Fudgey and decadent, this is my (extremely) easy flourless chocolate cake made using almond flour. No beating egg whites – I find it works better to use a touch of baking powder instead. The surface of the cake stays level rather than rising then collapsing into a crater, and the inside has a tender crumb instead of being dense. And the added bonus is that it’s ridiculously fast to make!
Flourless Chocolate Cake
This recipe is how I make flourless chocolate cake which is not the usual way but I think it yields better results with the bonus that it’s easier to make. That’s a double win in my books!
Usually, flourless chocolate cake is made by beating egg whites then folding it through the batter to make it rise. However, I almost always found that the cake would rise while baking, but then collapse into a crater while cooling. Or, if it didn’t collapse while cooling, I would tip toe around it with fear that the slightest floor vibration would make it collapse, and scold Dozer if he dared to trot through the house with his heavy footed paws.
Even if it held up while cooling, with the first cut, it would definitely collapse. And forget decorations! OR – use the decorations to hide the crater.
You get my drift. I like flourless chocolate cake – and one of my best friends’ is gluten free. The crater surface annoyed me.
So I fixed it. 🙂 A simple “dump and mix” version made with the aid of a bit of baking powder which makes the same fudge flourless chocolate cake that is much more stable.
It took a few goes to get it right. I was interested to find that almond flour / almond meal is highly sensitive to baking powder. Normally, the flour to baking powder ratio is 1 cup : 2 teaspoons, so I tried this with almond flour. The lift this gave the cake while baking was astonishing – it almost overflowed.
Then when I took it out of the oven, it collapsed.
Again – a crater. Humph!
So I tried again, drastically cutting down the baking powder to 1/4 tsp to 1 cup of almond flour. And was amazed that it worked – perfectly. Enough lift to give this cake a crumb like a cake, rather than being brownie-fudgey, but not so much that the surface rises then collapses into a carter surface.
No more craters! No more craters!
It is really hard to capture the texture of this cake in photos. It’s fudgey, but not dense fudgey like brownies. It’s got more of a cake-like texture, but it is much fudgier than normal cakes. Fudgier than my Chocolate Fudge Cake.
It looks like it’s going to crumble but it doesn’t because it’s so moist. It’s intensely chocolatey with beautiful almond undertones, and the surface has a fine crackly layer – like brownies.
It’s really, really good. I’ve made it multiple times since I created it and have no intentions of ever reverting back to the “normal” way of making flourless chocolate cakes i.e. beating egg whites. It’s not just easier. I truly think this is better.
And…you know…..NO CRATER SURFACE!!!! 😉 – Nagi xx
PS. I’ve also finally shared my Whole Orange Cake, which is also flourless and child’s play to make! It’s the cake I made at a wedding I’ve spoken about previously which was held on a remote river. I made a tiered wedding cake from scratch without an oven. Curious…???
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe video! Best way to see the texture of the cake i.e. moist, tender crumb but fudgey, not dense and mud cake like. It was difficult to capture in photos. 🙂
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Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips (Note 1)
- 120g / 1 stick unsalted butter , melted
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3 large eggs at room temperature (60g/2oz each+) (Note 2)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder , sfited (preferably Dutch processed i.e. the more expensive stuff)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups almond meal / almond flour (or hazelnut flour)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (160°C fan).
- Butter and line a 20cm / 8" spring form pan.
- Melt chocolate and butter in microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between until smooth.
- Whisk in sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, whisking well until combined,
- Switch to wooden spoon. Add cocoa powder, baking powder and almond meal, fold through until just combined.
- Pour batter into pan, bake 45 min until top has thin crust and skewer comes out clean, not smeared with batter.
- Cool cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove sides. Cool completely on rack before carefully removing base.
- Dust with cocoa powder then serve. I served mine with strawberries and dollop cream, but it doesn’t need it!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Dozer only has 5 modes: #1 Sleeping #2 Eating #3 Hoping to eat #4 Playing #5 Hoping to play.
This is #5. (And you’ll see #3 in the video).
I cooked this flourless chocolate cake. The recipe says cook for 45 minutes. I didn’t check it sooner as my oven always takes longer than specified. I used a separate over thermometer to make sure the oven was 180°. Anyway my cake was over cooked – could have used it as a weapon. Next time I’ll check after 35 minutes.
Outstanding. Used Lily’s Sugar-free Dark Chocolate chips and granulated Erythritol-Monkfruit sweetener instead of white sugar. Fantastic texture and flavor and I love the crunchy top! Definitely making again.
I’ve made a few flourless chocolate cakes. But this is the simplest, tastiest I’ve ever had. Made it for Christmas and please had thirds. It is amazing. Thank you
Thanks for this recipe Nagi! I made this for my family for Christmas dessert and it was well received. What else besides just fruit and or whipped cream would you use for topping?
Hi Nagi
Do you think this recipe will work as cup cakes?
This is wonderful! For anyone who is dairy free, this recipe works perfectly with Nuttelex, and Lindt 70% dark chocolate for a dairy (and soy free) alternative.
Thanks for the tip, handy to have dairy and soy free chocolate that works well in recipies 🙂 we eat lindt in our family but wasn’t sure if it would work. Thanks again 😀
If I want to half the recipe would I just use 2 eggs rather than 3 or just one?
Thanks
Hello Nagi,
Thank you for another company worthy dessert. This cake was delicious and turned out great! I had my sister-in-law for supper who needs gluten free so this dessert was a life saver. I topped it with raspberries and blueberries and it was perfect. No whip cream needed. Thanks again for another quick, easy and scrumptious recipe!
I am so glad you enjoyed it Janine! N x
The kids made this for me for my birthday cake last week. I need more already 🤤
I made with butter. It was perfetly delish. Then i made it with coconut oil….very different…didnt rise and more fudgey but still edible….
Can you please clarify unsalted or normal butter? Thanks
Hi Nagi! Can I replace sugar with Monkfruit sugar for this recipe?
Thanks for sharing your love for baking and cooking ❣️
I substituted the Choc chips with sugar free Choc chips and subbed the sugar with Erythritol. It worked out really well!
Baked it in a loveheart tin for valentines day for my hubby. Another wonderful recipe. X
I used Monkfruit sweetener and it worked great!
That’s awesome! I will make this for my Halloween birthday. No doubt that this will yummy. Thanks 😊
I haven’t tested that, Candy, so I do not know if it will work. N x
Tried this out, measured everything correctly, but it was dense and too bitter (dark choc), can I sub half the dark choc for milk choc (or dark choc with less cocoa content)? May reduce the oven temp too to give a less dense finish internally.
Try it with a different brand of dark chocolate…one that you like eating on its own. I wouldn’t reduce the oven temp as it might not rise correctly. N x
Fantastic. My 19yo requested a flourless chocolate cake for his birthday. Have done the egg white version before but this was so much easier, and better texture. Fans for life. Thanks!
I baked mine for 45 mins at 180 Celsius and the top was burnt. I had to trim the top off to eat the cake. It still tasted good underneath. Do you think my oven was too hot?
This recipe is DYNAMITE! So easy and so delicious.
this cake is so stunning I had to write a review. so easy to make, not too rich or sweet, like a fluffier brownie!!
The recipe is amazing! Love it. Could the butter be substituted with a vegetable oil or a non-dairy butter substitute? I wondering if it could be an option for friends who are gluten and dairy free?
I actually noticed something strange – THEY ARE NOT YOUR HANDS NAGI!
I made this cake this morning for my dad for FATHER’S DAY.
I didn’t have a spring form tin so I used my glass baking dish and I used 200g IKEA dark chocolate as that’s what I had in the fridge. I also used 1 tlb spoon of maple syrup as I don’t have sugar. The dough tasted great.
It has turned out so well… I’ll let you know how it tastes with that chocolate.
Would I be able to use semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate?