Chocolate Fudge Cake, made with / out eggs

May 12, 2020 | 11 comments

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Chocolate Fudge Cake, made with / out eggs

I’ve updated this post a bit to make it look better. But the images come from the time when I did this experiment, in 2013, and they aren’t very good. I’ll try and repeat everything and take better pictures.

 

Chocolate Fudge Cake, made with or without eggs

a slice of chocolate fudge cake

Been having another little play in the kitchen today. Made two chocolate fudge cakes, one made with oil not butter, and eggs, my usual version. The other made with oil and no eggs, which coincidentally is vegan if this is of interest to you. I make a very good chocolate fudge if I’m allowed to blow my own trumpet. I wanted to try one with no eggs as I am experimenting making cakes with no eggs because often I can’t include eggs in a weekly plan as there aren’t enough funds, and even if I do include eggs, I can’t afford to use 4 of them to make a cake.

This is oil, sugar and 4 eggs whisked up. The usual fluffy mixture, with lots of volume.

This is oil, sugar and 4 eggs whisked up. The usual fluffy mixture, with lots of volume.

This is the oil and sugar and no eggs mixture at the same stage.

This is the oil and sugar and no eggs mixture at the same stage. Wasn’t at all sure what this would be like. It had a little volume, but nowhere near as much as the eggy version. I didn’t know if it would homogenise together, but it did.

 

The oil and eggs cake after baking. This is a soft, tender cake.

The oil and eggs cake after baking. This is a soft, tender cake.

The no eggs baked cakes

The no eggs baked cakes. You can probably see that the texture is very different from the eggy version. It didn’t feel soft and it wasn’t holding together, it was positively crumbly. I wasn’t at all sure if it was going to work at all at this stage.

The no eggs cakes turned out of the tins.

The no eggs cakes turned out of the tins. You can see the texture better here.

fudge icing in the saucepan

The fudge icing in the saucepan

The iced usual version

The iced usual version

And the no eggs version

And the no eggs version

 

 

Vegan chocolate fudge cake versus chocolate fudge cake with eggs

chocolate fudge cake, comparing versions made with egg and no egg

A direct comparison of the two versions. The eggy version is on the right, the non-egg version on the left. I am very pleased with the height of the eggless version and the tenderness of the crumb in the completed cake.
In summary, although more difficult to handle, the eggless version is well worth making and a very tasty cake. The advantage of the fudge icing is that it covers up all the flaws.  So all in all, a resounding success. Although now I’ve costed it, there is no way I can include a £2.28 tin of cocoa in a £14 weekly shop :0, oh well. Maybe one of the many other versions would be doable.

There is surprisingly little difference in cost between the egg and non-egg version, this surprised me. It is down to the cost of the cocoa powder. I had to increase the amount quite a bit in the non-egg version. It just goes to show – I am constantly surprised when pricing things, some are more expensive than I thought they would be, others much less. We just need to work it out so we know.

And so, the recipes, the first version is in the recipe card, I want to improve the vegan version and will put it in a recipe card when I have

Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake

as an egg weighs about 80g, I needed to replace that volume, 4*80g=320g, so I have increased the remaining ingredients accordingly

300ml veg oil, Tesco £1.25/litre, 37p
300g sugar, 88p/kg, 26p
300g self raising flour, or plain with 2tsp baking powder, 45p value brand/1.5kg, 9p
70g cocoa £2.25/250g, 63p
a scant tblsp vinegar, any kind except malt or a strong balsamic ( I used distilled white vinegar that was in the cleaning cupboard!)
6tbslp water

Whisk the oil and sugar together.

Use a stand mixer if you have one, or a big bowl and a big wooden spoon. Stir in the water – this was needed as the eggs provided a lot of moisture which was now missing

Sieve the flour and cocoa together and fold them gently into the oil and sugar mixture.

Meanwhile, line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins and heat the oven to 180C fan/200C non-fan/Gas Mark 6.

Pour half the mix into each tin and level off the top. Put them into the oven immediately (baking powder starts to work as soon as it gets wet). I needed to increase the bake for this version from 20 minutes to 27 minutes in my fan oven, so 32 minutes or so in a non-fan.

Remove from the oven, and the top should look done, but won’t be as springy as a sponge with egg in it. Leave in the tin to cool for a few minutes to firm up a bit, then turn onto a cooling rack. This was quite tricky as the cake didn’t want to leave the tin, even tho the bottom was lined. Do the best you can. I left the lining on the bottom of the second cake as I knew I wouldn’t be able to transfer it to the top of the half iced cake without it

While that is happening, make the fudge icing as in the recipe card

You now need to get the bottom half of the cake onto a flat plate. Again, this was quite tricky and I had to patch it back up when bits fell off. When the cake is barely warm, and the fudge icing is warm, but not so warm that it is still very runny, spread about half the mix onto one cake. Now use the second half with the lining still attached to help you put the second cake on top, remove the lining and spread with the rest of the icing. Bits still fell off the second cake, but at least I could move it. I just splatted them into the icing to glue them in place. If the icing has cooled down so much it has started to harden up, warm it over a gentle flame until it softens.

Cut either cake into 10 pieces

 

Vanilla Sponge Cake

I don’t think I would make a plain vanilla sponge cake with oil instead of butter, so if you want that version, I would use butter/spread, replace the cocoa with extra flour and add a tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Fudge Sauce

The chocolate fudge icing is fabulous as a sauce, just thin it down with a little water, go steady, a tsp at a time, it thins very quickly. Keep it in a jam jar and use it on everything from pancakes to ice cream. Go easy though, it’s all sugar!

Coffee and Walnut Fudge Cake

This is my husbands absolute favourite – add 3tsp instant coffee granules dissolved in half tsp hot water whilst creaming the eggs and sugar. Leave out the cocoa in the icing, make it the same way with some coffee added, taste it for strength. Put 50g walnuts on the top of the cake, chopped or whole, up to you, and 25g between the two cakes

Lemon Fudge Cake

Add the zest and juice of a lemon to the mix whilst creaming. Sandwich with lemon fudge icing or lemon curd and cream

Orange Fudge Cake

As above using an orange. Orange curd if you can get it is delicious, can be made fairly easily

Black Forest Fudge Cake

Use a chocolate sponge and fill with whipped cream and cherries

Fruit and Cream Sponge Cake

Sandwich any variation flavour sponge with whipped cream and a good jam/curd and/or any fruit you like – strawberries, raspberries, apricots, peaches, fresh or tinned, banana, mango, one of those cheap tins of broken mandarins
eg – chocolate sponge, maybe with some orange zest in, sandwiched with cream and mandarins
lemon sponge sandwiched with raspberries and cream
vanilla sponge sandwiched with strawberries and cream – quintessentially English

Baked Sponge

Or, using any of the variations, using half of the cake mix, as a baked sponge. I would use one of my oval pyrex dishes that I use so much, you could put jam, curd, treacle, apples, plums, rhubarb etc etc in the bottom. Bake in a medium oven for about half an hour, or microwave it for 6 minutes. Serve with custard, cream or ice cream

 

chocolate fudge cake
chocolate fudge cake

Chocolate Fudge Cake

5 from 1 vote
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Course:
Dessert
,
Snack
Cuisine:
English
dairy free by Olguioo from the Noun Project
Dairy Free
,
No Nuts by Llisole from the Noun Project
Nut Free
,
Vegetarian by Philipp Petzka from the Noun Project
Vegetarian
Servings: 10
Cost per portion 20p
Calories: 488kcal
Click on the check box to cross off Equipment, Ingredients or Recipe Steps completed.
If you click and buy anything, I may get a small commission on the purchase. It won't cost you anything extra. Some are just things that I like and/or use myself rather than necessarily best value 🙂
If you enjoyed this recipe, would you please consider leaving a review? It would really help

Ingredients

Egg version

  • 4 large eggs 16p each, 64p
  • 200 ml veg oil £1.09/litre, 22p
  • 150 g sugar 69p/kg, 10p
  • 200 g self-raising flour or plain with 2tsp baking powder, 45p value brand/1.5kg, 6p
  • 70 g cocoa £1.19/250g, 33p this must be cocoa, not drinking chocolate which has lots of sugar and milk powder in it and won’t give enough chocolate flavour to your cake.

Fudge icing

  • 50 g butter Vitalite, £1/500g , 10p
  • 3 tblsp water
  • 250 g icing sugar 1kg/£1.70, 42p
  • 35 g cocoa powder £1.19/250g, 17p this must be cocoa, not drinking chocolate which has lots of sugar and milk powder in it and won’t give enough chocolate flavour to your cake.

Instructions

Cake

  • Separate the eggs. You don't need to be fussy, we aren't going to whisk the whites
  • Whisk the oil and sugar together. Add the egg yolks, beating a little
    between each one. Use a stand mixer if you have one, or a big bowl and a
    big wooden spoon.
  • Whisk the egg white slightly with a fork, not too much, and adding about half an eggs worth at a time, beat them into the mix. Beat a little between each addition. 
  • Keep mixing until you have a light and fluffy mixture. Don’t keep going too long as if you mix it too long, something happens to the mixture and it begins to lose volume and go runnier.
  • Sieve the flour and cocoa together and fold them gently into the eggy mixture.
  • Meanwhile, line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins and heat the oven to 180C fan/200C non-fan/Gas Mark 6.
  • Pour half the mix into each tin and level off the top. Put them into the oven immediately (baking powder starts to work as soon as it gets wet) and bake for 25 minutes in a fan oven, 30 minutes in a non-fan.
  • Click here to start a 25 minutes timer
  • Remove from the oven, the top should be springy. If not quite done, pop back into the oven for 3 or 4 minutes. Don't cook them too long, the cake will be dry
  • Leave in the tin to cool for a few minutes to firm up a bit, then turn onto a cooling rack

Fudge Icing

  • While the cake is cooling, make the fudge icing
  • Melt 50g butter or spread with 3 tbslp water in a saucepan.
  • Sieve 250g icing sugar and 35g cocoa powder. Both the icing sugar and the cocoa need sieving as lumps are completely impossible to get out once they are mixed with the melted butter – believe me, I’ve tried. Give the fudge icing a bit of a beating to make it glossy. Leave to cool

Assemble the cake

  • When the cake is barely warm, and the fudge icing is warm, but not so warm that it is still very runny, spread about half the mix onto one cake.
  • Put the second cake on top and spread with the rest of the icing.
  • If the icing has cooled down so much it has started to harden up, warm it over a gentle heat until it softens.
  • Wait impatiently until the cake and icing have firmed up, then have a
    big wodge, maybe with some ice cream, or maybe still warm or warmed in
    the microwave for a few seconds. Warning,
    this has squillions of calories and can’t be fitted into any slimming
    diet unless you have the slenderest of slices and what fun is that!!!!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Chocolate Fudge Cake
Amount per Serving
Calories
488
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
28
g
43
%
Saturated Fat
 
20
g
125
%
Cholesterol
 
85
mg
28
%
Sodium
 
68
mg
3
%
Potassium
 
208
mg
6
%
Carbohydrates
 
61
g
20
%
Fiber
 
4
g
17
%
Sugar
 
40
g
44
%
Protein
 
7
g
14
%
Vitamin A
 
233
IU
5
%
Calcium
 
29
mg
3
%
Iron
 
2
mg
11
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @ThriftyLesley or tag #ThriftyLesley !

11 Comments

11 Comments

  1. sarah dunsbee

    https://bakealish.com/eggless-chocolate-sponge-cake/
    Just one of millions of light cake recipes without eggs online….so many things you can use as subs for the binding and raising agent elements of eggs …I tend to use an egg replacer just as lazy! It costs about £3 but it’s equalient of about 80 eggs or something daft like that! Works very well in the cakes I make
    Thanks for super website,got so many ideas from it

  2. Lesley

    They are, no calories at all!

  3. plasterers bristol

    These sound so delicious. Thaanks for sharing this recipe.

    Simon

  4. Lesley

    Glenn, I was surprised at how little difference no eggs made to the price, I was expecting the no egg version to be quite a bit cheaper. That is a good price tho, so I’ll bear that in mind for the next plan. I would still use the recipe when doing weekly plans tho, as I often can’t spare the eggs for a ‘mere’ cake
    Glad you like the blog 🙂

  5. glenn

    Eggs at aldi are £1 for 6 large free range if that helps the cake budget,its a nice blog thanks.

  6. Lesley

    I know exactly what you mean!

  7. Chris

    I love chocolate fudge cake too much!! I shall step away from this one!

  8. Lesley

    I’m so glad you are finding it useful. Building the next weekly plan ATM

  9. Andrea

    I am really finding this blog very useful. I like the way the recipe is just the starting point for a whole range of ideas and variations – that’s real life cookery! Thanks very much for this great resource.

  10. Lesley

    Some good ideas there, thank you. The mashed apple idea rings vague bells

  11. jill in NYC

    Hello , I’m a fairly new reader and really admire and appreciate what you are doing here. It is an approach I have to learn myself all those years ago…would have like some help like this back then.
    Often for specialty cakes on a budget I would, and often still do, make just one layer and split it. I fill the center and just dust the top with icing sugar or fill with a thin layer of jam and ice just the top. I call them my Viennese torts! Often I fill the centers with the same puree I used if I made the eggless version below.
    In place of eggs I sometimes add their weight in mashed ripe banana or thick apple or pear puree. Peaches or other stone fruit have not worked well for me…not sure if it the lack of pectin or their particular acids.
    Thanks again

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