If you want a Red, White & Blue Eggless Bundt Cake that’s as easy as it is festive, this is the one to make for the 4th of July. It’s tender, buttery, and marbled in bold patriotic colors — made completely without eggs, so the kid with an egg allergy and everyone else can grab a slice from the same cake. After 13+ years of egg-free baking, this is the dessert I reach for every Fourth because it looks like a showstopper but comes together with simple pantry staples and zero fuss. One slice and you’ll see why it’s a guaranteed hit at the cookout.
Oriana’s Thoughts On The Recipe
The Fourth of July is one of my family’s favorite nights — food, neighbors, and fireworks — and this cake has been part of our cookout for years. I first made it when I wanted something festive my daughter could actually eat, since so many holiday desserts are loaded with eggs. The moment I cut into it and those red, white, and blue layers showed up, I knew it was a keeper. Now it’s the dessert everyone asks me to bring, and honestly, it’s so easy I never mind. It’s proof that egg-free can still steal the show.
If you make this for your Fourth, come back and leave a star rating and tell me how it turned out — it truly helps other allergy families find recipes they can trust. And if you want the full spread, I rounded up all my eggless 4th of July desserts in one place.
Why You’ll Want to Try My Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Please check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and instructions (scroll down).
For the Cake:
- Sugar: Regular white granulated sugar or caster sugar.
- Butter: I prefer to use unsalted butter.
- Vanilla extract: For optimal flavor, reach for pure vanilla instead of imitation. Even better, try homemade vanilla extract!
- Flour: For this recipe, I used self-rising flour. However, you can also use all-purpose flour if that is what you have handy. In that case, add 4 teaspoons of baking powder and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Milk: For baking, I like to use whole milk. However, you can use any milk you have handy.
- Vinegar: You can use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- Food Coloring: You will need red and blue gel food colors. I recommend using gel or paste food colors since they are highly concentrated, and you’ll end up using less.
- For the Glaze: confectioners’ sugar, milk, and salt.
- Red, white, and blue sprinkles (optional)
Food Allergy Swaps
This recipe is naturally egg, nut, peanut, soy, and sesame-free, making it suitable for most dietary needs. However, always check labels for hidden allergens.
- Dairy-Free: To make this recipe dairy-free, you can easily swap out the dairy ingredients for non-dairy alternatives.
- Butter: Substitute butter with dairy-free butter substitutes. Miyoko’s Creamery Organic Vegan Butter and Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks are my favorite butter substitutes for baking.
- Milk: You can use your favorite non-dairy milk, like soy or oat milk.
- Gluten-Free: Use a gluten-free, all-purpose flour blend. Look for a gluten-free flour blend specifically formulated for baking, as it will have the right combination of flours and starches to mimic the texture of wheat flour. My favorite is Better Batter Original Blend. I also like Doves Farm Freee Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour, but this blend does not contain xanthan gum, so you need to add 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup (140 g) of gluten-free flour blend. If using gluten-free, all-purpose flour blend, you’ll also need to add 4 teaspoons of baking powder + 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Steps to Make Fourth of July Eggless Cake
Please check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and instructions (scroll down).
- Make the cake batter: In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter until creamy and pale. Add vanilla and mix to combine. Combine milk and vinegar in a small bowl. Set aside. Add the flour alternately with milk to the butter mixture. Beat just until incorporated.
- Divide the batter: In a small bowl, place 2 cups of the batter; stir in 1 teaspoon of the red food color until blended. In another small bowl, place 2 cups of the batter; stir in 1 teaspoon of the blue food color until blended.
- Assemble: Pour red cake batter into the bottom of the prepared fluted cake pan. Carefully pour the remaining white batter over the red batter in the pan. Carefully pour blue batter over white batter. (Blue batter does not need to cover white batter completely.
- Bake. Let it rest for 10 minutes and then remove from the pan; let the cake cool completely before decorating with the glaze and sprinkles.
How to Keep the Red, White & Blue Layers Distinct
The secret to a bundt cake with crisp, bold color isn’t a fancy technique — it’s a few small habits that keep the red and blue from muddying into purple.
- Use gel food color, not liquid. Gel and paste colors are highly concentrated, so you get vivid red and blue without thinning the batter (liquid color waters it down, and the shades run together).
- Color the batter right before you layer it. If colored batter sits too long, the pigments start to migrate. Tint, then pour.
- Pour — don’t stir — the colors into the pan. Add each color by gently pouring it on top of the last, letting the layers rest on each other. Stirring in the pan is what blends them.
- Don’t tap or bang the pan. It’s tempting to tap out air bubbles, but with a layered cake, that’s exactly what blurs the colors (and can flatten the cake). Skip it.
- Keep the batter on the thicker side. A slightly thicker batter holds its layers; a thin, over-mixed batter runs. Beat just until incorporated and stop.
- Spray the pan generously. Use baking spray with flour and get into every groove so the cake — and those colors — release cleanly.
Storing & Freezing Instructions
Cover leftover cake tightly and store at room temperature for up to 3 days and/or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To freeze, just follow these simple steps:
- Let the cake cool completely.
- Wrap it up in 2 layers of plastic wrap, then with foil to avoid freezer burn.
- Place inside a large freezer Ziploc bag and freeze for up to 2 months.
Ready to eat it? Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before slicing and serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Covered with plastic wrap, it keeps well at room temperature for up to 2 days. Add the glaze just before serving so it stays fresh and glossy.
Absolutely. Use all-purpose flour and add 4 teaspoons of baking powder plus ½ teaspoon of salt to give it the lift the self-rising flour would have provided.
Usually it’s one of three things: liquid food color instead of gel, batter that’s too thin from over-mixing, or stirring/tapping the pan after pouring. Use gel color, beat just until combined, pour each layer gently, and don’t tap the pan — see the tips section above for the full breakdown.
Swap in your favorite plant-based butter and an unsweetened, unflavored non-dairy milk (soy or oat have the best consistency for baking). It works beautifully — the texture stays tender.
Red, white, and blue nonpareils or jimmies pressed into the glaze while it’s still wet hold best. Add them right after you drizzle so they set into the glaze instead of sliding off.
Yes — the same batter works in a lined muffin tin or a greased 9×13 pan. Layer the colors the same way and start checking cupcakes around 18–20 minutes and a sheet cake around 30–35 (bake until a skewer comes out clean).
You can! If you’re short on time, start with a mix and make it egg-free using my guide on How to Make Box Cake Mix Without Eggs, then divide, color, and layer the batter the same way.
Planning an Egg-Free 4th of July? Add These to the Table!
Recipe Card
Red, White, and Blue Eggless Bundt Cake
Equipment
Important
• For best results, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (480 ml) whole milk (you can substitute with any plant milk you like)
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups (560 g) self-rising flour (see notes for substitute)
- Red and blue gel food color
Glaze:
- 1 cup (120 g) confectioners' sugar
- 2 ½ – 3 tablespoons milk
- Pinch of salt
- Red, white, and blue sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Prep your pan and oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Generously spray a 12-cup fluted bundt pan with baking spray that contains flour, working into every groove so the cake releases cleanly.
- Make the quick buttermilk: Stir the milk and vinegar together in a small bowl and let it sit for 5–10 minutes, until slightly thickened with small curdled bits. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar: In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, for 3- 4 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla.
- Add the flour and buttermilk: With the mixer on low, add the flour and buttermilk alternately — starting and ending with the flour — beating just until combined. Stop as soon as the batter comes together; overmixing thins it out and makes the colors run later.
- Color the batter: Scoop 2 cups of batter into a small bowl and stir in 1 teaspoon red gel color until even. Repeat with another 2 cups and 1 teaspoon blue gel color, leaving the remaining batter plain. Color it right before you layer so the shades stay vivid.Note: Use gel or paste food coloring — it's highly concentrated, so a little goes a long way. The exact amount depends on the brand and shade, so start with ½ teaspoon, stir it in, and add more a little at a time until you get the color you want.
- Layer the colors in the pan: Pour the red batter into the bottom of the pan, then gently pour the white batter over it, and finally, the blue over the white. Pour — don't stir — and don't tap or bang the pan, so the layers stay distinct (the blue doesn't need to fully cover the white).
- Bake: Bake for 40–45 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely: Let the cake rest in the pan for 10–15 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack and cool completely before glazing — glazing a warm cake makes the icing slide right off.
For the Glaze:
- Make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar, milk, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl until smooth, adding the milk a little at a time until it's pourable but not runny.
- Glaze and finish: Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake, letting it drip down the sides. Scatter the sprinkles on right away while the glaze is still wet so they stick, then let it set for about 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Let the cake cool completely.
- Wrap it up in 2 layers of plastic wrap, then with foil to avoid freezer burn.
- Place inside a large freezer Ziploc bag and freeze for up to 2 months.
- Dairy-Free: To make this recipe dairy-free, you can easily swap out the dairy ingredients for non-dairy alternatives.
- Butter: Substitute butter with dairy-free butter substitutes. Miyoko’s Creamery Organic Vegan Butter and Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks are my favorite butter substitutes for baking.
- Milk: You can use your favorite non-dairy milk, like soy or oat milk.
- Gluten-Free: Use a gluten-free, all-purpose flour blend. Look for a gluten-free flour blend specifically formulated for baking, as it will have the right combination of flours and starches to mimic the texture of wheat flour. My favorite is Better Batter Original Blend. I also like Doves Farm Freee Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour, but this blend does not contain xanthan gum, so you need to add 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup (140 g) of gluten-free flour blend. If using gluten-free, all-purpose flour blend, you’ll also need to add 4 teaspoons of baking powder + 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- I made this cake from scratch, but if you want to use a cake box mix, check out my post about How to Make a Cake Mix Box without Eggs.
- When you add the batter to the pan, do not mix with a spoon. Just pour it in so colors don’t mix, but rather, just rest on top of each other in the pan.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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Originally posted in June 2018, the post content was edited to add more helpful information, no change to the recipe in July 2022. Updated again in June 2026.
Hi Oriana , glad to see your all recipes..with eggless version.
Mostly i tried your all recipes from your Book.
One thing I want to ask, instead of milk what I use for the Glaze
Is their any substitute? Like heavy cream or anything else
Because when I used milk it’s so watery.
Hello Ani! Thanks so much for trusting my recipes =) Yes! You can use heavy cream instead of milk for the glaze. Please come back and let me know how you like it =)
Hi. I tried this recipe twice. I took the same quantity mentioned above. But I ended up using the entire milk for 1 cup of flour. Do you know why it happened so.
I am sorry, Nimmi, but I don’t understand what you mean by using the milk for 1 cup of flour. Thanks for trying my recipe though.