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).
Candy says
Hi Nagi! Can I replace sugar with Monkfruit sugar for this recipe?
Thanks for sharing your love for baking and cooking ❣️
Kate says
I substituted the Choc chips with sugar free Choc chips and subbed the sugar with Erythritol. It worked out really well!
Emily says
Baked it in a loveheart tin for valentines day for my hubby. Another wonderful recipe. X
BB says
I used Monkfruit sweetener and it worked great!
Candy says
That’s awesome! I will make this for my Halloween birthday. No doubt that this will yummy. Thanks 😊
Nagi says
I haven’t tested that, Candy, so I do not know if it will work. N x
Raj says
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.
Nagi says
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
Katie McCloskey says
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!
Connie says
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?
Jess says
This recipe is DYNAMITE! So easy and so delicious.
sian says
this cake is so stunning I had to write a review. so easy to make, not too rich or sweet, like a fluffier brownie!!
Lucy says
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?
Maggie says
I actually noticed something strange – THEY ARE NOT YOUR HANDS NAGI!
Camille says
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.
Daphne says
Would I be able to use semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate?
SUHA MASSALKHI says
Would this work as cupcakes?
Nagi says
Hi Suha, this one is a little dense for cupcakes sorry! N x
Carol says
Super easy and works every time! Best of all it’s delicious 😋
Sarah says
Hi! I’m making a cake for my daughters birthday- I need to get it done right now! I font have any coco powder – do you think leaving it out will ruin the recipe? (I’ve got cacao but I think that’s very different!)
Thanks so much!
Nagi says
Hi Sarah, yes leaving it out will ruin the recipe unfortunately – it’s a chocolate cake and does require the cocoa for flavour. N x
Rupina Singh says
I baked this for my hubby’s birthday and it was a huge hit in our house. I decorated it with whipped cream, strawberries and raspberries but it actually doesnt need anything. It tastes amazing by itself. I also used up a lot of left over easter eggs which was a double win, they melted just fine with the butter, Thanks for a fab and easy recipe!
NawaalS says
So I baked this yesterday, YUMMMMMY, in a 23cm spring form pan as I don’t have a 20cm one and the sides came up higher than the rest of the cake although Nagi, your cake height is the same all round.
When I checked at 45mins, in parts the skewer still had some batter so I left it for an extra 5mins which, I think, was too long so next time I make one it will definitely leave for 45mins exactly.
I used a 50:50 mix of milk and dark couverture as it was all I had and the cake was so very delicious. You’re spot on, it really doesn’t even need cream.
Warmest wishes from sunny Johannesburg, South Africa
NawaalS
Hannah says
This cake is delicious. The taste and texture of a chocolate brownie – yum! I wasn’t sure I was going to like it because when I tried it hot out of the oven it was SO sweet, but it was great once it cooled to room temp 🙂 only issue I had was that it took 20 minutes longer to bake in my oven even though I had it at 160 (fan forced).
Mt says
Made this today and it was delicious! Not too sweet. Used powdered sugar instead of cocoa for dusting.
Nagi says
Sounds amazing Mt!! N x
Renee says
Omg!! this cake is soooo good and easy to make. I substituted the sugar for Swerve and it did not disappoint!! I will be making this cake on the regular😋😋
Sarah says
Delicious and easy!
Francene says
Just wanted to thank you for the beautiful recipe, it was so easy and delicious!