This easy wheat cake recipe is eggless and made with deliciously hearty whole wheat flour. Also known as atta cake, it is simple to make this recipe with only a handful of ingredients and is great for enjoying plain or with nearly any sweet spread or frosting.
Table of Contents
Why this Recipe Works
There are several good eggless sponge Cake Recipes out there that use alternative ingredients to create a tender, moist cake.
Many require ingredients like curd (yogurt), apple sauce, aquafaba, or other fruit/bean/nut purees. But I wanted to make something special that is particularly fluffy and just as soft as any cake made with eggs.
After several trials and failures, I finally developed this perfect wheat cake recipe using whole wheat flour and sweetened condensed milk.
The canned sweetened condensed milk makes the best cake texture! It creates a sponge that is moist and sweet, not too crumbly and light enough to enjoy anytime as a snack or dessert.
The same basic recipe is used to make this effortless Pressure Cooker Cake and also my favorite Carrot Cake.
Why whole wheat flour is good for baking cakes?
Because of the wheat flour this cake has a lovely, slightly earthy and almost nutty flavor that helps cut the sweetness of the condensed milk. But not only is whole wheat flour (also known as wholemeal flour) delicious for baking, it’s slightly healthier for you, too!
Although there isn’t much of a calorie difference versus all-purpose flour, wheat flour has a lot more vitamins and fiber. So you can feel good about eating this wheat cake filled with nutrients.
Note: I have used organic chakki (flour mill) ground whole wheat flour in the recipe, the same flour or atta I use for making Roti. Feel free to use whatever brand or type of wheat flour you prefer.
The atta cake recipe makes one small 6×6″ cake, which is enough for about 8 servings.
How to make Wheat Cake
Preparation
1. Start by greasing a 6×6″ square pan (or a 5 to 6″ round pan) with softened unsalted butter. Let the oven preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes while you prepare the cake batter.
2. Over a mixing bowl or pan add 1 cup of whole wheat flour (120 grams) and ½ a teaspoon of baking powder.
TIP: As baking powder is the only leavening ingredient used in the recipe, make sure it is fresh and active.
NOTE: For this recipe, I have used a measuring cup of 250 ml, but a 240 ml measuring cup also works fine.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder together into the bowl.
4. Now add ½ cup of sweetened condensed milk (125 ml or 4 oz).
5. Add either 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon of vanilla essence.
6. Do not mix the ingredients together just yet. Set the bowl aside while you prepare the butter solution for the wheat cake batter.
Making butter solution
7. In another small skillet, add 6 tablespoons (80 grams) of butter and ½ cup of water (125 ml).
8. Then add 4 tablespoons of sugar.
9. Melt butter on the stovetop over low heat.
10. Stir occasionally to combine the melted sugar and butter.
11. Increase the stovetop heat slightly so that the mixture comes to a boil.
12. Immediately remove the hot butter and sugar mixture from the stove and pour it into the bowl with your dry ingredients.
Preparing whole wheat cake batter
13. With a wired whisk, begin to mix lightly.
14. Work gently and be sure that you do not over mix the batter. Because it is an eggless cake you want to keep as much air as possible in the mixture to allow a proper rise. This batter should be medium consistency, neither thin nor thick.
Depending on the wheat flour used you might need to add a splash of hot water if the batter becomes too thick. I recommend that you keep a ¼ to ⅓ of a cup of hot water nearby when making this recipe, just in case.
15. It is ok if your batter has small lumps. Leave them and do not mix the batter too much. To check the consistency of the batter, do check the video above or in the recipe card below.
Baking Wheat Cake
16. Next, pour the batter into the greased pan.
17. Give the pan a gentle shake and a light tap on the sides to settle any large air bubbles.
18. Place the pan in the preheated oven. Bake the wheat cake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 45 minutes to 1 hour. As oven temperatures vary you want to keep an eye on it after 30 minutes or so. But do not open the door until the cake is ¾ of the way done!
19. When done the top of the cake will be a lovely golden brown, and a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
Serving suggestions
20. Let the wheat cake cool for several minutes, then turn it out from the pan and onto a cooling rack. It needs to cool completely before you slice or coat with frosting and serve.
Cut the eggless wheat cake into neat slices and enjoy as it is with milk, tea, or coffee. Or make your favorite frosting (chocolate, whipped cream, buttercream) and layer it on the atta cake. Allow the frosting to set by refrigerating the cake. Later slice and serve.
Storage
First, transfer the cooled cake to a box. In cooler climates, the cake can be kept at room temperature for 1 to 2 days. In warmer or hotter climates, refrigerate the cake immediately. This atta cake stays good for about a week in the fridge.
Expert Tips
Ingredient Notes and Swaps
- Flour: My recipe is for a whole wheat cake. But you can make this wheat cake recipe with all-purpose flour as well as pastry flour.
- Butter: While I usually prefer unsalted butter in my baking recipes, but if you do not have it, then make the cake with salted butter too.
- Fats: If you do not prefer butter, include 4 to 5 tablespoons of oil. Use a neutral-flavored oil like sunflower oil. If you like ghee flavored goodies, then replace butter with 80 grams of ghee in this wheat cake recipe.
- Sweetened condensed milk: You could include sweetened condensed milk from any brand. Evaporated milk works as a substitute for condensed milk – simply add ½ cup sugar in the step where you make the butter and water solution. The sugar must be completely dissolved.
Recipe Notes
- Scaling: Make a large cake easily by doubling this recipe. If you plan to make a layered frosted cake for birthdays, then I recommend baking the cake in two pans.
- Baking: No two ovens have the same temperature. While baking, it will take less or more time to bake this atta cake – this depends on your oven size and type. Usually, convection ovens bake faster. Consider a time period of 30 minutes to 1 hour for baking this cake.
- Batter consistency: The batter has a medium flowing consistency. If your batter looks thick, add ¼ to ½ cup hot water to loosen it.
FAQs
Yes! These are the same ingredients, just with two different names.
Enjoy eggless wheat cake plain for a scrumptious snack. Or top with frosting or icing, serve with butter and preserves, or drizzle with a chocolate ganache or melted peanut butter for a sweet dessert treat. It is delicious with a cup of tea or coffee, too!
Yes, you can use wheat flour instead of all-purpose when making cakes or cookies. However, keep in mind that cakes made with wheat flour have a nutty taste and can verge on being dense, if you overwork the batter. The substitution may not work well depending on the recipe and other ingredients in it. If you are worried about the texture, then I suggest to include equal proportions of both all-purpose flour and wheat flour.
Yes, you can! To check how it is done, do check my detailed recipe post on Pressure Cooker Cake.
More Whole Wheat Cakes For You!
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Wheat Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour or 120 grams
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Wet ingredients
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk or 125 ml
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
For butter solution
- 80 grams unsalted butter or about ⅓ cup heaped chilled butter cubes. you can also use salted butter
- ½ cup water or 125 ml
- 4 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
Preparation
- Grease a 6×6 inches square pan with softened butter. You can also use a 5 to 6 inches round pan.
- In a seive, take the whole wheat flour and baking powder. Keep the sieve on top of a mixing bowl or pan.
- Sift both the dry ingredients. Preheat yout oven to 180 degrees celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes.
- Add sweetened condensed milk to the sifted flour.
- Add vanilla extract.
- Do not mix. Simply set aside.
Making butter solution
- In another small frying pan or skillet, take unsalted butter, water and sugar.
- Keep the pan on a stovetop and on a low flame heat this mixture.
- The butter will melt initially. Do stir occasionally.
- Bring this mixture to a boil.
- Once the mixture comes to a boil, then remove the pan and pour the entire boiling hot mixture in to the flour mixture.
Making whole wheat cake batter
- With a wired whisk, begin to mix lightly.
- Mix with light pressure, so that over mixing does not happen.
- Mix to a smooth batter. If there are small tiny lumps, then let it be. Do not over mix.
- Now pour the cake batter in the greased cake pan.
- Gently shake the pan or tap the sides.
Baking wheat cake
- Place the pan in a preheated oven. Bake at 180 degrees celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Oven temperatures are not same everywhere, so while baking do keep a check. Keep a time span of 30 minutes to 1 hour for baking this cake. You can check after 30 minutes if the cake is done or not.
- Also please do not open the oven door until ¾ of the cake is done.
- The top should be golden and when you insert a tooth pick or wooden skewer in the atta cake, it should come out clean.
- Let the wheat cake cool completely, before you serve it.
Serving suggestions
- Slice and serve wheat cake as it is with milk, tea or coffee. You can also enjoy it as a sweet snack.
- Or you can spread your favorite frosting (chocolate, whipped cream, buttercream) on the cake. Allow the frosting to set by refrigerating the cake. Later slice and serve.
Storage
- First, transfer the cooled cake to a box. In cooler climates, the cake can be kept at room temperature for 1 to 2 days.
- In warmer or hotter climates, refrigerate the cake immediately. This cake stays good for about a week in the fridge.
Video
Notes
Ingredient Notes and Swaps
- Flour: You can make this wheat cake recipe with all-purpose flour as well as pastry flour.
- Butter: While I usually prefer unsalted butter in my baking recipes, but if you do not have it, then make the cake with salted butter.
- Fats: If you do not prefer butter, then add 4 to 5 tablespoons of oil. Use a neutral-flavored oil like sunflower oil. You can also replace butter with 80 grams of ghee.
- Sweetened condensed milk: You could include sweetened condensed milk from any brand. Evaporated milk works as a substitute for condensed milk – simply add ½ cup sugar in the step where you make the butter and water solution. The sugar must be completely dissolved.
Recipe Notes
- Measuring cup: For this recipe, I have used a measuring cup of 250 ml, but a 240 ml measuring cup also works fine.
- Scaling: Make a large cake easily by doubling this recipe. If you plan to make a layered frosted cake for birthdays, then I suggest baking the cake in two pans.
- Baking: No two ovens have the same temperature. While baking, it will take less or more time to bake this cake – this depends on your oven size and type. Usually, convection ovens bake faster. Consider a time period of 30 minutes to 1 hour for baking this whole wheat cake.
- Batter consistency: The batter has a medium flowing consistency. If your batter looks thick, add ¼ to ½ cup of hot water to loosen it.
- Note that the approximate nutrition info is for 1 slice of wheat cake.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This whole wheat cake post from the archives (September 2016) has been republished and updated on 23 January 2021.
Hi Dassana,
Can I bake this cake using pressure cooker like sponge cake?
Gloria, yes you can bake it.
Hi…
I want to know if I can add dessicated coconut to it? If yes..can u plz guide about the propotions?
you can add desiccated coconut. add 2 to 3 tablespoons.
Thanks 🙂
I tried ur recipe today..widout coconut…n it came out WOW…
welcome vini. glad to know this. thanks for letting me know.
Can I replace butter with oil??
you can use oil.
Thank you very much dassana?will try to bake it at 150.bcz last time i baked it at 160.but still there ws same problem.so dis time i will bake it at lower temp
welcome preet. do let me know the results whenever you have time.
Hi!!!i m a huge fan of urs.i tried ur a lot of recipes and every recipe turned out so gud.thankew very much for sharing ur wonderful recipes.
My problem is with baking.i mean whenever i bake a cake,it doesnt come out as it should b.like i bake cake exactly as u say.same proportions of ingredients,same temp,same utensils.but still when i bake,outer crust becomes hard,and from inside it remains uncook.wether its maida cake or whole wheat cake.i dont know whr i go wrong?pls pls pls pls help.as my kids really lv cakes
preet, try baking at a low temp. meaning if a recipe mention 180 degrees celsius, then bake at 160 to 165 degrees celsius. could be that the temperature in the oven which you are using is high. so the sides gets done whereas the centre is undone. also keep both the top and bottom heating elements on if using an OTG and keep in the centre rack of the oven.
Hi Dassana.. I tried this recipe the convection oven.. I preheated the oven n baked the cake for 30Mins though the toothpick came out clean wen I inverted the cake the last layer was not baked and the top layer became crusty n cracked.. what wud u suggest so that it doesn’t crack n cooks well next time? Thanks in advance.
yamini, looks like in your oven the heat is coming from the top and not the bottom. thats why the bottom layer has not baked. did you use a metal pan or a glass pan for baking? let me know.
while baking in a convection oven where the heating element is on the top, its better to use a metal pan as glass is not a good conductor of heat. also do not keep the pan very close to the top heating element. another thing you can do is cover the pan with an aluminium foil right from the beginning, so that the top does not get over baked. while checking the doneness, the toothpick has to be inserted till the bottom of the pan and always check in the center. usually the sides get baked faster, but the center takes some time. hope these suggestions help.
Hi Dassana,
Can you please tell me how big the cake will be?
I mean in KGs/serving portions. I am planning on making this for our anniversary, but i only have 16L OTG, so not sure if this will bake properly.
Also, i tried your butter cookies yesterday, they turned out really well. Thanks!
Sowmya
i did not weigh the cake. but i guess it will be around 250 to 300 grams. not more than this. i used to have a 18 litre oven and i would bake larger cakes in it. even at times cake weighing 1 kilo. so i think you can make this cake in the 16 litre oven too. keep in the center rack. half way through the baking, cover the pan with a foil, so that the cake does not get too browned from top.
thanks for the feedback on the butter cookies. nice to know.
Hi dassana,
Can I do regular icing on the cake?
And also can i sprinkle sugar solution on cake?
you can do any icing on this cake. you can also sprinkle sugar solution.
All your cake recipes are coming out real good, and am trying new ones all the time. Thanks. I would like to know if I can replace brown sugar with the regular one? Is there an option to avoid the sugar and replace with something else?
thanks jagruthi for the feedback on the cake recipes. you can use brown sugar. brown sugar has more moisture than white sugar, so you can consider reducing the liquids by a few teaspoons in the recipe. you can also use jaggery. but with jaggery, the taste changes. another option is to use unrefined cane sugar. this is what i use in all the cake recipes. since its not unrefined its a better option than refined sugar.
Dassana, I baked my cake and it was gummy, what went wrong
did you bake in convection mode of microwave oven or in a regular oven or OTG?
Can the recipe b doubled….n can it b used in cup cake moulds….
shubha, i am not sure about doubling the recipe as i do not know if the cake would still turn out good. you can use in cup cake moulds.
I prepared Palak Paneer, and it was really good with accurate time taken. Thanks.
thanks for this feedback DSP.
Thank you much Dassana Ji I would keep this in mind. Also just for an idea can we do the chocolate frosting on this cake? The kind you have done in the eggless chocolate cake at the end so as to also give a little chocolaty flavour or to use it in trifle pudding ??
welcome amandeep. yes you can do a chocolate frosting on this cake. you can also use it in trifle pudding.
Hello Dassana Ji , I tried out this cake and it turned out well . But I have two questions. One the battar after adding the boiling mix was very gluey or thick. I added a little more hot water . And due to this my second question is my cake dint have the crumbley , holes kind of look that your cake shows in the picture. So what should be done the next time?
amandeep, depending on the quality of flour, less or more water needs to be added. its good you added more hot water, but i feel some more hot water was required. the batter is medium consistency. and if the batter is mixed too much, it will become dense with no porousness in the cake texture. for the next time, i would suggest adding overall 2/3rd to 3/4th cup water.
yes please do give a try.. may it come out good..
will do and i wish myself all the best this time 🙂
Hi Dassana.. can you please share some… swiss roll cakes recipe?? ☺
avish, i tried eggless swiss roll three to four times, but the only issue comes while rolling. the swiss roll would break while rolling. till now i have tried recipes without condensed milk. so will give a try with condensed milk. hopefully should work out.