This chocolate cake is so fluffy and moist and it can be made with just a few pantry staples. You don’t need eggs or butter and you won’t miss them at all. It only takes five minutes to make the batter. This is an easy chocolate cake recipe when you need cake as soon as possible.
The current egg shortage has definitely affected my baking. I try to avoid making recipes that will need eggs. So I wanted to share this cake recipe that doesn’t require any eggs. You can make this cake with just five ingredients you likely already have on hand.
Ingredients
- Self-Rising Flour (or all purpose flour, baking powder and salt)
- Cocoa Powder
- Sugar
- Water
- Oil
Self-Rising Flour: I used self-rising flour which already has baking powder and salt added to it. It saves me a few extra steps and time. But if you don’t have self-rising flour, you can easily make your own by mixing together all purpose flour, baking powder and salt. The exact measurements are provided in the recipe card notes at the end of the post.
Cocoa Powder: This recipe uses unsweetened cocoa powder. You can use either dutch process or natural. I prefer dutch process.
Sugar: The cake is sweetened with white granulate sugar.
Oil: I use vegetable oil, though you can also use canola oil. I think other cooking oils like olive oil should also work.
How to Make Emergency Chocolate Cake
The dry ingredients are first mixed together and then the water and oil are mixed in until the batter is smooth. It only takes about five minutes to mix the batter. The cake batter is then ready to be poured into the cake pan and baked.
More Eggless Cake Recipes
- Emergency Vanilla Cake
- 2 Ingredient Chocolate Oreo Cake
- 5 Ingredient Lemon Crazy Cake
- 3 Ingredient Healthy Chocolate Cake
Emergency Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (187 g) self-rising flour
- 1/3 cup (36 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup (195 g) granulated white sugar
- 1 cup (237 ml) water
- 1/3 cup (79 ml) vegetable or canola oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line an 8 x 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- Add flour and cocoa powder to a large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed with a mixer until evenly combined and there are no clumps of flour or cocoa powder. Add in sugar and mix on low speed until combined. Pour in water and oil and mix batter (medium to high speed) until it is smooth. See notes if you wish to mix the batter by hand.
- Pour batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until cake is done and toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cake cool completely before frosting and cutting.
Notes
- The batter can be mixed by hand, but you need to whisk the dry ingredients very well and break up any cocoa or flour lumps before adding the liquid, otherwise you won't be able to whisk them out of the batter.
- To make your own self-rising flour, combine 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 2 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder and 3/8 tsp salt. Whisk until thoroughly and evenly combined.
- If you want an even deeper chocolate flavor, you can use 1/2 cup of cocoa powder in the cake instead of 1/3 cup. The cake will not be as sweet though and will have a dark chocolate flavor.
- I use this Good Cook 8 inch square pan.*
- *This product link is an affiliate link. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
- You can use whatever chocolate frosting you prefer or don't frost the cake at all.
- To make the frosting I used in the pictures, you will need 4 tbsp melted coconut oil, 1/2 cup natural cocoa powder (dutch process will not work), and 4 tbsp pure maple syrup. First mix the coconut oil and cocoa powder and until smooth. Then add in the maple syrup (which will thicken your frosting), and whisk until smooth. This frosting is not that sweet but has a very rich chocolate flavor. You can add an extra tablespoon of maple syrup to make it sweeter, but adding too much will change the consistency.
- Estimated nutrition does not include frosting.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Love this recipe, the cake came out perfectly!! For the frosting, could olive oil be used instead of coconut oil?
So glad you like the cake! The frosting will not work with olive oil. It does need to be coconut oil because the coconut will solidify when it interacts with the maple syrup.
As I am allergic to eggs, I decided to try this recipe. Everyone loved it! It came out darker than in the pictures but it rose well and was super moist. Thank you for sharing such a great recipe!
We’re so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I have no coca powder could I use cadburys drinking chocolate powder in this recipe instead please
We have not tested this recipe with drinking chocolate powder so we are unsure of the results!
Made this yesterday, mine was more dense because it rose well but fell by the next day after wrapping, lovely and moist, and eaters commented its not very sweet. Extremely easy to make 🙂 Cake same day, or pudding the next! 🙂 Thank you for your recipe which I’ll definitely save ?
Ps lovely with gf/dairy free chocolate sauce (cocoa, sugar, fine cornflour cooked and constantlystirred)
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very keen to try out this recipe as I’m allergic to eggs
We hope you enjoy it!
I really enjoy this recipes ??
We’re so glad!
A beautiful soft Light chocolate cake hubby loved it too and he is so fussy
We’re happy he enjoyed it!
Thanks, Jennifer for this recipe! It is easy to make and delicious. ?
I’m so glad you like it!
Simple, moist and delicious! Just tried this recipe out–cake only, no icing–and I love it! And with the price of eggs, it’s nice to not have to use any and still get an absolutely delicious chocolate cake! Wouldn’t change a thing!
I’m so glad you enjoy it! I like it without icing too!
Will give it a try, it looks easy.
We hope you enjoy it!
Lovely recipes. Thank you.
I am particularly interested in gluten free and dairy free recipes.
We have a lot of Gluten-Free Recipes you might like!
Very good and easy recipes that are easy to do using what you have in your pantry.
Thank you so much.
You’re welcome!
Can’t wait to.try it Yum
Let us know what you think!
I made one after reading. The cake turned out fantastic. Super soft and moist. I liked the idea of not to sieve flour but whisk until full mixed and no lump. Also, I used soft brown sugar and melted choco instead as these were what I have. Thank u for the receipe and instructions. GREAT!
Thanks for sharing! So glad you tried it!
Can we make plain cake using this recipe? Can we make this cake without using cocoa? Plz let me know.
https://kirbiecravings.com/emergency-cake/
LOOKS VERY APPETIZING
Always absolutely delicious
Thanks so much!
Very nice recipe ?
I will try this inshallah ????
We hope you like it!
helpful,useful, really easy
Thank you!
Jennifer, love the recipe’s especially the easy and eggless and no butter! Much appreciated ?
We’re so glad!