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).
Kellie says
Magnificent cake!! Super fudgy and delicious. Gets better each day. Amazing! Thank you
Nagi says
That’s great to hear Kellie – sounds like your self control is much better than mine 😂🙊
susie says
I live in the US…..you said not to use eating chocolate. So do you mean the non sweetened baking chocolate? Thanks….want to make this for Valentine’s day!
Nagi says
Hi Susie, yes dark chocolate that’s labelled as cooking chocolate ☺️
Zee says
Hi Nagi, I love your website and have had much success with your recipes. I made the flourless chocolate cake and have two questions:
1) My cake turned out really crumbly. My cake tin with 22.5cm. Do you think the bigger cake tin made a difference? Should i have cut down on the baking time?
2) Can I bake the cake in a square tin and cut it up into squares as I would for brownies? Thank you!
Nagi says
Hi Zee, yes the thinner the cake (ie the bigger the tin) the quicker it will take to cook as the batter is spread thinner. Try cooking a little less and testing as you go. You can cook in a square tin, but again just adjust the cook time and test it as it cooks ❤️
Stephanie sari says
Hi Nagi, im thinking to bake this tonight to bring over to my friend’s place tomorrow, how do i store it to keep it fresh? Do i need to refrigerate that after cool down?
Nagi says
Hi Stephanie, just store in an airtight container ☺️
Claire says
Is there any dairy-free replacement for the chocolate you recommend?
Nagi says
Hi Claire, I haven’t tried to be honest – I know you can buy dairy free chocolate but I haven’t tested it in this recipe. Love to know if you try it and it works!
anne says
Hi, I baked your flourless chocolate cake for my family gathering and everyone loved it! In facet my sis in law requested be to bake it for her birthday next year instead of getting it from the bakery. I have used baking chocolate with sugar for this cake. I would like to know if it is alright to use unsweetened baking chocolate instead. If so, do I still stick to the original amount sugar as listed in the recipe? Thank you.
anne says
Hi Nagi,
I bake your Flourless chocolate cake and everyone loves so much! In fact, my sis in law has requested me to bake it instead of buying a cake for her birthday next year 🙂
Thank you for your wonderful recipe.
Will you be sharing your flourless orange cake soon (hint, hint)? I really look forward to it.
Anne
Tracey says
Easy, delicious and reliable – saving this recipe for sure!
Nagi says
That’s so great to hear Tracey! I’m so pleased you enjoyed this, thank you for letting me know! N x
Lucy says
This is the best! Will make again and again!
Nagi says
Glad you enjoyed this Lucy!!! Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback! N x
Ellie says
Just made this tonight for my own birthday cake (that sounds sad but it isn’t – the kids like me to have a cake and I wanted one I really wanted to eat!) and it was awesome!!
The only thing I did differently was to add a little pinch of salt and a little more vanilla (I used a tsp and a half but it may just be that my vanilla isn’t very strong.)
Nagi says
That’s great to hear Ellie!! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it! N x
Maria says
Can I use egg replacer instead of eggs to make this recipe vegan? They should work to stick things together.
Nagi says
I’m not familiar with egg replacers Maria, sorry! 🙂 N x
Maria says
I made this yesterday using egg replacer instead of eggs, and coconut oil instead of butter to make it vegan and it worked wonderfully. I got approval from my very fussy about chocolate cake husband so thanks so much for the recipe, Nagi! I’ll definitely be making this again for vegan and gluten intolerant friends.
Linda says
I made it today it looks amazing just as you described mine looks exactly the same
Awesome
Nagi says
🙌🏻 So great to hear!! N x
Colin Hughes says
Can it be frozen
Nagi says
Hmm for this one I don’t recommend it, sorry!
Colin says
Ok thanks, I’m making it for a bake sale, will it be ok to make the day before then and leave at room temperature overnight?
Nagi says
Yes definitely!
Megan says
Hi Nagi,
I’m planning to make this delicious looking cake for my husband’s birthday and he’s a big fan of those chocolate oranges you get this time of year. Do you think I’d get enough orange flavor just adding zest to the recipe , or would it need an extract as well? In addition or instead of the vanilla?
Thanks!
I love getting your recipe emails every week. So many ideas, so little time!
Nagi says
Hmm, I think I would add 1 1/2 – 2 tsp of orange zest then also orange extract, and judge it by taste (ie tasting the batter) I hope that helps! And I’m so glad you’re enjoying my recipes!! N xx
Megan says
Thanks for your reply! I made this with the zest of two oranges and did half vanilla half orange extract and it came out just right flavor-wise. Used primarily bittersweet chocolate and weighed everything except the eggs (which I regretted because my eggs seemed smaller than usual). Next time will weigh those too, and check my oven 10 minutes earlier (apparently my oven runs too hot so it got a little drier than I think it was supposed to be. I’m my own worst critic! Husband thought it came out amazing as it was and is already requesting I make it again. Thanks!! Have a happy new year!
Nagi says
That’s so great to hear Megan! Thanks for letting me know – N x ❤️
Lucy says
Love your recipes!!! Always turn about amazing!! Just wondering if this cake would be stack-able into a layer cake that I could decorate? Or is it too soft? Any recommendations on how I could adapt it to make it stack-able?
Nagi says
Hi Lucy! Too scared to stack this one, it’s more fragile than the usual cake. Sorry, can’t think of a way around this! 🙁 N x
Lucy says
Hey Nagi,
Thanks for your reply, unfortunately I didn’t see it in time and actually stacked it in the end. I don’t know if it’s because I used ganache between the layers but managed to work perfectly as a tripple stacked cake!
Edilia says
Hi Nagi
Could you make this into cupcakes and what time/temperature would you recommend it be cooked for.
Husband’s birthday in a restaurant and cupcakes would be easier to handle.
Nagi says
Yes! Same temp 20 minutes. 🙂 Check with skewer!
Edilia F says
Thanks so much.
Brayandi Edwards says
Is a spring form pan necessary? I don’t have one. Can i use a bundt pan or round cake pan
Nagi says
Round cake pan is fine Branyandi!
Laura says
Great instructions, so easy to follow and ended up with a divine cake that was enjoyed by everyone. Had it with dollop cream and strawberries, perfect addition to this rich fudgey cake. Thank you Nagi, so glad I found your website.
Oy Len says
I’m baking it now. And now I’m asking questions 🙂
Question 1 – how do you get the wax paper to stick around the pan ? I butter the sides of the pan and the paper still didn’t stick as well as was shown in your video.
Question 2 – do you butter the pan and the paper ? I did both
Question 3 – by white sugar, do you mean castor sugar or granulated sugar ? I used granulated sugar.
Nagi says
Hi Oy! 1) Use more butter 🙂 It works, really does 2) Nope, I just butter the pan 3) Granulated is fine! 🙂 N x
Oy Len says
Hi Nagi, it’s Oy Len. Thank you so much for your super prompt response to my questions.
Am so happy to report it turned out really well. Not as pretty as yours, it didn’t have that thin crackly top like brownies, but the texture was great. And yes, it didn’t sink in the centre. Love it. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe 🙂
Nagi says
Thanks for the great review Oy! I’m SO pleased to hear you enjoyed it! N xx
Oy Len says
Cake looks yummy and the recipe sounds so simple.
Your video is a great help, I think I can bake it !
Nagi says
YES you can! It’s simple 🙂 N xx
Ana says
Hi Ms. Nagi! Can I make this as base for fondant? Thanks in advance.
Nagi says
Hi Ana! I would worry this is too delicate for a heavy fondant, sorry! N xx