Egg Free Vanilla Cake

This Egg Free Vanilla Cake is buttery, rich, moist, and perfect for a layered cake. It’s an easy recipe using pantry friendly ingredients.

*This is an updated recipe of my Eggless Vanilla Sponge. This one is richer, buttery, and has more structure which makes it perfect for layering*

Egg Free Vanilla Cake

Aside from my mum, the rest of my family eat eggs. So over the years I’ve spent a lot of time practicing both types of cakes to ensure my eggless cakes were on par with the egg based counterparts.

This egg free vanilla cake is my go-to for all situations. It has rich buttery flavour, which a lot of egg free cakes tend to lack. It’s also incredibly soft and moist whilst having the perfect amount of structure to withstand the weight of layering.

This recipe is easy to make and produces a perfectly golden eggless vanilla cake that hits the mark on flavour, moisture, structure, and mouth-feel.

How does eggless baking work?

Whenever I develop an egg free recipe, I’m replacing the function of the egg in various ways. This is why I don’t believe there can ever be one ingredient to replace an egg because it honestly has so many different functions.

In a standard egg based vanilla cake, the eggs will provide structure, richness, flavour, browning, and moisture. They are also the key to a well emulsified batter. In foam based cakes, it’ll also provide the leavening.

In this recipe specifically, we’re using a combination of oil, milk, skimmed milk powder, and 5% fat yogurt to replace some of these functions. From these ingredients we’ll get moisture, flavour, browning, structure, and emulsification of the batter.

This Egg Free Cake is NOT dry

This recipe is not dry, and it’s also not stodgy. These are common pitfalls with egg free cakes because they lack a huge structural and textural ingredient. That’s why it’s even more important for precision here, which is why I only provide recipes in gram measurements.

The balance of structural ingredients and tenderising ingredients will largely determine the final texture. With this recipe, we have enough fat to add richness and moisture, without impacting the texture. Using a combination of oil and butter is key as oil stays liquid at room temperature, and this is what provides the moisture.

This Egg Free Vanilla Cake has TWO key ingredients

5% Fat Greek Yogurt:

• This adds richness and flavour from the fat content
• It also adds structure due to the protein content
• The yogurt also aids in emulsifying the batter

Skimmed Milk Powder:

• The skimmed milk powder will add flavour and help with browning due to the milk solids
• They will also help with structure due to the milk proteins
• Also useful for emulsifying the batter
• Has little fat content in comparison to full fat milk powder which is ideal here. Adding too much fat will ‘weigh’ down the cake batter, leading to a dense cake and a collapsed internal structure

How to get flat egg free vanilla cakes perfect for layering

This recipe does bake up fairly flat on its own, however ovens can vary as well as a whole host of other factors. I personally don’t like trimming cakes, so I tend to use cake strips to ensure an even bake. These strips are soaked in water before being wrapped around the baking tin.

Cake strips provide a more gradual increase in temperature around the outside of the tin, which prevents the side of the cake from baking too quickly. This allows the sides to continue rising for a more flat cake. Doming tends to happen when the sides of the cake bake too quickly whilst the centre is still rising.

Let’s talk about some of the ingredients

I’ll cover the main ones below but the full recipe can be found at the end

• Plain flour/all purpose flour – I prefer cake flour for my egg-based cakes, but the extra gluten in plain/AP flour provides some necessary structure in egg free baking
• Baking powder – this will be the chemical leaving agent. Note: this is not baking soda/bicarbonate of soda which is just a base and requires an acid activator. Baking powder already contains the base and acid pre-mixed
• 5% Fat Greek Yogurt – see above for more information
• Skimmed milk powder – see above for more information
• Whole milk – this provides flavour, richness, and fat

The KEY tips for making this Egg Free Vanilla Cake

1. Use skimmed milk powder and not full fat milk powder – adding too much fat will ‘weigh’ down the cake and cause the internal structure to collapse. This will lead to a dense and stodgy cake
2. Whisk the ingredients together very well – especially after adding in the yogurt and milk powder. You want the batter to be smooth and emulsified
3. Wrap the cake in clingwrap whilst still slightly warm – then pop the cake into the fridge for at least 2-3hours. This will trap the last bit of steam inside the cake, allowing it to retain extra moisture

How to make this eggless vanilla cake

The images below show how to make one layer but the full recipe at the end is for two 8″ layers

1+2) Start by adding the melted butter, oil, sugar, and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Then, add in the 5% fat yogurt and the milk powder

3+4) Whisk the mixture together very well, it will initially look split and curdled but will slowly come together as it emulsifies. It should look smooth and feel slightly thick

5+6) Next, pour in the milk and whisk well once again

7+8) Sift in all the dry ingredients (the flour, baking powder, and salt). And whisk once again until incorporated

9) The batter should look fairly smooth with a thick flowable consistency

10) Pour the batter into an 8″ greased and lined tin from a slight height, this will help to remove any large air bubbles. Then give the tin a little shake and a gentle tap to level the batter and remove any more air bubbles

11) Place the cake batter into a preheated oven, the times and temperatures are in the recipe below. I’m using cake strips which helps to achieve a completely flat bake. This is ideal for layering if you’re not a fan of trimming cakes

12)Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely. OR for my preferred method of choice. Cool for another 15-20 minutes, and whilst still slightly warm to the touch, wrap in clingwrap and place into the fridge for another 2-3 hours. This will trap the last bit of steam inside the cake to add in extra moisture

Frequently Asked Questions

Can this egg free vanilla cake be made vegan?

It should technically work with a plant based butter block, a soy based yogurt, coconut milk powder, and soya milk. However, this is not something I’ve tested as of yet. I’ll update this section in the future once tested.

Can any other type of yogurt be used?

I’ve found the 5% yogurt to lend the best results, quite drastically actually. Some 0% yogurts or natural yogurts can be slightly too acidic, which in my experience impacted the browning and also led to a small premature reaction with the baking powder before the cake reached the oven.

If you enjoyed this recipe

Please do let me know! Leave a review and a rating below, I’d love to know how you got on.

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Until then, happy baking!