Delicious egg-free chocolate cake!

[CasaBevron]

My mum gave me this recipe which she found in Good Housekeeping magazine a couple of months ago. I made it for DS's birthday this weekend (egg and tree nut allergic) and it went down a storm! I've had mixed results with egg-free baking so far, but this was really moist and tasty and I'll definitely be making it again.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

75ml vegetable oil
125g caster sugar
175g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
3/4 of a tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/4 of a tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cider vinegar
200ml milk

for the icing:

300g full-fat cream cheese
2tbsp cocoa powder
125g icing sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (160 fan) and line two 18 inch cake tins

Sift the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, bicarb and baking powder into a bowl

In a separate bowl, mix the oil, vanilla extract, cider vinegar and milk together

Combine the two bowls and whisk together. Don't worry if the mixture seems quite liquid

Bake for approx 40 mins

For the icing, cream the first three ingredients together and then add the maple syrup. Spread between the two cakes and sandwich together before icing the top.

Keeps in the fridge in an airtight container for up to three days.


I missed out the vanilla extract as my ancient bottle of the stuff had a nut warning so it went straight in the bin! It didn't seem to have a negative effect on the taste, however. I also chickened out of making the icing as I could not find an icing sugar that didn't say 'may contain traces of egg' and I'm not brave enough to give it to DS. I used a couple of tubs of the new chocolate Philadelphia which worked really well. It doesn't sound as though chocolately cheese should taste nice, but it was delicious!

I don't see why you couldn't make the cake dairy free too if you used a milk substitute. I'm going to try to use it for individual cupcakes next. Highly recommended!

[mumat39]

Casa, that sounds yummy. I might have to try and make it with GF/WF flour.

We use Tate & Lyle Icing sugar as they don't mention egg on the pack. We also use their granulated and caster sugar. I remember looking at Silver Spoon but they seem to mention egg on most of their sugars so we avoid that brand.

Can I ask, which cocoa powder do you buy? We have to avoid the same things as you plus quite a few others and I'm never sure about cocoa powder and whether there are any that are safe.

Chocolate Philly sounds interesting. Did you use it on top of the cake or in it? Just wondering if it spreads easily?

Thanks again for the recipe.

[CasaBevron]

Thanks for the icing sugar tip, will look out for the Tate and Lyle.

I use Tesco own brand cocoa powder. I know some folk don't like their 'cannot guarantee...' nut warning, but I do use the 'no nuts in factory/recipe' stuff as I can't see that it's anything other than an arse-covering get-out and the same as no nut warning anywhere else. We haven't had a problem yet...

I spread the Philadelphia between the two cakes as well as on top, it worked fine. I'm not sure what your dc has to avoid but the ingredients are listed here if that helps?

[londonmum123]

Thanks CasaBevron. I saw this recipe in GH but DD can't have milk and I thought the icing sounded like the best part! What was the cake like? I do have a few dairy/egg/nut free chocolate cake recipes but always like to expand the repertoire.

I made this: Carrot Cake with orgran egg replacer this weekend - huge success, DD loved it (and so did I...).

[CasaBevron]

The cake itself was surprisingly moist. I think next time I make it I will maybe cook it for five minutes less as it did get a tiny bit crispy round the edges, but we have a superduper fancy fan oven so I tend to have to adjust the cooking times down a little anyway. To be honest, I usually try to make stuff like flapjacks, that don't need eggs in the first place - I just don't think it's possible to replace them and achieve the same texture and taste, but I really miss cake! This is definitely the best I have tried yet.

[CasaBevron]

Meant to ask - where do you buy orgran? I have never tried baking with it as I have read that it can produce really mixed results. Do you find that you have to do a lot of experimentation to find out which recipes work best?

[ChippingInNeedsCoffee]

Thank you :)

I don't eat/buy/use eggs - so always looking for a good egg free recipe!

[kennythekangaroo]

The egg thing i icing sugar is only because it's made in the same factory as their royal icing sugar. I'm really badly allergic to egg and I use it ok.

[CasaBevron]

Thanks kenny, that's useful to know. I do give him stuff like the Organix snacks that say they are made in the same factory as egg products but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to use the icing sugar .

[londonmum123]

Yes, I miss cake too hence my current spate of baking.

I usually use the recipes: here which are just fab and very simple. The carrot cake was the first time I used egg replacer and it worked a treat. I bought it online in the vegan store but you might be able to get it in health food shops. I'd read mixed reviews but thought I'd give it a whirl.

Hmm, now craving chocolate cake..

[CasaBevron]

mumat39 - ref cocoa powder, just been to the shop and spotted that Bourneville cocoa has a big banner across the top of the container telling you that the allergen info has changed. The ingredients list just says 'cocoa' and then there is a 'may contain milk' below. I don't know what the info was before so I don't know if the 'may contain' is new or if some potential allergens have been removed from the list, but could this be one to add to the list of possibles?