Flourless Chocolate Cake

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!

GREETINGS FROM CANADA! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Land of maple syrup and ice hockey – and a few other things I’m told. 😉 I’m here visiting my friend Jo from Jo Cooks in Calgary. At the time this post goes live, I will have just landed so I will have nothing to report other than being bleary eyed and jet lagged after 18 hours of travel. But stay tuned for updates – especially reports from the Calgary event of the year – CALGARY STAMPEDE!!!!

Getting back to regular foodie chat – this Flourless Chocolate Cake. Usually, it’s made by beating egg whites then folding it through the batter to make it rise. Mine is a “dump and mix” version made using baking powder.

I absolutely swear to you, the way I make this isn’t even about taking the easy way out i.e. avoiding pulling out my stand mixer to beat the egg whites.

This recipe came about because I just didn’t like the way flourless cakes made using egg whites 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 (not by choice). The crater surface annoyed me.

So I fixed it. 🙂 And as it so happens, my fixed version is literally a dump-and-mix job (see video below!).

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…???

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Flourless Chocolate Cake

Author: Nagi

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 45 mins

Total: 55 mins

4.95 from 58 votes

Servings8 - 12

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Typically, flourless chocolate cakes require egg whites beaten until stiff. Such cakes rise more when baking, but then it sinks more once cooled, creating a “crater” on the surface and a slightly denser cake. This recipe made using a touch of baking powder yields are slightly fluffier cake – plus it’s far easier and quicker, and the cake has a level surface. The surface has a thin crackly layer like brownies and the inside is lovely and moist. This cake is also quite forgiving - no need for measuring ingredients to the exact gram. Video below.

Ingredients

• ▢ 200 g / 1 ½ cups dark chocolate (Note 1)
• ▢ 120 g / 1 stick melted butter
• ▢ ¾ cup / 165g white sugar
• ▢ 3 large eggs at room temperature (60g/2oz each+) (Note 2)
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla
• ▢ ¼ cup / 17g cocoa powder (preferably Dutch processed i.e. the more expensive stuff)
• ▢ ½ tsp baking powder
• ▢ 2 cups / 190g almond meal / almond flour (or hazelnut flour)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan forced / convection).
• 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:

1. If you use small chocolate bits, it's fine to use a cup to measure. If using a block of chocolate or large chocolate button / melts, weight them. Eating chocolate is not suitable for this recipe - it doesn't melt smoothly enough. So ensure you use the chocolate sold in the baking aisle.

2. If you use fridge cold eggs, you will notice the batter is thicker. It will still work just fine, but room temperature eggs is better – it makes the batter pourable into the pan. Cake may also need an extra 5 minutes in the oven.

3. This cake is sturdy enough to be used for a layer cake. Double the recipe and cook in separate pans.

4. STORAGE: Keeps for 4 - 5 days in an airtight container at room temperature. If it's very hot where you are, fridge would be best, but always serve at room temperature!

5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 12 servings. This is quite rich. 🙂

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

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. 🙂

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).