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 also made this with hazelnut flour, but it was just as good
I made this for my mums birthday, because it was gluten free, it was really easy to make and really delicious, definitely recommend.
I just made this cake for the first time. I’m not a natural chef at all but this cake turned out to be just like the photo and delicious! As described it is very moist. It also has a great texture! I used sugar free chocolate chips in replacement for the dark chocolate and xylitol instead of sugar so it is sugar free!
Perfect Alexand, I’m so glad it worked out for you! N x
This is the most amazing cake I have ever had!! Super easy to make and it was so delicious. My family all loved it just as much!!
Sounds like you nailed it Erin!! N x
Nagi I have never in my life commented on a recipe but after making this cake upwards of 10 times and immensely pleasing both GF and non-GF friends – I have to say THANK YOU!!! I don’t even like chocolate cake but I love this cake. This is a cake recipe for life!
Wahoo!! That’s awesome to hear Karen! N x
About the almond flour chocolate cake–it call for 200 g of chocolate — how much is that if you want to use unsweetened Baker’s chocolate bar? I’ve never used the little chocolate “wafers” I saw in the recipe video nor do I know where to get them. Do they have sugar?
Hi Maritza, this is cooking chocolate, you can use a block of chocolate if you like, you’ll just need the same weight (200g)- N x
I love making flourless chocolate cakes but, like you, I’ll never go back to the whipped egg white version after trying this (why would you?!) This is so good, so easy and very forgiving. Thanks for another game changer recipe. I cook your recipes 2-3 times a week and sing your praises after each, so much that my husband jokes that I’d choose you over him.
😂 This is great Sumi! N x
Me and my family absolutely loved this recipe! Would it work if I halved the ingredients in each layer and did a multi layer cake for a birthday?
Hi Chloe – I haven’t tried using this one as a layer cake as it’s a little delicate I’m not sure how it would hold up to being stacked. Would love to know if you try it! N x
This cake was sooo delicious!! My entire family loved it and we demolished it it two nights ahah 🙂 Definitely recommend everyone to try this recipe!!
Just delicious, quick easy and just yum !
Hi do I have to use almond flour as opposed to plain flour?
Thanks so much!
Hi Amber – this is a flourless chocolate cake – so it doesn’t use wheat flour. If you’re after a standard chocolate cake try this one: https://discountspot.info/chocolate-cake/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
This recipe was absolutely perfect ! I used hazelnut meal and it tasted like a Ferrero Rocher !
OHHH YUM! I must try this Anushka! N x
Wow!!! This cake is amazing. So easy and so satisfying. It’s the perfect cross between a cake and a brownie. Will be making this again soon for sure!
YES! I’m so glad you loved it Caroline! N x
Can I use my cast iron pan instead of spring form. Do you think I would need to preheat it? Would cooking time be different?
Hi Alla, I haven’t tried to be honest! N x
Made this cake and it didn’t even last a day. could this be made in a rectangle cake tin.
Looks great ❣️
What sugar substitutes would you suggest?
Love to see the orange version
I replaced the sugar with 1/3 cup of 100% Maple Syrup and it worked well. Tasty and really easy to make cake! Thanks
Its a hit!!! we loved it!!! 🙂
That’s great to hear Teena! N x
Just cooked this cake for my husbands birthday. It is a definite winner! Easy to make and beautiful fudgy texture. It will be our new favourite!
Wahoo, that’s great to hear Sharon! N x
Hello Nagi! Thank you for the recipe, it looks great. Do you think I can substitue half of the almond flour for hazelnut flour? (100gm almond, 90gm hazelnut)
I would love to make the fake this weekend, but almond flour was in short supply.
Thanks for your advice!!
Yes definitely Kamini!!! N x
Hello Nagi! My mouth exploded with such rich and chocolat-ey goodness. Thank you so much for this recipe. Im jumping this bandwagon instead of the normal chocolate cake. Your recipes are the best! 👍🏼
I’m so glad you loved it Marha!! N x