This easy Eggless vanilla cake recipe makes a perfectly moist and flavorful sponge every time. It’s delicious to enjoy with a homemade strawberry glaze, or use as a base for many cream cakes and gateau. Here you’ll find my step-by-step instructions, video with photos, plus expert tips for making a no-fail vanilla cake for your next celebration.
About Eggless Vanilla Cake Recipe
Vanilla cake is a classic cake that most people love. While there are many ways this cake can be made, my recipe is egg-free and gives a soft and moist crumb.
Most of the times when I make Eggless Cakes, I use the mixture of vinegar + baking soda. The reaction of vinegar with baking soda releases carbon dioxide and this aerates the batter which helps in leavening the cake.
This vanilla cake made without eggs uses the same reaction principle. It is a perfect no-fail recipe that works every time. Along with vinegar and baking soda, I also use yogurt and melted butter to make the cake fluffy and tender.
Table of Contents
Yogurt gives a lovely soft crumb to the eggless vanilla cake, and butter makes each bite terrifically rich. I use this cake as a base to make various frosted cakes like Strawberry Cake and Eggless Pineapple Cake. But you can enjoy it as a simple tea cake.
I have also shared an easy recipe for homemade strawberry jam glaze in this post. In a word, the sweet strawberry glaze makes the cake awesome. It is always a hit whenever I serve this vanilla cake for dessert or at gatherings!
How to make Eggless Vanilla Cake
Preparation
Before you make the eggless vanilla cake recipe, get all your ingredients ready.
Make sure all of them are at room temperature, except the butter that can be cold or straightaway removed from the refrigerator.
1. First add 1.5 cups of all purpose flour with 1 tsp of baking powder and a pinch of salt into a sieve placed over a mixing bowl.
2. Sift the dry ingredients once or twice. Set aside.
3. Grease a 7.5 or 8 inches round pan with some butter. You can line the pan with parchment if you prefer.
One of my ancient (but really sturdy and well-seasoned) baking pan in the photo below.
4. Heat slightly more than ½ cup of butter in a small pan or bowl on medium-low heat until it just melts.
5. Measure the melted butter in a ½ cup measuring cup. Set aside. Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 to 20 minutes before baking.
6. In another bowl add ¾ cup of raw sugar (or white sugar), 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, ¼ cup of curd (yogurt) and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
Note: Beat the curd separately in a bowl and then add. Also use fresh curd and not sour curd.
Tip: Swap with white vinegar or lemon juice if you do not have apple cider vinegar.
7. Add ½ cup of water.
8. Whisk briskly until all of the sugar is dissolved and the curd gets evenly mixed. It should be like buttermilk, slightly off-color and foamy.
It is important that you beat the curd before adding as mentioned above so that you don’t have tiny lumps of curd in this liquid mixture.
9. Now add ½ teaspoon of baking soda to the wet mixture.
10. Stir until the baking soda is mixed evenly. The baking soda will cause some bubbling in this wet liquid mixture.
Make Cake Batter
11. Add the liquid mixture and melted butter to the dry sifted ingredients.
12. Mix very well with a wired whisk. Break apart any lumps by tapping them with the whisk. Be careful not to over-mix the batter.
13. It should be a smooth batter like in the photo below.
Tip: If the batter becomes too thick or look dry, add some more milk or water (at room temperature) to get it to the desired consistency. Depending on the flour texture and quality, you will need to add more or less water.
14. Pour the batter into the greased pan. Tap the pan on the countertop a few times so that any extra air bubbles are released and the batter spreads itself evenly in the pan.
You do not need to even the batter with a spatula. The batter spreads on its own.
Bake Cake
15. Place the cake pan in the preheated oven on the middle rack. If using an OTG or a regular oven, heat both the top and bottom heating elements.
16. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top crust is golden.
Tip 1: The baking time varies with various oven type and the temperatures are not the same. Thus this eggless vanilla cake recipe can take less or more time to bake in your oven. Keep an eye on the cake as it bakes so that it does not brown too much.
Tip 2: Remember not to open the oven door until ¾ of the cake is baked. Opening and closing the oven door many times can make your cake sink or collapse.
Tip 3: When the cake begins to get golden and you see that is browning very quickly, then cover the top with an aluminium foil or butter paper and continue to bake.
17. Check the doneness of the eggless vanilla cake with a bamboo skewer. It should be clean with no sticky batter on it.
18. Place the pan on a wired tray or rack and let the cake cool to room temperature. Let the cake cool completely before you spread the jam glaze on it.
Make Jam Glaze Icing
This eggless vanilla cake is delicious as-is, no toppings needed. However, a fresh fruit jam, buttercream icing or rich chocolate ganache are yummy options to make the cake an extra special sweet treat.
Before you frost the cake, make sure it is cool and not at all hot.
To make an easy jam glaze,
1. First add ½ cup of any sweet fruit jam of your choice in a small skillet or pan. I have used Homemade Strawberry Jam to make this recipe for topping the cake.
2. Now add 1 tablespoon of tapioca starch or arrowroot flour or cornstarch, plus 3 tablespoons of water (or more if needed) and 1 tablespoon butter.
You can use any type of starch-based edible thickener that is available to you. All the three starches that I have listed above thicken the glaze nicely.
So include any one of them for thickening the glaze. In the below photo, the white colored flour is tapioca starch.
3. Place the pan on low heat and begin to mix.
4. Keep stirring until all of the ingredients have melted together and evenly combined.
5. Simmer on low heat for 3 to 4 minutes until the glaze thickens, stirring often. Do not boil or cook the mixture down too much.
Set aside and allow the jam glaze to cool slightly, so that it is warm and not hot.
Frost Cake
1. When the eggless vanilla cake cools, remove it gently from the pan. Place it on a board, tray or plate or a cake stand. A rotating cake stand makes applying the glaze easiest.
Place some of the jam icing on top and use a spatula to spread the glaze evenly on top and sides of the cake.
2. Sprinkle some unsweetened desiccated coconut on top. You can even spread it at the sides.
Coconut is optional and you can skip it, if you are not a fan of coconut.
3. Cover with a large steel bowl, taking care that the coconut and icing do not touch the bowl. Let the glaze cool completely and set.
Later slice and serve. You can also keep in the refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours and then serve.
Note that the butter solidifies when cooled in the refrigerator. This make the texture of the cake slightly dense.
So let the cake come to room temperature before serving. Or you can warm it lightly in your oven at 90 degrees celsius (195 degrees Fahrenheit) for some minutes.
Ingredient Notes & Variations
- Flour: I recommend that you use unbleached and/or organic flour. This recipe works well with both all-purpose flour as well as unbleached pastry flour.
- Butter: You can use a neutral oil in place of butter. For butter, use unsalted butter. In a pinch you can opt for salted butter, but omit adding that pinch of salt in the recipe.
- Jam: Any sweet jam works well for the glaze in this eggless vanilla cake recipe. My favorites are orange jam, mango jam, pineapple jam and of course strawberry jam.
- Vinegar: If you do not have apple cider vinegar, use white vinegar or swap vinegar with lemon juice.
- Sweeteners: To make the eggless vanilla cake less sweet, you can add ½ cup of sugar. In place of sugar, you can also use jaggery, coconut sugar or palm sugar. But the color of the cake will change and become dark. The taste with these sugars will also make the cake taste different.
- Leavening ingredients: My recipe includes both baking powder and baking soda. They are not replaceable with each other. To get the best results, I suggest to follow the proportions mentioned in the recipe. Do make sure that both baking powder and baking soda are fresh and within their shelf-life.
Baking and Storage Tips
- Baking time: The baking time varies with oven types, temperatures inside the oven etc. So it can take less or more time for the cake to bake in your oven. Keep an eye on the cake as it bakes so that it does not brown too much.
- Storage and reheating. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days, in a sealed container or box. When you refrigerate this cake, the butter in it solidifies and the cake becomes slightly dense. While serving, lightly warm the cake in your oven at 90 degrees celsius (195 degrees Fahrenheit) for some minutes.
My Popular Eggless Cakes Recipes!
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Eggless Vanilla Cake Recipe (Moist & Flavorful Sponge)
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour or pastry flour – 180 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
Wet ingredients
- ½ cup melted butter – unsalted
- ¼ cup Curd (yogurt) – 62 grams
- ½ cup water
- ¾ cup raw sugar or white sugar – 150 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice or white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Jam Glaze Icing
- ½ cup strawberry jam or any sweet fruit jam
- 1 tablespoon tapioca starch or arrowroot flour or cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water or add as required
- 1 tablespoon Butter – unsalted
Instructions
Sifting dry ingredient
- First sift the all-purpose flour with the baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl or pan.
- Keep everything ready as you have to be quick enough to mix the batter.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Grease a 7.5 to 8 inches round pan with butter or a neutral tasting oil.
- You can also choose to line the baking pan with parchment and then grease it with oil or butter.
Measuring butter
- Take slightly more than a ½ cup of butter and melt it in a small pan on stovetop or microwave it in a bowl. Simply melt the butter. No need to heat it.
- You need to get about ½ cup of melted butter. So measure the melted butter in a ½ cup measuring cup. Set aside.
Mixing wet ingredients
- In another bowl take sugar, curd (whisked), apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract. Add water.
- First beat the curd separately in a bowl and then add to the other wet ingredients as this helps it to mix evenly without having any tiny lumps.
- Whisk briskly till all of the sugar is dissolved and the curd gets evenly mixed.
- Add the baking soda to this wet liquid mixture
- Stir until the baking soda is mixed evenly. The baking soda will cause some bubbling in this wet liquid mixture.
Making vanilla cake batter
- Add the liquid mixture and melted butter to the dry sifted ingredients.
- Mix very well with a wired whisk. Break apart any lumps by tapping on them with the whisk, but be carefully to not over-mix the batter.
- You should get flowing batter with medium to medium-thick consistency. If the batter looks dry or thick to you, then add some milk or water as needed to thin it.
- Pour the batter in the greased baking pan.
- Tap the pan on the countertop a few times so that extra air bubbles are released. You do not need to even the batter with a spatula. The batter spreads on its own.
Baking eggless vanilla cake
- Place the cake pan in the preheated oven on the middle rack.
- Keep the heating in both the bottom and top elements of the oven on if you are using an OTG or regular oven.
- Bake the cake at 180 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top crust is golden. Check the doneness of the cake with a bamboo skewer. It should be clean with no sticky batter.
- While baking, If the vanilla cake browns too quickly on the top, then cover the top with an aluminium foil or butter paper.
- Place the pan on a wired tray or rack and let the cake cool to room temperature.
- Once the eggless vanilla cake cools, you can serve it as it is or use the cake to make pastries or gateau.
Making jam glaze icing
- Take ½ cup of any jam of your choice in a small skillet or pan. I have used homemade Strawberry Jam. Add tapioca starch or arrowroot flour or cornstarch, water and butter.
- Place the pan on low heat and begin to mix the glaze ingredients.
- Keep stirring until all of the ingredients have evenly combined.
- Simmer on low heat until the glaze thickens, stirring often. Do not boil or cook the mixture too much. Set aside and allow the jam glaze to cool slightly, so that it is warm and not hot.
Frosting vanilla cake
- When the eggless vanilla cake cools, remove it gently from the pan.
- Place it on a board, tray or plate or a cake stand.
- Place some of the jam icing on top and use a spatula to spread the glaze evenly on top and sides of the cake.
- Sprinkle some unsweetened desiccated coconut on top. You can even spread it at the sides. Omit coconut, if you are not a fan of it.
- Cover with a large steel bowl, taking care that the coconut and jam icing do not touch the bowl. Let the glaze cool completely and set. Later slice and serve. You can also keep in the refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours and then serve.
- Note that the butter solidifies when cooled in the refrigerator. This make the texture of the cake slightly dense. So let the cake come to room temperature before serving. Or you can warm it lightly in your oven at 90 degrees celsius (195 degrees Fahrenheit) for some minutes.
Video
Notes
Ingredient Notes
- Flour: I recommend that you use unbleached and/or organic flour. This recipe works well with both all-purpose flour as well as unbleached pastry flour.
- Butter: Use a neutral oil in place of butter. For butter, use unsalted butter. In a pinch you can opt for salted butter, but omit adding that one pinch of salt in the recipe.
- Jam: Any sweet jam works well for the glaze. My favorites are orange jam, mango jam, pineapple jam and of course strawberry jam.
- Vinegar: If you do not have apple cider vinegar, use white vinegar or swap vinegar with lemon juice.
- Leavening ingredients: My recipe includes both baking powder and baking soda. They are not replaceable with each other. To get the best results, use the proportions mentioned in the recipe and make sure that they are fresh and within their shelf-life.
- Sweetness: To make the vanilla cake less sweet, you can add ½ cup of sugar. You can also use jaggery, coconut sugar or palm sugar.
Baking and Storage Notes
- Storage and reheating. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days in a sealed container. When you refrigerate this cake, the butter in it solidifies and the cake becomes slightly dense. While serving, lightly warm the cake in your oven at 90 degrees celsius (195 degrees Fahrenheit) for some minutes.
- Baking time: The baking time varies with oven types, temperatures inside the oven etc. So it can take less or more time for the cake to bake in your oven. Keep an eye on the cake as it bakes so that it does not brown too much.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Eggless Vanilla Cake recipe from the blog archives was first published on November 2013. It has been updated and republished on January 2022.
Your blog is a nice companion during this pandemic. I’m trying a variety of recipes from your blog. Kids are happy 🙂 Hubby is very happy 🙂 🙂 Thanks a million dassana. Tried banana cake day before yesterday. Sent it to hubby’s office. Huge hit. So made this vanilla cake today. Picture perfect. Made both in a pressure cooker. They are calling me Master chef now. Lol.. Thanks to you. God bless you 🙂
Wow! Great! and I am so pleased you read your comment. It feel good when the the family is happy and what better than food to enliven and lighten the mood during these strange times. Thanks a lot for your kind words and wishes. Stay safe.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. On my first baking attempt I did it in a microwave but I came out compressed. But since I don’t have an oven I decided to cook it in a cooker and had the fluffiest cake I’ve ever baked. Now that I have mastered this recipe I used it to make a marble cake and it looked professional. Once again thank you for this recipe
Welcome Pratibha and thanks for sharing your experience on baking the vanilla cake. Glad to know that. Reminds me I still have to share a marble cake recipe on the blog. Happy Baking.
It was my first attempt at baking. First time, it came out too compressed. Probably because I preheated the oven after preparation of batter, and that meant 4-5 minutes the batter was outside the oven. Second time it has come out better. But there were thick cracks on the top. But everyone loved the cake. Thanks. Will try more of your recipies.
thanks manish for this honest feedback. as soon as the cake batter is mixed, it should immediately go in the oven. i always know by what time the batter will be done, so accordingly i preheat the oven for 15 minutes. so that as soon as i finish making the batter – i pour in a greased pan and place the pan in the oven. to avoid cracks, do not open the oven door many times. only open after 3/4 of the baking is done. sure, do try more recipes and i hope you like them.
Awesome recipe. I blindly followed it and I had cakes like clouds 🙂 fluffy and light and amazing!! Loved it !
wow… thanks for such a lovely feedback on vanilla cake. glad to know. thanks for the rating too.
Hi
Can i use unsalted butter or olive oil
Pls advice
you can use unsalted butter. do not use olive oil as the aroma might be too overpowering in this vanilla cake.
Tried the recipe for first time. Cake turned out to be really really soft and nice. Thanks for an amazing recipe.
thanks prakrati for this feedback and the rating as well. glad to know. happy baking.
Hi! I’d like to know which oven you use.
Also it’s my first time making an eggless cake, I usually make them with eggs.
So is there anything important I should know about it?
Like in a normal cake, how do I maintain the same fluffy texture in the eggless cake?
Your recipes are a great help 🙂
i use bajaj 35 litre OTG. in cakes made without eggs leavening ingredients like baking soda or baking powder are used. one essential tip for eggless cakes is not to overmix or overfold the batter. mix with light pressure from the hands. as soon as the batter is ready, pour the batter immediately in a greased pan and bake. do not keep the batter standing before baking. bake with either just the bottom element heated in the oven or both the top and bottom elements heated. hope these tips help.
No creaming of butter and sugar is required in this recipe? all of the cake recipes cream vigourously butter and sugar using the stirrer. is it not required?
depends on the recipe and ingredients added. not all cakes require creaming of butter and sugar. i have shared many cake recipes where butter and sugar are not creamed. creaming is one method to make cakes, but there are many other methods as well. butter cakes and sponge cakes are made with the creaming method. hope this helps.
Hi mam,
This was my first baking experience and the cake came very soft and tasty. Now I don’t have corn starch. Is it necessary to add corn starch with strawberry jam to make the icing???
thanks divya for the feedback and rating on vanilla cake. its not necessary to add corn starch. you can just mix the strawberry jam or any jam with a bit of water and simmer on a low flame. then spread this jam icing on the cake. you can even sprinkle some desiccated coconut flakes on top. it tastes yum.
Hi Mam, just done your this recipe of eggless cake and it came out best in the first attempt.
thanks suchita for the rating as well as the feedback on the vanilla cake recipe. glad to know.
In the ingredients you have mentioned baking powder and in the method you have said baking soda.Is it OK to use any?
i have used both baking powder and baking soda in the recipe. both are mentioned in the ingredients and in the method. while sifting flour, baking powder is added. while mixing wet ingredients, baking soda is added.
What oil can we use for baking?
sunflower oil as its a neutral flavored oil.
Hiiii like many others I am also a great fan of yours. .. I followed this recipe, have two queries –
1. The cake had cracks on the top. What could be the reason for that?
2. In one of the comments you have mentioned that the recipe cannot be doubled. I read the reason you have put but didn’t understand. Will be grateful if you can explain that please.
Thanks a ton in advance for your response
thanks ridhi
1. small fine cracks can be accepted in a cake, but it should not be deep cracks. if the oven is too hot then the cake cracks. so you can reduce the temperature of the oven by 10 to 15 degress less. also if too much of leavening agent like baking soda or baking powder is used then the cake cracks. am incorrect pan size can also bring cracks in cake. uneven mixing of the batter can also crack a cake.
2. for any recipe, if it can be doubled has to be tested and tried. some baking recipes can be easily doubled or tripled, but not at all. in this recipe many ingredients are used for leavening the cake, so it may not yield good results if the cake is doubled.
This is the 1st time I made a cake without eggs, it’s really awesome, can you please share the process of making whipped cream, so that I can make a full proof birthday cake ????????
thanks sananda for the feedback. i will try to add the method of making whipped cream. have noted down in my recipe request list.
Hi Amit,
Can the cake be baked one day in advance. And if it can be, should it be stored in refrigerator.
When should the icing of jam glaze be applied- a day in advance or on the day of consumption. Are there any other points which i should keep note of if baking a day in advance.
Thank you
Neha
neha, the vanilla cake can be baked one day before. yes do store in the fridge. but keep in a covered box or dabba. icing of jam glaze is applied when the cake is cooled completely. you can even apply it the next day. apply just before you consume the cake.
Hi Amit.
Thanks for the recipe.
My first attempt to bake. This took around 45 minutes. The top and bottom bit seemed ok but the centre bit is too heavy and sticky. Please guide me what should I do to get it right.
Thanks
welcome meera. i guess the batter has been over mixed. over mixing or over doing the folding, forms gluten strands in the batter which can make the cake heavy and dense. there will be no softness and lightness in the texture. so whenever mixing or folding cake batters made without eggs, always mix or fold with light pressure and hands. do not mix too much. the batter should feel light and should have volume. if the batter looks very thick and like a liquids atta mixture with strands, then it has got mixed too much. hope this helps.