offset metal spatula or plastic spatula.
- Place the second layer on the first, cut, or domed side up.
- Frost the sides of the cake first with another 1/2 cup of frosting.
- Finally, frost the top of the second layer.
It was slightly difficult for me, but somehow I managed to frost the entire cake. Before and while frosting the cake, I was not sure about the consistency of the frosting. Later after seeing quite a few cake pictures, I realized that my frosting was thick, so I had a hard time spreading it. I should have added more drops of water to thin it, and frosting would have been a breeze.
- As you all know, the options are endless. Being the rookie I am, and because my son loves M&M's, I used them to line the cake. I also used the ready-made Cake Mate decorating pens in the grocery store in the baking aisle to write birthday messages and draw some flowers.
- As a whole, the cake was excellent. But considering healthy eating, I would modify the recipe a bit the next time. Like reducing the sugar in the cake recipe from 2 cups to 1.5 cups. Since the frosting is also sweet enough, we don't need that much sugar in the cake. Next, reducing the quantity of oil too. Instead of 1 cup of oil, 1/2 cup can be replaced with unsweetened applesauce.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 12 | |
| Per Serving | % Daily Value* |
| Calories 389 | |
| Total Fat 19.7g | 30% |
| Saturated Fat 2.1g | 10% |
| Trans Fat 0.1g | |
| Cholesterol 2mg | 1% |
| Sodium 417mg | 17% |
| Potassium 181mg | 5% |
| Total Carb 53.6g | 18% |
| Dietary Fiber 2.4g | 9% |
| Sugars 34.5g | |
| Protein 4.2g | |
| Vitamin A 0% - Vitamin C 0% | |
| Calcium 6% - Iron 10% | |
Hi Madhuram, My daughter has an egg allergy so we bake egg-free regularly, and I’ve made this cake now 3 times. My entire family LOVES it and can’t believe it’s made with tofu instead of egg! It’s so moist and delicious. Tonight I made it for my daughter’s 9th birthday party with a homemade mint buttercream frosting and the mint-chocolate combo was a big hit. Thanks!
You’re very welcome Meighan. Belated birthday wishes to your daughter.
Can you use pudding instead of yogurt or tofu?
Hmm..not sure.
Can this recipe be converted to vanilla cake?
Why don’t you try the eggless vanilla cake instead?
What if I use yoghurt or curd instead of tofu? Please reply.
Yes it will work Madu.
Hi Madhuram,
Thank you very much for sharing this delicious cake recipe! I have made it numerous time and everyone who has eaten it have said it is one of the best eggless cake they have tried. I told them that the credit goes all to you 🙂 I am looking forward to try more of your recipes. Thanks again and have a great day
From vimala
You’re very welcome Vimala. Thank you very much for taking the time to leave your comment.
Hi there, thanks so much for the recipe, I tried it and it worked out so well although I left the purified tofu out and used all the ingredients, awesome cake. My children loved it and also I used simple icing. I personally loved.
can we use any milk powder instead of tofu
It won’t work Nidhi.
My family love this cake. Especially my son who is allergic to egg! Thank you for sharing.
You’re very welcome 🙂
I don’t have silken pureed tofu.what can I use instead of that
Unsweetened applesauce will work.
Hi Madhuram,
I tried this recipe and believe me every body who ate this cake , told me that its awesome cake, specially without egg.
But I have one question here for the cake, I felt that its bit greasy cake or you can say that cake has oily feeling, is it because of of vegetable oil, can we replace oil with butter so that feel willbe less?
Thanks
Shruti
Thanks Shruti. Hmm…I haven’t felt that it was oily but it’s a moist cake overall. Maybe you can try cutting back the quantity of oil and use unsweetened applesauce instead if you think it’s too oily for your preference. I don’t know the science behind but I have seen a lot of chocolate cake recipes which uses oil instead of butter, maybe that’s a better combination.
What can we use instead coffee? Great recipes!!!
You can simply omit it and add plain water.
What can we use instead of tofu?
Unsweetened applesauce might work.
Thank you for the receipe. I also tried many receipe s from your site and they all are fool proof good. I will try it sure. Also I replace carob powder because we want to reduce the content of caffeine in our foods.
You’re welcome Vaishnavi.
Please let us know the substitute FOR 1/2 cup tofu – and quantity. Can we use egg replacer.?
Yes it might work. I think maybe 3-4 teaspoons of Ener-G with 5-6 tablespoons of water probably.
You actually don’t need to add tofu or have a replacement for it. The cake without it is moist and absolutely delicious.
That’s great to know it works without tofu too Kristi
Hi aunty;
My name is Aparna. I tried to make the cake but then I don’t have cocoa powder with me what can I use if I don’t have cocoa powder?
Do you want to make a chocolate cake? Then cocoa powder is a must.
I tried your vanilla cake. It was awesome. Is there any substitution for tofu for the chocolate cake? Can I use condensed milk for this too? If yes please tell me the correct proportions
Thanks Chandana. If we use condensed milk in this chocolate cake recipe then we will have to adjust the quantity of sugar and other liquids which is a lot of hassle. You can try unsweetened applesauce instead.
Is silken tofu is necessary to add for this cake?
You can use unsweetened applesauce instead.
Hi Mam,
I wanted to inquire if we can replace tofu with any other ingredient? Also if you discard tofu, please suggest.
You can try replacing it with unsweetened applesauce instead of tofu.
In case I use Yogurt instead of tofu, what is the quantity that I should use?
It is the same quantity as the tofu. You can use unsweetened applesauce too instead.
What is the substitute of tofu?
You can try it with unsweetened applesauce.
I baked the cake for my mother and everybody liked it very much
That’s great Tiana.
Hi. I am about to make this cake. If I replace 1/2 cup of the oil with 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce,shall I add the applesauce together with the 1/2 cup canola oil after making a well?
Thanks
Yes you can do so Marish.
Is silken tofu easily available?
It depends upon where you live Rita.
The cake tasted great. Sweet and moist. However, it did start to fall apart and it was very difficult to spread the icing. I did leave it to cool for about 3 hours. Where could i have gone wrong?
Hope you followed the measurement as it is. Usually when there is too much liquid this might happen. Do you think it could have baked a little longer?
I used the conversion link you provided but maybe it could be this. I baked for a little longer than you said as i checked with a toothpick to see when it comes out clean.
But the cake was very moist so tasted good. I just would’ve liked it to look a little better!
Thank you
I dont drink coffee but it’s mentioned in your recipe..what’s the effect of coffee in this recipe and can I go without coffee???
You can very well omit coffee and just use plain water. Usually coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate that’s why it is used in this recipe. But trust me you won’t even taste the coffee though.