Eggless Chocolate Sponge Cake
This Eggless Chocolate Sponge Cake is a super moist eggless chocolate cake recipe. Perfect for icing and frosting purposes. This easy chocolate cake is just like a sponge that soaks in all the goodness while stacking it up with more flavors. It is a no butter recipe with the perfect balance of fluffy chocolate flavors.
So, if you are in search of an excellent eggless sponge cake recipe that is quick and easy to make and that can be used for all you frosted cake projects, this is the one. It is truly the best eggless chocolate sponge cake recipe you will come across. This easy chocolate cake recipe takes just a few minutes to make as a result, I always recommend having this recipe in your little recipe book
ABOUT THIS EASY CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE
First of all, this sponge cake is light & fluffy just like a piece of sponge
Secondly, it is easy to make, hassle-free and can be made in one bowl itself
Moreover, this recipe has no eggs, no butter but yet full of flavor
This Homemade chocolate cake recipe can be used for all you cream cake projects or any frosted cake project
This recipe does not contain eggs or butter but very basic ingredients, as a result, this cake stays well for a longer period of time as compared to other chocolate sponge cakes. It has very few basic ingredients as a result, it a recipe with very less expense
First of all, Indian bakers are always in search of good foolproof cake recipes that are eggless and more over budget friendly. Thus, this is one recipe that stands high up there. It is really easy and quick and perfect for every chocolate cake adventure you plan on. This sponge goes well with most flavors and filling. As a result, I’m sure you would save this one after giving it a try.
Secondly, one common question I get asked is why do you have recipes with egg and not eggless on your blog being an Indian baker in India??!!
Well, I just believe in serving the best up here.
WHY THIS CAKE RECIPE OVER THE OTHER CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPES
So, to me, it’s not about egg or eggless but about the texture, flavor, and goodness of the dish. As a result, only when I feel the recipe is perfect it comes up here. However, many of my baker friends kept asking for cake recipes that were eggless and super fluffy. So I decided to work on this. My recipe for an Eggless Chocolate Sponge Cake is really fabulous. I’m normally not an eggless fan but this one got me drooling over goodness.
Moreover, it’s perfect when used as a base cake for whipped cream cakes, with various frostings and fillings.
In conclusion, I would not recommend using this as a base cake under fondant as fondant is heavy and this cake is really light and may not take the weight of the fondant and the heavy decor work
LET’S TALK INGREDIENTS
Why oil and no butter ??
Firstly, butter cakes are heavy, oil cakes are light. The texture of oil-based cakes are more fluffy however, the butter ones are heavy. I recommend using butter based cakes for your fondant cake projects, they are heavier, as a result, they are able to carry the weight of the fondant easily
Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder or natural cocoa powder??
Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder. It also gives a nice bright dark chocolate color to the cake as compared to natural cocoa powder.
Should we add water or milk to the cake batter??
In conclusion, you may come across the same recipe which sometimes contains milk and sometimes contains water. I’ve tried both and feel that the recipe which contains water instead of milk are lighter. Milk-based is 10% tastier but not as light & fluffy as the same cake made with cold water
Eggless Chocolate Sponge Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- All-purpose flour: 1 1/2 cups
- Baking soda: 1 teaspoon
- Castor sugar: 1 cup
- Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder: 3 tablespoons
- salt: 1/4 teaspoon
Wet Ingredients
- Cold water, refrigerated: 1 cup
- Unflavored cooking oil: 7 tablespoons
- Vanilla Essence: 1 1/2 teaspoon
- White Vinegar: 1 tablespoon
Instructions:
- Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all the wet ingredients
- Using a whisk, combine all of it together making sure there are no lumps
- Line a 7-inch baking dish with parchment paper and add the batter to the dish
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 40 to 50 mins or until an inserted skewer comes out dry
Recipe Card – Eggless Chocolate Sponge Cake
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- All-purpose flour: 1 ½ cups
- Baking soda: 1 teaspoon
- Castor sugar: 1 cup
- Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder: 3 tablespoons
- salt: ¼ teaspoon
Wet Ingredients
- Cold water refrigerated: 1 cup
- Unflavored cooking oil: 7 tablespoons
- Vanilla Essence: 1 ½ teaspoon
- White Vinegar: 1 tablespoon
Instructions
- Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all the wet ingredients
- Using a whisk, combine all of it together making sure there are no lumps
- Line a 7-inch baking dish with parchment paper and add the batter to the dish
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 40 to 50 mins or until an inserted skewer comes out dry
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Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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Apart from the Eggless Chocolate Sponge Cake Recipe, here are some of our top recipes on the blog,
Strawberry Chiffon Cake Sponge
Eggless Vanilla Cake Sponge
Chocolate Mousse Cake
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Hi Alisha
I’ve tried this cake once and it turned out good! Now busy wanted to ask if the multi purpose flour could be replaced with whole wheat flour or atta? Could I also bake it in the convection mode in a microwave?
Hi .. You may try 50/50 (thats 50% whole wheat and 50% all purpose flour) The cake wouldnt be this spongy but will work pretty well. Yes, you can bake in convectional as well
can i use milk insted of water
Yes .. Go ahead
Didn’t work out for me, soda bicarbonate dominates the taste
In this case, you may add a little lesser quantity if you’d like
Hi…can I double or triple this recipe?tia
Yes !! You can do that
Hi Alisha,
Your recepies are amazing. I have tried your eggless vanilla sponge cake and it was a hit.
I would like to make this chocolate sponge cake with eggs. So how many eggs should I add? Also will it be sturdy enough to hold fondant decorations on top of the cake?
Hi Reshma.. I’ll be putting up an egg version of my recipe soon. I’ve not tried substituting eggs in this recipe yet, so can’t help you with quantities at the moment
Hi, the cake was excellent and everyone loved it!!!.thank you.
Is that 180F or 180C?
180C
Hi Alisha. Is the baking temp 180F or 180C?
Its 180 C
This was the best recipe. Eggless, no butter, no milk. Literally had the flavor, the spongy texture, and the sweetness level of a store-bought sponge cake. Thank you so much!
So happy to hear this .. Thanks for leaving a feedback
Can i replace the water with milk?!
Yes, you can .. It tastes better but not as light as the water one
Hi Alisha,
I have to make cup cakes and a cake with this batter. Can I first bake the cup cakes and then bake the the 7″ cake. Can the batter be kept out till the cup cakes are baked?
Yes Linda.. That’s Perfectly fine
Hy Alisha, is this 1 kg or 1/2 kg?
And if it’s 1 kg what will be the measurements for 1/2?
This one is approximately 1/2 kg (not 1kg)
Hello Alisha,
Just want to know why you have not used baking powder in this receipe.
Hi Hetal ..
This recipe has baking soda and vinegar in it .. which combine together to create a chemical reaction that makes the cake rise. Thus, we do not need any other rising agent in this recipe
Hi Alisha..
Thank you for the recipe. Will try it over the weekend. I plan to use this sponge cake to make a Black Forest cake. Can i make it the previous day, store it in the fridge and do the icing/decoration the next day?
Will storing the sponge cake overnight make it dry?
Hi Shruti . This sounds like a good plan ..
Yes you can store it in the fridge for a day, won’t turn dry as long as you cling wrap the cake well..
And this one’s perfect for a black forest cake
Hello Alisha,
Would I be able to make this in the microwave? Thanks!
I don’t think thats possible .. Sorry !!
Hi.. what is the cup size used in this recipie .. is it 250 ml ?
Hi .. Its 240 ml per cup
Hi sorry – is it 180 for fan ovens or not? So many recipes don’t stipulate and I’ve burned many a cake this way…!!! Shall I drop the temp to 160? Also, can white vinegar be substituted if I haven’t got any? Would apple cider vinegar work?
Thanks! Excited to make this! If you can’t get back to me don’t worry, I’ll give it a crack with these changes anyway and see what happens hahaha x
Hi . It’s 180 without fan, but if your baking with fan I’d recommend 160 degrees for baking this cake.
Yes !! Apple cider vinegar is fine, you can use it !!
All the best !! Happy Baking …
can I use lemon instead of vinegar?
I’ve personally not used lemon but if you plan to use it just use 1/4 teaspoon as lemon is strong
I baked this cake, 4 times in the last week. It’s super soft and with most basic ingredients. Loved it. Not going to use premix ever. Thank you so much dear
Hey Swati..
So happy to hear this, made my day !!
I can’t stand premixes, so stay tuned for more awesome stuff out here.. Haha..
Hi Alisha,
I tried this recipe and the cake turned out wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
Hey Parineeta
Thank you for leaving a message. So so happy to hear this
Hello Alisha,
Will cold almond milk work in this cake instead of water? I want to make a firmer cake rather than a very soft one because I am going to layer it. Thank you:)
Hey Sweety
If you want a slightly firmer one, almond milk should work
Go ahead and let me know how it turns
Hi, loved the texture of the cake..but, want to have a light brown colour and increase the sweetness a bit..can I make any changes for this plz ..
Hi Kiran.. Glad you like the texture of the cake
Normally this cake is used as a cake base for frosted cakes, which means you soak it in a little sugar syrup while frosting, thus there is lesser sugar added to the cake sponge while baking. However, if you’d like to add more sugar to the batter, go ahead and adjust it as per taste. Maybe 50 grams more sugar should work. For a light brown color on the top, just set your oven to grill mode at the end of the baking process for 3 to 4 mins or until light brown
Hey Alisha!
m gonna try your recipe ..but there is no substitute for egg used in this or white vinegar is the one?
because I saw your vanilla sponge recipe it has yoghurt but why not in chocolate sponge?
Hi Sakina
This recipe didn’t require yogurt thus we’ve not used it
Vinegar is acidic and when an acid combines with baking soda, is when the reaction happens. This is the reason the cake becomes spongy and fluffy.
Try it out and you’ll see
Hey
How do you make sure the cake does t burn on top
Make sure the cake is baked on the middle rack. Bake your cakes only on bottom mode, if your oven has the option. Only for the last 2 mins bake it on top mode. Hope this helps ..
Hi, do you think will it be fine if I used cold milk instead of just cold water?
Yes, you can do that. It tastes great but the cake is not as light as the one made with water.
You can do that, the cake will taste great however not it won’t be super soft like the water version. Tastier with milk for sure
Hi Alisha. Tried this recipe today twice ( Trial1 : Baked at 180°C for 50 mins.
Trial 2 : Baked at 180°C for 60 mins )Followed the same measurements and instructions as mentioned in the recipe. The cake turned out to be soft and nice but the texture of the cake does not seem to be crumbly . It kinda sticks to the teeth in the end in both my trials.Did i go somewhere wrong ?How can i attain a crumbly texture?
Hey
Glad it turned out soft and nice however it shouldn’t stick to your teeth as you’ve mentioned. To me, it sounds like the cake was not baked well. If it’s only the top of the cake that’s sticky, you could bake the cake for 5 mins on grill mode to avoid the stickiness. If its the complete cake thats sticky, you need to get the oven checked or simply invest in an oven thermometer that will show you the exact temperature in the oven (cos not always is the temperature set on the button and the temperature inside the oven the same)
Let me know if this helps !!
Hello Alisha, have you tried this recipe with Gluten free Flour. I tried the recipe and it was perfect was just wondering if any adjustments need to b made to make it gluten free?
Hey Renu.. I’m not into gluten-free bakes as of now but if I do in near future I’ll definitely keep you posted. Not tried this recipe with gluten-free flour, so no clue. If you do, I’d love to know how it turns out
Hi ! Just to be clear you meant 180 degree Celsius not Fahrenheit right ? Also what is the shelf life of this sponge cake ? Thank you
Hi Huzaifa !! Yes.. Its 180 degrees Celsius (not Fahrenheit)
Stays well for 5 to 6 days
Hi I tried this except substituted with lemon juice and steam for 1 hour. Totally soft and fluffy! Thank you so much for sharing!!! Love all your vegan recipes!
Excellent !! Sounds good to me Christina.. Thanks for the variation. I’ve never steamed this one but will surely try it. Glad this worked for u..
Hi Alisha, could you give the ingredients in GM’s/ml? I notice CE they are more Accurate than cup measurements.
My recipes are normally mentioned in grams but this one is a quick and no-hassle cake, that’s why mentioned in cups.
Heyi Alisha.. I have made chocolate cake following this recipe nd it had turned out super easy nd tasteful one.. However this time I want to try this with wwf.. Will it work? Or I’d you have such tried nd tested recipe for wwf then plz direct me to the link.. Also if I m using 9” pans them do I need double the quantity of baking soda too?
Hi Nikita
Please guide me with the meaning of wwf?
And Yes !! You need to double the quantity of baking soda if you doubling all the other ingredients
Hey Alisha, tried this one and as suggested above used the bluebird cocoa powder. Its well risen soft and fluffy however turned tasteless! Overly sweet with no chocolatey punch. I followed exact your measurements and method. The cup measurements I used is 250ml one cup, do you reckon what might have gone wrong?
Hi Bhagyashree
I’m glad you tried it out and apologies for it didn’t work for you
You may adjust the quantity of sugar as per your liking (also, cup size 200 ml)
This cake is slightly low on flavor as its used as a base cake for all the decorated cream cakes, basically, just a simple cake sponge which needs to be soaked with sugar syrup to bring out some more flavor. However, it shouldn’t turn tasteless as you’ve mentioned
If you want a cake with chocolaty punch lookout for a recipe which has chocolate added to it and not just cocoa powder. It has more flavor. This one is just a plain cake sponge used in bakeries as a base for frosted cakes.
Hey, this looks promising.
Can I add an egg to it?
Yes !! You can .. It would make the cake tastier with a better texture
Thanks for explaining it…will get baking this weekend and share how it turns!
Hey Alisha!
Definitely a receipe I have been looking for all my life!
One hurdle though…tried finding the Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder. There are many versions!! Any particular brand or variety suggested?
Many Thanks in advance!
Hi !! Please go ahead and use any locally available cocoa powder brand. Even the regular bluebird one works. All you need to make is that its fine dark cocoa powder
Hi Alisha,
Thanks for such a lovely recipe. Cake really turned out spongy and fluffy. But since i am a fan of butter instead of oil, tried replacing 5tbl spn of butter and 2 tbl spn oil. This too turned out gud. Though not that fluffy as the original one. But then i tried this modified recipe to make a dome shaped cake in dome mould. This turned out dense. So my question is can i use this recipe for dome moulds? Or do you have any suggestions for this kind of mould?
Thanks, Satwari for all that appreciation. I’m so glad you tried this out and liked it.
Well !! I’ve personally baked this cake in a dome shape as well and used it to make a doll cake. It turned out perfect. So, I’d advise you to try it out again making sure your oven temperatures are perfectly right and the moment the cake batter is mixed bake it immediately
Hi,
Thanks for this lovely recipe. I tried making exactly the same way you described and it turned out nice and fluffy. Since i am fond of butter than oil, instead of 7 tbl spoon oil added 5 tbl spoon of butter and 2 tbl spoon oil. This also i wud say was soft and light but ofcourse not like earlier. Now, i wanted to know if i can use this recipe for dome moulds? Tried with dome and it didnt turn out that well. It was quite dense and remained undercooked. Any change you would suggest?
Also, I’d recommend you bake it for a few more minutes as a dome cake is taller so bake until an inserted skewer comes out clean
Wonderful blog post and amazing recipe….!!! I just love it. Everything is very clear and clean to the point. Thank youuuu soooo muchhhh!!
You welcome !! I’m glad you like this post
Hi , please cup size 200ml.or 250.ml??
Cup size 200 ml
Hi Alisha
In USA measuring cup is 240 ml, so do you have any idea how will manage baking soda quantity in this, however I will manage all ingredients quantity accordingly my cup only I have problem with baking soda.please reply
Thanks
Hi Anjali ..
I’ve not understood your question well. Please elaborate
Absolutely loved making and forging on this cake. It was a decadent hit with family as well. Thank you for the vegan recipe
Thanks, Arushi !! I’m so glad you gave this a try and liked it as well
Thank u so much for this recipe…it was a hit
Thanks, Manju !! I’m so glad you liked it
Hi,
I tried this recipe. Cake turned out really soft and fluffy, but I could taste baking soda while eating cake. I took exact measurements while making this cake. Could you please help me what could be the reason for this. I would like to give this recipe another try.
Thanks.
Hi Shuchi
I’m so sorry to hear this happened with you
However, I really can’t figure out why this must have happened as so many have tried this recipe but never had any complaints with this one. I make it all the time, turns out perfect
I’d recommend you recheck the baking soda your using and also make sure there are no lumps of baking soda in the cake batter. Beat the batter well making sure all the ingredients are well combined
Do give it a try again and let me know how it turns out
Hi.can I use 8inch round pan??
Yes !! Go ahead
It look tasty. But it was very dry. Not softy or spongy.
Hi Warsha… I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you but this cake is known for how spongy and soft it is. I guess it must have turned out dry due to over baking. There are a lot of tips throughout the post which would guide you during the making, I’d advice you to go through it again and give it a shot !!
Love, Alisha !!
Hi Alisha .
Great recepee and very kind of you to give recepes like this . no one does .
Pls
Let me know which brand white vinegar you use .
Thank you Manisha
In India, we get a brand called Kalvert very easily. It’s not too strong due to which I prefer using this brand of white vinegar
Hi Alisha !! Lovely cake . Just have a doubt before I start with this recipe .. can I use the same recipe and use two 5 inch pans ?
Hey Soumya ..
Yes !! Go ahead .. I’ve also replied to your inbox message on this a while ago
Hey Alisha, if I’m going to be powdering granulated sugar, do I powder 1 cup of regular sugar and use it or do I Measure out and use 1 cup after powdering it because there’s a difference in the quantity! And also I’m just going to be testing out this recipe so will there be a difference in the cake if I reduce the quantities to half and make a smaller cake?
Hey Anjanaa
If using powdered granulated sugar, I’d recommend first weighing regular granulated sugar and then powder it.
And yes!! You can go ahead and make a smaller batch if you’d like that.
Hi Alisha
Can I use one cup home made powdered sugar instead of castor sugar.
Thanks in advance
Yes Prasanthi !! Weigh regular granulated sugar, grind into a powder and use
Thank you so much for your recipe. It helped me make an all vegan cake, I have a small question. So I haven’t tasted the cake yet, but I used an egg beater to mix the ingredients together! So would that ruin the cake? I mean will it become rubbery and chewy instead of fluffly? Thanks!
Hi Christine ..
Not at all !! You can use the beater to mix the batter, however, for any cake batter make sure you don’t over beat it. Once all the ingredients have come together, STOP and BAKE
Hi .. can I use apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar.
I wouldn’t recommend doing this !! I personally use only white vinegar
Looks great ! I wish to try it .but could you please tell me the measurements for 9″ round pan
Double the recipe up for a 9 inch cake pan
Such a quick hasslefree recipe! I tried it yesterday and the result was too good. I need your suggestion for vanilla cake- can I just omit the coco powder to make the plain sponge?
Hey Gunjan ..
I’m so so happy to read this. I love this recipe too
For the vanilla version, I have a recipe on the blog and I’m sure u’ll like this one too !!
Recipe Link: https://bakealish.com/eggless-vanilla-cake-sponge/
Thanks a lot for the recipe Alisha. Just a small query, why do we have to use chilled water instead of normal water….
Hi Deeksha.. Using cold water in cake batters reduces gluten development which avoids the cake from getting a rubbery texture. It makes sure the cake texture is nice and spongy
Hello Alisha… Can I use lemon juice instead of white venigar in the recipe
Hi Prasanna
Lemon juice changes flavor after being baked due to which I wouldn’t recommend substituting white vinegar for lemon juice.
Hello sister this recipe seems yummy, I’ll try it.
Please share eggless vanilla sponge cake recipe for icing.
Thank you
Thanks, Vikas
Vanilla cake sponge recipe coming up soon
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Hi. Literally have been on a hunt for a perfect eggless chocolate cake thats moist,budget friendly,easily available ingredients and also moist. But this one seems soo good already. Just one query normal cooking oil works or have to use unflavoured only? Also what is it that you have used as a icing on this cake?
Hi Dhara
Thanks for all the positivity
Normal cooking oil should work well. What I mean by unflavored is to avoid strong flavors like coconut oil, mustard oil, etc. Regular cooking oil is good.
The icing you see on the cake is a regular dark chocolate ganache spread all around along with some cocoa powder dusted on the cake
If you’d like to know more about the ganache recipe I follow, here’s attaching a link which would help
https://veenaazmanov.com/chocolate-ganache/
Happy Baking !!
Hi Alisha,
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe. I am a beginner and this was my first chocolate cake, baked it to celebrate my Hubby’s work anniversary and it was yum yum yummy! Only thing wrong was mine had a crack on the top.. any suggestions on what went wrong?
Hey Nidhi,
I’m so happy to know your cake turned yum. Yeyiee.. Do share an image of it if possible. I’d love to see it
The crack could be due to high oven temperatures, I’d advice you to reduce your oven temperature while you bake this next time. Also note, each oven is different so its best to invest in an oven thermometer as it would show you the exact heat in your oven
Hope this helps !!
Hii ,
Its looks amazing … cold water is ice cold freeze water or room temp water ..
Pls reply
Hey Divya
Cold water is refrigerated water/ice cold water. Not room temperature
WOW looks so delicious and chocolatey! YUM!
Thanks, Natalie !!
Its totally YUM …
So but this recipe will be ok for 1/2 kg cake or 1 kg cake
Hi Rohan !!
This should work well to make a decorated/frosted 1 kg cake
Hey can you pls suggest the cup measurements in ml or grams
I’m sorry , I don’t have them right now .. Will keep you posted when I make this recipe next and get the grams measurement to share. As of now, you may google the ingredients and its conversions