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).
Love love love this cake! Is it freezable?
Yes 100%! N x
Is there anyway I can make this cake a bit bigger? Like a 22cm cake pan? any help appreciated!!
This turned out great both times I made it. Any chance you could share your flourless orange cake recipe? It sounds delicious 😋
YES! Pop a request on my recipe request page and I’ll add it to my list 🙂 N x
I’m keen to try this out. I can’t use cooking chocolate because I need dairy free. Anyway to make eating chocolate work? I generally use 90% dark chocolate.
Great recipe, all the family love it, thanks so much
You’re so welcome Trish! ❤️
Hi Nagi, looks delicious, as well as easy to make. I’d love to see your Flourless Orange Cake recipe too.
Merry Christmas!
Helen from Arrowtown
Hi Nagi, i made this cake and it turned out soo good, i did frosting with whipped cream cocoa and little bit of brown sugar. Thank you for recipe
Hi Nagi
I made the Flourless Chocolate cake & it turned out perfect… so I made a 2nd one which I’m going to sandwich together with either whipped cream & rasberries with rasberries dusted lightly with cocoa on top…. or sandwich together with a THIN ganache layer & same berry/cocoa topping.
Probably whipped cream or Mascarpone to serve.
Sounds divine Heather!
Nagi, just love you and Dozer. I see you use Almond meal OR Almond flour…do you prefer one over the other as it seems it would make a big difference in texture?
Hi Nagi
LOVE your page.
Can you tell me if the Flourless Chocolate Cake can be frozen. I’d like to make it about 17/12 so I can cook other Christmas foods.
I’ve learnt so much from your Tips segment. Made the BEST batch of Scones of my life recently…. & I’m nearly 70 yrs old 🤣🤗
Hi Heather, yes it can be frozen! Just thaw in the fridge – you’ll love it!!
Dozer is so cute and beautiful.Thank you so much for your delicious recipes and all your tips especially the ham recipe.wishing you and dozer a wonderful Christmas 🎄😛🐶💐🥰🥰🥰
Thanks so much Carol ❤️
Have you or anyone else turned the Flourless Chocolate Cake into CUPCAKES? I’d like hubby to be able to grab one from the freezer, plop on whipping cream & fruit whenever he likes … he’s the only celiac in the family.
I’m sure you could Conni! Just reduce the cook time to 20 minutes – N x
Hi Nagi.!! This cake look amazing. I would like to know if I can use rice flour instead of almond flour. Thanks!
Hi Carola, sorry rice flour wont work in this recipe as written – N x
Could you make the Flourless Orange Cake and put it on the website? I’d love to try it!
Hi Meg, feel free to pop any requests on my recipe request page, I have list I’m working through 🙂
So good, I ground my own whole natural almonds, because I didn’t have any ground almonds. Eating it warm now, rich and delish,…and made a second, 3 days later it’s still awesome. Winning recipe!
Sounds amazing Vivienne!
Hi Nagi. This cake tastes delicious, my whole family love it. I will be baking it again for my 2 years old one bd. The only change I made it was using coconut sugar and it was still plenty sweet enough for us.
Thank you for the recipe.
Ps. There was no crater surface 😉
That’s awesome to know Paulina, thanks so much!
I’ve never made flourless anything in my entire life, but I’ve just made this recipe twice in the past two days for two different occasions and in each case, it was a big hit! So delicious and so easy to make!
I’m so glad you love it Bronwen!!
Hi Nagi,,
Im catering for my hubby’s birthday and wonder if your flourless chocolate cake freezes ok? Would make it much easier if it does???
Hi Chris, this should freeze fine – N x
So… the wedding cake story…?
Thank you for sharing this recipe! It’s the perfect consistency – so dense and rich. I made it for my mum’s birthday (she’s coeliac) and topped it with chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries. My partner declared it ‘better than a gluten cake’ which is the highest of praise 😂
Woah that’s great Gemma!!