My foolproof Pound cake recipe is made with healthier whole wheat flour and Without Eggs. Here you’ll find video and step-by-step photos with easy instructions to make the best, tastiest eggless pound cake as a sweet snack or dessert.
About Pound Cake
Classic pound cake is made with a standard combination of one pound each of butter, flour, sugar and eggs.
For this eggless recipe I use sweetened condensed milk and my tried-and-true hot milk cake method: This includes whisking in hot melted butter and warm milk while making the batter.
Using the warm ingredients with the sweetened condensed milk mimics the rise you get making traditional cakes with eggs.
The result is a pound cake that is wonderfully tender and dense, with a silky and almost fluffy texture. It has a mildly sweet, slightly milky flavor that is irresistible – no frosting needed!
And while pound cakes are usually made with all-purpose flour, I prefer to use whole wheat flour in this recipe. The taste is a bit earthier, which I love, but is balanced by the sweetness of the condensed milk and sugar.
Furthermore, whole wheat flour is a healthier option than refined all purpose flour, so you can really enjoy this treat!
Baking has long been a passion of mine. I am particularly fond of eggless cakes made with whole wheat flour, which tend to be slightly healthier.
Getting the right rise and perfect texture without eggs can be a tad difficult if not done properly. Over the years I have tested and tried many different techniques, and can confidently say my eggless cake recipes are nearly foolproof to make and delicious to enjoy!
Some of my baking successes that are completely eggless and made with whole wheat flour include:
This eggless pound cake recipe is one of my favorite cakes to make for an afternoon snack or healthy(ish) dessert. The cake is easy to make in just an hour from scratch, and is so tasty that it doesn’t even need any icing or frosting!
How to make Pound Cake
Make the Batter
1. First grease a loaf pan measuring 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 inches with oil or butter. You can also use a round pan of 7 or 7.5 inches diameter. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit 15 minutes before you start baking.
For baking in the convection mode of the microwave oven, use 170 degrees celsius/330 degrees fahrenheit as the preheat temperature.
2. Sieve 1.5 cups whole wheat flour (180 grams), 1 teaspoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon baking soda in a plate or tray.
3. Place the sifted flour mixture aside.
4. Melt 200 grams unsalted butter in a pan on a low heat. The quantity in cups for the melted unsalted butter is ½ cup. The butter before melting can be cold or solid.
5. Once the butter has melted, remove the pan from the stovetop and place it on the countertop.
To the melted butter, add 200 grams sweetened condensed milk or about half a can of 14 oz/397 or 400 grams of condensed milk. The sweetened condensed milk can be cold or at room temperature.
6. With a wired whisk, stir and mix very well. You can also use a hand mixer or electric mixer to mix the liquid ingredients.
7. The whole mixture should be homogeneous and even.
8. Then add ½ cup warm milk. You can warm the milk in a small pan on the stovetop or in the microwave.
9. Next add ¼ cup sugar.
10. Begin to stir again with a wired whisk.
11. Stir till the sugar is dissolved completely. The warm milk helps in dissolving the sugar.
12. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or powder or scraped vanilla bean.
13. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
14. With a wired whisk mix lightly and with light hands. Avoid using too much pressure from your hand while mixing.
15. Mix evenly. After mixing, if there are tiny small lumps in the batter, then its fine. Don’t overdo the mixing or else the cake would become dense.
Bake Eggless Pound Cake
16. Pour batter in the prepared pan. Shake the pan lightly to even the batter.
17. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit till you see cracks from top and a golden color. If the top starts to get browned, then cover with foil or parchment paper and continue to bake.
After 20 minutes of baking, I covered the top with a foil and then continued to bake. In my oven, this pound cake gets browned faster from the top, so do cover the top after 15 or 20 minutes of baking.
It took me 50 minutes to bake this cake at 180 degrees celsius. Depending on the temperature conditions in your oven, it make take less or more time. The final check is a golden crust and a toothpick or wooden skewer coming out clean.
For baking pound cake in the convection mode of a microwave oven, use the temperature of 170 degrees Celsius/330 degrees Fahrenheit. Again the baking time will vary in the convection mode of your microwave oven.
Cooling and Serving
18. Place the loaf pan on a wire rack to cool. When the cake becomes warm or cools, remove it from the pan. Here’s a photo of the bottom of the cake.
19. Once cooled, serve the eggless pound cake with milk, tea, or coffee. You can also keep the cake covered in a box and refrigerate. This cake stays good for 4 to 5 days in the fridge. The recipe makes one loaf.
FAQs
Yes, you can use traditional all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour. Whole wheat pastry flour or the standard pastry flour also works well.
You can use unsweetened condensed milk instead of sweetened condensed milk. However, you then might need to add a bit more sugar. Taste as you prepare the batter, and adjust accordingly.
Alternatively, Khoya or evaporated milk solids can be used instead of condensed milk. If using khoya/mawa then add sugar to taste.
No. However, you can bake the cake in convection mode of microwave oven. Continue reading for steps.
You definitely want to use unsalted butter if you can. Salted butter can be used in a pinch, but it might change the flavor slightly.
I do not recommend substituting the butter with ghee or oil to make this eggless pound cake recipe.
It is essential that pound cake made without eggs include both baking soda and baking powder. You cannot substitute these and get a properly fluffy rise.
I’ve left out any flavorings in this recipe to make a classic pound cake. But you can certainly add spices or flavored extracts if you like! Try adding ingredients like cardamom powder or nutmeg powder, hazelnut or almond extract for a lovely taste.
The recipe as-is cannot be doubled successfully.
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Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour – 180 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla powder or extract or 1 scraped vanilla bean
- 200 grams Butter unsalted, melted or about ½ cup melted butter
- 200 grams sweetened condensed milk or half a can of 14 oz/397 or 400 grams of condensed milk
- ½ cup warm milk
- ¼ cup sugar – 40 grams
Instructions
Preparation
- First grease a loaf pan measuring 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 with oil or butter. You can also use a round pan of 7 or 7.5 inches diameter.
- Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes before you start baking.
- Use 170 degrees Celsius as the preheat temperature, if baking in the convection mode of the microwave oven.
Making batter
- Sieve whole wheat flour, baking powder and baking soda in a plate or tray. Keep aside.
- Melt butter in a pan.
- Once the butter has melted, place the pan on the countertop. To the melted butter, add sweetened condensed milk.
- With a wired whisk, stir and mix very well. The whole mixture should be homogeneous and even.
- Then add warm milk. You can warm the milk in a small pan on the stove top or in the microwave.
- Next add sugar and begin to stir with a wired whisk, till the sugar is dissolved completely.
- Add vanilla extract or powder or scraped vanilla bean.
- Add all sieved dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
- With a wired whisk mix lightly and with light hands. Don’t use pressure from your hands while mixing. Mix evenly. If there are tiny small lumps in the batter, then its fine.
- Pour the cake batter in the prepared pan.
Baking pound cake
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit till you see cracks from top and a golden color. If top crust starts to get browned, then cover with foil or parchment paper and continue to bake.
- It took me 50 minutes to bake this cake at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on the temperature conditions in your oven, it may take less or more time.
- The final check is a golden crust and a tooth pick or wooden skewer coming out clean.
- For baking in the convection mode of a microwave oven, use the temperature of 170 degrees Celsius. Again the baking time will vary in the convection mode of your microwave oven.
- Place the loaf pan to cool on a wired rack. When the cake becomes warm or cools, remove it from the pan.
- Slice and serve the pound cake with milk or tea or coffee. You can also keep the cake covered in a box and refrigerate.
- This cake stays good for 4 to 5 days in the fridge. The recipe makes one loaf.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This pound cake post from the archives, first published on February 2015 has been republished and updated on 12 November 2021.
If using maida how much quantity we should use? Do other ingredients differ in measurement?
you can use all the ingredients in the same proportion, except milk. maida does not absorb a lot of liquids like atta, so here the amount of milk required to make a medium consistency batter will be less. add 1/3 cup of milk.
Dear dassana
Ur site is awesome. M bit confused that can we use aluminium pot in microwave oven for cake
thanks pooja. if you use the convection mode of your microwave oven, then you can use aluminum pan. the convection mode works like the way an OTG works. but if you use the microwave mode, then please don’t use aluminium pot or bowl or pan. avoid aluminium, while using the microwave mode.
Dearest dassana,
Love your passion for healthy cooking. It’s just been 4 yrs since I’ve started cooking nd I love to try new dishes. I swear by ur site and I have introduced it to my sis and my in-laws.
I would love to bake but am not an owner of an oven. I diligently read ur eggless recipes and wish to make at least a few for my son.(5yrs). Can u pls advs me which all I can make in pressure cooker! Really sorry for the trouble!!
thank you much geetha. no issues 🙂
you can make the eggless banana bread as well as cake in the pressure cooker. you can even make the muffins. in fact all the muffins that i have posted can be made in the cooker. then you can also make mawa cake, this pound cake, mango cake, sponge cake, tutti frutti cake, gingerbread cake, orange cake, apple cake, vanilla cake, dates and walnut cake and plum cake. any recipe of a cake where the batter is of thick or medium consistency can be made in the pressure cooker. if the batter has thin consistency, then its difficult to cook it in the cooker. happy baking.
Why can’t we use refined oil?
richa, because pound cake is made with butter.
Hi dassana
I would call myself a bee that visits your blog to draw the honey called inspiration. I am a food blogger too and I blog at Homelyyaromas@blogspot.in. I invite you to be my guest anytime that suits you Dassana:).It was after coming across your whole wheat bakes that I started experimenting with ww flour baking with confidence.I should say It is so empowering and relieving to bake with ww flour.
Coming to this pound cake recipe why is baking soda used when there are no acidic ingredients present?any specific reason?
thanks for the offer and for your positive comment. baking soda need not be only used when there are no acidic ingredients involved. even when you use baking soda in recipes like above, baking soda does react with water or any wet ingredient like milk (which also has some water ratio) to give sodium hydroxide and carbonic acid. during baking, the carbonic acid splits to water and carbon dioxide, the latter which helps in rising of the cake. and when both baking soda and baking powder are used together then the leavening or rise is far more than what would have been if you would have just used one of them. i hope i have answered your query well.
Hi,
I came across your blog. You have interesting recipes collection. And it feels very nice that you use whole wheat flour for many of your recipes in place of maida. However I have a question. I like baking and have tried a couple of recipes. However whenever I bake the bottom of my cake’cookies get burnt/dark compared to the top of the cake/cookies ass I wait for the top of the cookies/cake to get golden color/properly cooked. I bake on the bake mode of my otg (I have noticed that in this mode only the bottom iron rod is on). How to bake uniformly as get results as you have in your pics. Please let me know where I am going wrong. Thanks
thanks. its due to the bottom iron heating element that the cakes are getting browned/burnt from bottom. also do not keep the pan/tray on the lower rack. keep on the center rack. use both the top and bottom heating elements for even baking. meaning both the elements should be heated. i keep both the elements on and keep the pan/tray in the center rack.
Hi Dassana, your recipe is a huge hit…it has become a staple in our home to bake for family and friends..tnku so much for this .I want to tell u that I HV had success by doubling the recipe and baking it in a bunt pan,I HV replaced sugar with powdered jaggery and added choc chips to the batter…this way I don’t feel guilty to feed my kids…eagarly waiting to try ur other recipes…keep posting !
thanks rashmi for your positive feedback and also for letting us know that recipe can be doubled also. i am sure this info will help other readers also.
do i need to turn on both upper and lower rods of otg and where should i place the cake
saurav, both upper and lower heating rods have to be turned on and place the cake in the center rack or in the second lower rack.
You have mentioned 200 gm or 1/2 cup butter. But 200 gm turns out to be much more than 1/2 cup – have you checked this? Which one is correct measurement?
200 grams is just the cold solid butter slab. in melted liquid form its 1/2 cup which is 125 ml. i have measured both the solid butter as well as the melted butter. use either. if you don’t have a weighing machine at home, then just melt some butter and measure it in a cup.
First of all a big big thanks to you. What seemed once a tedious task to bake cakes,has become now so precise and interesting job.I baked yours’ banana,dates n coffee cakes.All turned out so sooo good.Thanks again.I even tried a new one based on your dates,walnut coffee cake recipe; Figs,almond coffee cake. Turned out nice except the combo was not so delicious as per your’s original recipe.And i substitute all maida,sugar and butter with their healthy counterparts.Thanks for introducing me to healthy baking.My husband and me both are gym regulars so these recipes help a lot.
thank you bharti. nice to read your feedback. baking with healthy ingredients is not difficult. one just need to try and be patient. i do plan to add more healthy baking recipes, with an occasional maida cake in between 🙂
Yessss i baked your cakes all with fruit,honey,oil,whole wheat flour and gur sugar and sometimes sugar-free.Keep cooking and posting for us please.I am grateful to you,as i could bake at home for my family. I searched so much about atta cakes and breads at home and finally found your blog.Thanks
thanks bharti for your kind words and encouraging feedback.
hello mam,
what standard measurements do you use.
1oz = 30ml
1 cup = 250 ml = 8.45 oz
Can we use aluminium pan in microwave oven
priti, only if it is baking safe and meant for baking. ask the shopkeeper when you buy.
What size of round tin would you recommend for baking this cake? I have 6,7 and 8 inch round tins.
Regards,
Nivedita
nivedita, you can use 8 inch round pan.
Hi dassana can u please give me the recipe of how to make chocolate icing for covering sponge cake
niraj, there is a fudge icing which i will add soon.
Thanks..eagerly waiting for the icing recipe 🙂
welcome niraj
I tried this cake and it rose beautifully, except that the atta taste was quite overbearing. Is there any way to mask that? I have a whole bag of whole wheat flour that’s lying unused, are there any more recipes using whole wheat flour that you would suggest?
priyanka, the atta taste depends upon on the quality of atta. if you add cardamom powder then the taste will not be felt so much. you can make calzone, whole wheat pizza, naan, bread, apple pie from atta. the recipes are posted on the blog.