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)
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.