Earlier I had shared an Eggless Sponge Cake here. A sponge has that extremely fully, airy and light structure which really can’t hold the decorations well. So the recipe shared in this post is my go to, for an Eggless vanilla cake that works well for decorations. It is neither too airy nor too dense but makes a fantastic base cake for all your decorations, especially for layered & tiered cakes.

Eggless Vanilla Cake

There are numerous recipes to make a vanilla cake. While some recipes use the whole eggs, some use a mix of whole and additional egg whites. But a basic vanilla cake always uses eggs which play an important role that determine the texture and color of the cake.  An eggless vanilla cake needs an egg substitute. There are various ingredients like egg replacer, yogurt, flaxmeal and buttermilk which work very well as egg substitutes. However this eggless vanilla cake recipe uses condensed milk and an acidic ingredient (vinegar or lemon juice) as an egg substitute. Condensed milk is the star ingredient of this recipe & it does a magic by imparting a lovely bakery flavor and texture to the cake. We all know how amazing sweetened condensed milk smells!   Vinegar, condensed milk and the leavening ingredients together work like a charm in aerating the batter which bakes up to a lovely eggless vanilla cake.

My Recipe

This cake can be baked with either all-purpose flour or cake flour. While all-purpose flour works well too, cake flour makes the cake lighter. I have used cake flour here. If you do not have it you may want to make your own following my instructions in the step by step photo guide. This recipe makes a 7 or 8 inch eggless vanilla cake. I made 2 cakes and frosted with a simple vanilla buttercream frosting. To make 2 layered cake, double the recipe and bake them in 2 pans at one time. I had baked this a few times earlier and made a whipped cream frosting which turned out delicious too. If you do not prefer to frost the cake, do add 3 to 4 tbsps. powdered sugar as mentioned in the recipe. If you do not have an oven you can check this no bake chocolate Biscuit cake. However if you want to bake this cake in a pressure cooker, you may read this post on Cooker cake recipe. Follow the same instructions to bake this cake. If you are a beginner do read my tips and faqs section below. For more Cake Recipes, you can checkEggless Black forest cakeFruit cake without eggEggless chocolate cakeBanana chocolate cake without eggEggless carrot cakeEggless banana breadButter cakeBanana cake

How To Make Eggless Vanilla Cake (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

  1. Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. Grease a 7 or 8 inch pan. Line it with parchment paper.
  2. Preheat the oven to 170 C for at least 15 mins. If using a pressure cooker, add 1 heaped cup salt to a cooker. Spread it evenly and place a plate. Place a trivet or ring. Remove the gasket and whistle. Cover it. Heat on a medium high flame for 10 to 12 mins.
  3. This cake works well with all-purpose flour but cake flour makes it lighter. Skip this step if you want to use all-purpose flour. Fluff up the all purpose flour in the jar with the help of a fork. Using a spoon fill 1 and a ¼ cup of all purpose flour to measuring cups. Level them with a straight edged knife or spoon. Remove 2 tbsp flour from 1 cup and ½ tbsp flour from ¼ cup. Add the removed flour back to the jar. Next fluff up the corn flour in the jar and measure 2 & ½ tbsp corn flour and add it to the cups. Sieve them together at least 3 to 4 times this helps the cake to turn light. Your cake flour is ready.

Make Cake Batter

  1. Place a sieve over a large mixing bowl. Add 1 ¼ all-purpose flour or cake flour to a sieve.
  2. Next add 1 tsp baking powder.
  3. Add ½ tsp baking soda.
  4. Then add 1/8 tsp salt.
  5. Sieve them and repeat it thrice. If you do not plan to frost the cake, then you may need another 3 to 4 tbsps powdered sugar. Mix well.
  6. Pour condensed milk. I use about 200 ml. i.e. approximately ½ of a 400 ml can.
  7. Next pour 1/2 cup water.
  8. Pour ¼ cup melted unsalted butter. I melted it in a small pan. You can also do it in a microwave.
  9. Add in vanilla extract.
  10. Pour vinegar. I used organic apple cider vinegar.
  11. Mix well until just combined.
  12. Make sure there are no lumps. The mixture will begin to react immediately due to vinegar and you will see bubbles. Avoid over mixing it at this stage.
  13. Transfer the batter to the cake pan. Knock it gently to the counter a few times.

Baking Eggless Vanilla Cake

  1. Place it in the center rack in your oven. Bake it for 23 to 25 mins until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine was done at 25 mins. Do check at 23 mins as the timings slightly differ from oven to oven. If baking in cooker, place the cake tray on the trivet or ring. Cover and bake for 45 to 55 mins on a low flame.
  2. When the cake is done, a skewer inserted comes out clean.
  3. Transfer the cake pan to a cooling rack and let cool for 15 mins. Later invert it on a wire rack.
  4. Remove the parchment paper and allow to cool completely.
  5. I made a simple and quick buttercream frosting. I haven’t shared the pics of the same as the post is already lengthy and may intimidate many. If you are interested please follow the instructions in the recipe card. I have not included the time taken to make the frosting in the recipe card. You can make a rough estimation of 2 hours for the frosting if you are a beginner. Soft, moist and delicious eggless vanilla cake is ready.

Pro Tips

Measure the Flour correctly: A lot of readers have made this cake successfully but some could not get the right results. A dry or dense cake is a problem with too much flour or with not enough liquid. Please weight the flour if possible or fluff up the flour and spoon to the measuring cups. This step makes a huge difference.Butter: You may use oil in the recipe. This results in a more moist cake. But butter improves the flavor and you may smell the oil in your cake if you don’t use the right kind. I have tried it only with virgin coconut oil.Condensed milk: There is no substitute to sweetened condensed milk.Baking powder & Baking soda: Please test your baking powder and soda before using to ensure they are still within the shelf period. These 2 ingredients cannot be substituted and cannot be replaced for one another.

Trouble shooting

Cake recipes are sensitive to weather conditions and temperatures. Even the best recipes may require troubleshooting at times. These are tried and tested troubleshooting tips that may help. But it is important to measure the ingredients correctly and make sure they are at room temperature before making the batter.

Dry cake: Increase 1 to 1.5 tablespoons butter in the recipe. Dense cake: Add 2 tablespoons more milk. For a moist cake: Make a simple sugar syrup and drizzle it over the cooled cakes. For details you may check my Black forest cake recipe.

Faqs

Related Recipes

Recipe Card

Recipe source: Madhu. This recipe was first published in November 2017. Updated and republished in January 2022.