Create a soft chocolatey moist cake with this One bowl chocolate cake recipe. No eggs, butter, dairy or stand mixers needed. With just one bowl, a whisk and a few basic ingredients you can create an amazing chocolate cake delight.
There are many spins on the classic chocolate cake, but I doubt I will ever find one that is as easy, quick delicious and budget-friendly
The best part is that this is the most forgiving, flop proof cake I have ever made.
Just a note on a few ingredients and substitutes if needed
While I've included the full printable recipe below, this is the section to read if you’re wondering about ingredient substitutions or how these ingredients work in the recipe.
Flour: I use cake flour for this recipe. However, if you cannot get cake flour in the country in which you live, then you can use all-purpose flour.
Sugar: White granulated sugar is used for these cookies.
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Baking soda (Bicarbonate of soda): Extra salt or baking soda can ruin otherwise perfect cakes and cookies. Scoop the baking soda into the spoon until it’s full, leveling off the spoon with the straight edge of a spatula or knife.
Vinegar: Usually, eggs act as a leavening agent helping the cake to rise. However, for this cake baking soda/bicarbonate of soda serves as the leavening agent.
Bicarbonate of soda is an alkali which needs an acid to react with, which in most cake recipes is buttermilk or sour cream. Since this cake does not contain any dairy, vinegar is as the acid instead.
These two ingredients work together, creating a soft texture. There is no taste of the vinegar in the baked cake at all.
Oil: Use a neutral-flavoured oil like canola or sunflower oil
Salt
Vanilla extract
Making the one bowl chocolate cake
While the video and the full printable recipe are written below, this is the process with step-by-step pictures to guide you.
- Add dry ingredients into a large bowl: Add flour, sugar, baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), salt and cocoa powder into a large bowl. Whisk well until combined.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Pour the vanilla extract, vinegar, warm water and oil into the dry ingredients and mix well until combined.
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Bake: Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
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Cool: Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before frosting if preferred.
Chocolate Ganache (Optional)
Add dark chocolate pieces to warm cream. Allow the chocolate to soften in the cream for about 5 minutes before stirring.
The ganache thickens as it cools. You can pour the ganache onto the cooled cake or allow it to thicken to the desired consistency before spreading it onto the cooled cake.
Toppings and frosting ideas
These can be as simple or elaborate as you like. Depending on the occasion or your mood (mine is always for chocolate 🙂 have fun with the topping. Here are the best toppings I have used in my recipes if you would like to give it a try:
Use your favourite frosting to decorate the cake. It can be as simple as a dusting of powdered sugar or as elaborate topped with a rich buttercream frosting which I used on my recipe for condensed milk lemon cake
- Top with a simple dusting of powdered sugar
- Frost with piped or spread with my favourite chocolate buttercream
- Try my delicious stabilized 3 ingredient whipped cream frosting (without gelatin) and top with seasonal fruit
- Cover with chocolate ganache.
Enjoy ♥
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out my other amazing cake recipes
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One Bowl Chocolate Cake ( No eggs, No butter)
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1 ½ cup All-Purpose Flour or Cake Flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ level teaspoon baking soda / bicarbonate of soda
WET INGREDIENTS
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- ⅓ cup oil canola or sunflower
- 1 cup warm water
CHOCOLATE GANACHE ( OPTIONAL)
- 1 ½ cups chocolate broken into pieces
- ½ cup warm whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 180℃/350℉ (160℃ fan) Lightly grease and line an 8 inch / 20cm square or round pan.
- Whisk the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Add in the wet ingredients: Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.
- Mix until combined: Mix until combined and pour into the greased and lined cake pan.
- Bake: Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool: Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before frosting if preferred.
Chocolate Ganache (optional)
- Add dark chocolate pieces to warmed cream. Allow the chocolate to soften in the cream for about 5 minutes before stirring.
- The ganache thickens as it cools. Allow it to thicken for about 10 minutes or to the desired consistency before spreading over the cooled cake.
This sounds way too easy, Ashika! Nothing chocolate should be so quick to prepare :). And it looks so decadent too! Have a great weekend!
Thank you Kelsie, oh yes it is definitely easy and really delicious...my favorite chocolate cake recipe:)
Have a great weekend as well 🙂
love a good chocolate cake and this one look so good and not difficult to make. It's now pinned in on my dessert board and will be made soon.
Thank you Ron, chocolate cake is pretty hard to resist, thank you for pinning, and hope that you get to make it soon 🙂
This is chocolate heaven and looks so easy to make!! I think the frosting is a definite MUST though ?. Yum!!
Thank you Kelly,Oh YES,definitely chocolate heaven and really easy too 🙂
Pinned; one bowl, 20 minutes ? Just perfect !
Thank you so much 🙂
One bowl, no eggs, no butter!? This is amazing! It looks sooooo moist my friend! I wouldn't be able to stop at just one piece!!
Yes really it is that easy. Haha,believe me it is way too irresistable to stop at one piece...I did'nt 🙂
Ashika - what a great recipe this is! So easy, I might just give the recipe to my son when he needs to bake something! Thanks! Pinning this!
Can't have enough chocolate cake recipes. I love this version with no eggs, this will be perfect for my friend who has been after me for an eggless cake recipe. Gonna forward this to her.
Thank you Ashika ! What an awesome recipe. Made it yesterday with fresh cream topping and it was a hit!!!
Awww Thank you Yasmin, that is absolutely great,I am so glad that you liked the recipe too 🙂
Many thanks for your humble recipe. We made it yesterday with Walnuts and it was yummy.
May I ask how you create the uneven top? Thanks.
Hi Adeline, to create the uneven tops, I just run a spatula or butter knife in lines over the frosting before it sets or hardens.
I hope that this helps answer your question 🙂
My neighbor’s family made this years ago,called it a crazy cake and put buttercream frosting on it.It was absolutely amazing and easy to make.
Hi Carol, yes it is a great recipe and really delicious too.I hope that you get a chance to try it out as well 🙂
Such a day saver recipe, Anshika! I am already lovin' it and so did my friends
Do you white vinegar or Apple cider vinegar?
Hi Pat, I use white vinegar 🙂
Hi,
Awesome recipe...can i add nuts to this recipe
Hi, Gurpreet, thank you 🙂
Yes, you can definitely include nuts into the batter, it will taste great.
Enjoy 🙂
Hi Ashika-San,
Thanks for your no-eggs-no butter recipe; in fact I have been looking for such recipe as I want to used as little as possible the number of ingridients 🙂 Your recipe is so simple and effortless and I like it very much.
I have baked the cake today. My cake turned out to be springy(smells good though) is it supposed to be that way? How is the cake batter supposed to be?
FYI, I have reduced the sugar to just 100g and the oil to around 30ml. My cake batter seems to be 'liquid/watery'. resulting I baked it in 2 cycles of 35 mins per cycle using a rice cooker with baking function.
I would like to try it out again. Please advise.
Thanks
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
Thank you for your kind words 🙂
I am glad that you gave this recipe a try and would love to answer your questions: With regards to the batter, yes it does have a liquidy type of consistency. Reducing the sugar and oil is totally fine and will not impact on the texture, although it may be less sweet, that is according to your taste.
Using a rice cooker is great, however the cake will have a slightly different texture as compared to using an oven.
When you say springy, do you mean that the texture was dry?
If that is the case, then I suggest that you not overbake the cake. Test with a skewer at 15 minutes and if it is not yet baked, then every 2 minutes after that. As soon as the skewer comes out clean, without any batter clinging to it, then you should remove it from the oven.
I hope that this helps answer your questions 🙂
This cake was awesome! Even better next day. Very moist, nice chocolate flavor and great as is with no frosting. Even better next day. Took closer to 30 minutes baking time for me.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Eileen, thank you. You are welcome 🙂
I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe too 🙂
Great cake! So easy and tasty! I've spread the word of this blog! Many thanks
Hi Siân, Thank you for your kind words, I really appreciate it and for your amazing support of my blog 🙂
Thank you as well for your feedback on this recipe. I am so glad that you enjoyed this delicious bake too 🙂
Haven't tried the recipe yet but I am very excited! I have a question, what type of vinegar should I use, would rice vinegar work?
Hi Pearlie. It is great that you want to give this recipe a try 🙂
I use white or grape vinegar. Its purpose is to react with the baking soda so that the cake rises. There is no taste of the vinegar in the cake.
I have never tried rice vinegar and am not sure whether it will alter the taste and texture of the baked cake.
Excellent Chocolate cake!! My grandchildren and daughters all love it!! I luv to layer them!! I made one and I forgot to add the warm water what will happen? Is it still editable?
Hi, Maggie 🙂 Thank you, I am glad that you and your family enjoyed this cake so much.
Regarding your question: The warm water is to add moisture to the cake and create a softer texture. Without it, the cake will still taste great but may have a slightly dense or drier texture. Just add a good layer of chocolate or any frosting to try to compensate for the drier texture and it should be just perfect 🙂
I would love to know how it turns out 🙂
Enjoy
This was really good and easy. Will def make it again.
I’ve tried this and it came out so lovely! Just wondering can this be layered. Planning on making a 3 tier cake, 8inch. Just wondering if the cake is strong enough to hold. Thanks in advance
Hi Jo 🙂 Thank you for giving this recipe a try and I am glad that you loved it too.
Regarding your question: I have used this recipe to create a two-tier cake using a light buttercream frosting and it held perfectly. I am not sure what type of frosting you will be using. It might be a bit heavy if you are going to use fondant, then you are going to need additional support.
I hope that this helps answer your question 🙂
Hi, thank you so much for replying back. Your reply has been helpful. I was planning on using fondant. As it’s for my sons 3rd birthday and he loves the colour red. Was just planning on using a simple buttercream recipe. I think I may have to use another cake recipe. Especially as it’s a three tier cake. Which is a shame, because your recipe was so simple but probably the best cake I’ve made, taste and bake! Thanks for your help! X
Hi Jo... you are welcome 🙂 If you are looking for a cake that holds well under fondant you can give this one a try. It is perfect for stacking and covering with fondant. You can also leave out the lemon flavouring if you prefer: https://thegardeningfoodie.com/condensed-milk-lemon-cake/
I hope this helps and an early happy birthday wish to your son from me 🙂
Hello! The amount of sugar seems to be crazy high. Can I reduce the sugar by half and still achieve the same result?
Hi Coco. Yes you can reduce the sugar in the recipe ☺️. The only difference will be that it is less sweet. It will not affect the texture of the cake.
Can you freeze this cake?
Hi Sue, yes you can freeze this cake. However, I suggest that you freeze it without frosting.
1. Bake and completely cool the cake
2. Once the cake cools completely, wrap it in a double layer of plastic wrap/cling wrap
3. Wrap again in aluminum foil, this keeps the cake dry, protecting it from condensation or moisture.
4. Place the cake in a freezer safe container. This will keep it safe from breaking.
5. To thaw, Transfer the wrapped cakes from the freezer to the refrigerator one day before frosting. It takes at least 8 hours to thaw completely in the refrigerator. Do not remove the wrapping from the cake until it has completely thawed out.
These cakes can be frozen for up to 3 months.
I hope this helps answer your question.
Happy baking 🙂
I have made this cake multiple times now. It is definitely a go - to cake for me and my family. We all love it! Thank you!!
Hi Alice, Thank you and you are very welcome 🙂
Honestly, this is one of my favorite easy bakes for birthdays or just an anytime treat as well.
I am so glad that you and your family love it too 🙂