As a teenager growing up in my parent’s home, I remember our kitchen always being stacked with a variety of West Indian bakery goods. We usually purchased our bakery goods, but every once in a while, my mother would get into a baking mood and when she did, the house would begin to smell like heaven! She’d make all sorts of goodies from Cheese Rolls to Cassava Pone to Salara, you name it, she made it.
However during Hindu holidays, when we would abstain from eating any eggs or meat, she would make a very unusual type of cake, an eggless cake. I say unusual because it had a unique taste and texture, and also looked differently than her regular sponge cake did, which had more of a yellow tint to it. Because I have received many emails for an eggless cake recipe, I want to share this recipe with you as it has become a favorite treat of mine, so here you are my friends, please enjoy!
As a young and aspiring cook, many times I wondered how the eggless cake was always able to “swell” without any actual eggs in the batter, I mean, after all, eggs are what makes the cake rise right? Of course, you know I am going to say no here. If you have never baked a cake before or would like to understand the anatomy of a cake, take a look at the explanation below on the role each major ingredient plays in a cake batter and you will hopefully understand why the eggs are not the ingredients responsible for making your cake rise!
Eggless Cake
Eggless Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 can condensed milk (14oz)
- ⅔ cup melted butter
- 2 tablespoon granulated white sugar
- ¾ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ lemon zest (not pictured)
- ¼ orange zest (not pictured)
Instructions
- Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg, set aside
- Melt butter in the microwave and gently add condensed milk until smooth. Add 2 tablespoon of white sugar
- Add dry ingredients and sugar to milk mixture
- Add water and vanilla and stir until well blended. Add lemon and orange zest and mix slightly
- Pour in a greased and floured 9" square or round pan
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until tester comes out clean
Notes
Any nuts or dried fruit can be added to this mixture towards the end before pouring into pan.
Priya Tiwari says
I tried this recipie over the holidays and it came out great. The cake was so deliious it really reminded me of the regular guyanese sponge cake. Now that I am allergic to eggs I am trying to find as many recipies w/o eggs and, this was a success. I can finally have my sponge cake with a glass of cream soda. Thank you for sharing!
Diep says
My son is allergic to eggs, so I was trying to find a recipe that allowed me to make him a birthday cake that he could eat. I modified the recipe to make it a coffee chocolate chip cake. I omitted the zests in the recipe, and instead, I added 1 tsp of instant coffee in the 3/4 warm water (I let it cool before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients). When I mixed all the ingredients, I added chocolate chips. I poured in a 8×8 pan, and it turned out very nice; it was moist, light, and very tasty. This recipe is a keeper!
AugandCalsmom says
I just HAD to say that I made this cake gluten free and it turned out wonderfully!!! I am sensitive to eggs and gluten so I needed an egg free recipe for a cake for my birthday. I wasn't sure the gluten free flour would work, but I subbed the regular flour in this recipe with the same amount of gluten free flour from Trader Joe's plus 1 tsp of xanthan gum (1/2 tsp for every cup of flour the recipe calls for…this is the amount recommended for cakes). Because I was looking for a cake to do with a sugarless home whipped cream and strawberries, I didn't want much spice, so I halved it, left out the lemon zest (didn't have it on hand) and used halved the orange (used mandarin) zest. I increased the vanilla an extra 1/2 tsp to really play up the vanilla. It was perfect. It was denser than usual cakes as described for the non-gluten free version, and I'm sure it would make an awesome full spiced cake. I couldn't tell it was eggless or gluten free. Cut the cake in half after it cools and put whipped cream and strawberries in the middle and on top, that's what I did! I also practiced a 1/3 size of the recipe for cupcakes before using the recipe for a full cake, and if you want those (would make an awesome spiced breakfast muffin) just follow the recipe cutting the baking time in half. Thanks so much!!! I was so satisfied with this cake 🙂
Jennifer says
I really liked the way this cake tasted. It tastes kind of like a snickerdoodle. I found that it was very dense, however. Next time, I might try some cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. Do you have any other ideas to lighten it up? Thank you for the recipe.
desi_girl says
Thank you for posting this cake recipe! It's been so helpful for all the vegetarian cakes I've had to bake for family birthday parties. I modified it by adding crushed pineapple with the pineapple juice instead of water and it turns out wonderfully. I also ice with whip cream frosting and fruit and it's a big hit! Another variation that worked really nice was to top with strudel mixture to make it like coffee cake. Very versatile!
Nicola Phillips says
hi do i have to use condensed milk?
Diane Dyal says
Thank you for sharing this recipe…I tried it and the cake came out absolutely amazing….light and fluffy and delicious!
Diane Dyal says
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I tried it and the cake came out amazing…light, fluffy and delicious!
Diane Dyal says
Thank you for sharing this recipe…I tried it and the cake came out absolutely amazing….light and fluffy and delicious!
Savita says
I try this cake today seeing its diwali. It came out good