This Flourless Chocolate Cake is a rich and fudgy cake with a luscious and velvety interior that melts in your mouth! It has a mousse-like crumb with an irresistible contrast of a crusty top for the perfect balance of textures. All the chocolate lovers out there really need to make this cake! For another delicious recipe made without flour, try my Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, too.
This recipe comes from Rachael, a former employee. In her words:
“I’ve been making this cake for 10 years, from high-end catering events to personal-size party desserts. It’s super easy to come together since it only has a handful of ingredients and a simplified procedure to get it ready to serve faster. It’s always been a hit for chocolate lovers. I always add espresso powder to my chocolate desserts to amplify the chocolate flavor. Freezes beautifully so you can have it on hand whenever you want it! Dress it up or down with a raspberry coulee, ganache, whipped cream, or just some confectioners’ sugar.”
Ingredients & Substitutions
Chocolate: Dark chocolate chips give this cake more of an intense chocolate flavor. They also melt well during baking. Semi-sweet chocolate chips would also be a suitable choice.
Butter: Unsalted butter melts with chocolate chips to enhance the overall texture, flavor, and moistness of the cake. If using salted butter, you may want to lessen or omit the salt in the recipe.
Eggs: Whipping six eggs gives the cake a fudge-like texture.
Espresso Powder: Espresso powder is espresso coffee beans that are very finely ground. It’s a very concentrated coffee, so a tablespoon of the powder in this cake is just the right amount for a subtle coffee flavor and loads of chocolate flavor. If you don’t have espresso powder, you could substitute instant coffee powder.
Baking with the Water Bath Method
A water bath for this flourless chocolate cake is the best way to prevent the edges of the cake from browning in the oven and getting cracks in the top. Place the springform pan (the one that has the batter in it) into a larger pan like a roast pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until the water reaches halfway up the smaller pan. Just like the method implies, the smaller pan is essentially ‘taking a bath’ in the larger pan. This helps keep the chocolate from burning and is used in a variety of recipes like custards, mousses, and cheesecakes. Bake the cake (while in the water bath) for 45 minutes. The cake may still look wet, but take it out of the oven, out of the water bath, and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
Can I Add Toppings To The Cake?
Sure! Although we loved it as-is, this cake is easy to top with your favorite topping. Here are some of my favorites:
- Chocolate Ganache
- American Buttercream, Chocolate Buttercream, or Salted Caramel Buttercream
- Drizzled with Chocolate Syrup or Caramel Sauce
- Whipped Cream
- Fresh Fruit
- Ice Cream
How To Store Flourless Chocolate Cake
Unlike other cakes, this one is delicate and moist so should be stored in the refrigerator. Wrap it in plastic wrap or keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will last up to four days. For longer storage, freeze the cake for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Flourless Chocolate Cake {Gluten Free Recipe}
Ingredients
- 1 bag (10 ounces) dark chocolate chips
- ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks / 170 g) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Then, line with parchment paper on the bottom and up the sides. Wrap 2 pieces of heavy-duty aluminum foil around the bottom and sides of the pan. Set aside.
- To a microwave-safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and butter. Heat for 20-second intervals until the chips have melted and the mixture is smooth with no lumps.
- Add vanilla extract and set aside to cool while you prepare the egg mixture.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, add the eggs, sugar, espresso powder, and salt. Whisk on medium speed until the eggs are light in color, thickened, and doubled in volume (about 8-9 minutes).
- To the whipped egg mixture, add the melted chocolate and butter. Continue mixing until fully incorporated, another 1-2 minutes. Pour batter into springform pan.
- Carefully place the springform pan into a larger pan, placing both into the oven. Fill the larger pan with boiling water about halfway up the side of the springform pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. The center will still look wet but the outer edge will look set.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the springform pan for 5 minutes. Remove the springform pan from the water bath and carefully drain the hot water.
- Refrigerate the cake for 4 hours, or up to overnight.
- When ready to cut and serve, run the blade of the knife under hot water, wipe dry, and slice. Repeat for each cut. If it makes it easier, freeze the cake for a while before cutting.
Video
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What the Test Kitchen had to say about this recipe:
Autumn
Calling all chocoholics! Who knew flourless cake could taste this good? This cake is rich and velvety and the perfect choice for chocolate lovers!
Elizabeth
This cake is like eating chocolate mousse in a cake form! I love the crusty top with the super soft, almost ooey-gooey-like center. And the chocolate flavor is spot on.
Rachael
Flourless chocolate cake is deliciously fudgy and chocolatey! Perfect for cake lovers and fudge lovers, since it's basically a fudgy cake!
Selena
This cake will blow your mind! It's so perfectly balanced with the sugar and the chocolate and the texture is amazing. It reminds me of chocolate mousse. The other lovely thing about it is that it is fairly easy to make.
Annabelle
This cake is crazy! Looks like a cake, but it's almost like a mousse. It's so delicious!
Bella
Flourless chocolate cake is so interesting but in a great way! Each bite is rich, fudgy, and soft. So tasty!
This looks amazing!
I love flourless chocolate cake – I can’t wait to try Michelle’s!!
I am SO grateful to Daniela Weiner for contributing this amazing recipe to my new book. She has SO much talent and passion – for her work in the kitchen (and for her dogs!).
Michelle
(author of The Whole Family Cookbook) and friend of Dani’s
I am vegan and a fair amount of people in the vegan community are also GF, this looks great and cannot wait to try it. I would love to see you work with some vegan recipes as well.
are you teaching Eddie to cook already! I sure hope so. Your cake is beautiful and includes chocolate – need i say more?
Love the cake! What a treat!
This cake sounds and looks like such a delicious treat Amanda!!
Thanks so much for linking up! I featured your post in my wrap up! http://tidymom.net/2011/spring-ideas/
Have a GREAT weekend!
Look at you going all gluten free like that. I really dig GF lately. Not only do I like the flavor better-but I think I feel better eating it. I think. Michelle has a great book, so proud of her 🙂
xo
Oh my heavens! This looks perfectly fudgy! Is it kind of like a dense brownie – that’s what I like!
And I love powdered sugar on chocolate desserts too, simple but satisfying:)
Looks simply scrumptious! And so beautiful, too!