This flourless chocolate cake needs just four ingredients to make and yields a perfectly light and rich dessert that melts in your mouth!
If you’ve tried our flourless brownies before, you KNOW that we do flourless desserts right.
A flourless chocolate cake has a lighter and creamier texture than a traditional chocolate cake. Like an almond flour cake, it’s silky but just as rich as you’d expect it to be. It also melts in your mouth!
We’ve been making it for years and I can’t believe it’s taken so long for me to share it with you all.
Table of Contents
The best flourless chocolate cake
Whether you follow a diet that doesn’t include white flour or you simply don’t have flour on hand, this is the cake recipe that you need on hand.
- Just 4 ingredients. Like funnel cake, all you need are pantry staples like eggs and butter and let’s not forget the signature ingredient: chocolate!
- Naturally gluten-free. This is one of those ‘accidentally’ gluten-free desserts. Because there isn’t any flour or grains in this cake (like the 2 ingredient version), it’s also grain-free, too!
- It bakes in 35 minutes. We make this cake very often because it’s just so fast to make. There’s been MANY times we’ve forgotten a birthday or special holiday which needed a cake to be whipped up in pretty much no time at all.
This flourless chocolate cake recipe is similar to my keto flourless chocolate cake but lighter, richer, and uses classic baking staples. Here is what you’ll need:
- Eggs. Room temperature eggs are best, especially as the yolks and the whites will be separated.
- Superfine sugar. Also known as caster sugar (Uk/Australia folks!). If you don’t have this on hand, standard white sugar will also work.
Make your own superfine sugar
Using superfine sugar will yield a lighter cake than standard sugar. You can make it yourself by blending down white sugar. Avoid over-blending or else you will be left with powdered/confectioners sugar.
- Chocolate. I like using semi-sweet or dark chocolate for this cake as I find the addition of sugar adds plenty of sweetness, but use whichever chocolate you prefer.
- Butter. Unsalted and softened to room temperature.
Dietary swap
If you can’t tolerate dairy, you can easily make this cake dairy free by using a plant based butter and swapping out the chocolate for dairy free chocolate or chocolate chips.
How to make a flourless chocolate cake
Step 1- Melt the chocolate and butter
Start by adding the chocolate and butter to a microwave-safe bowl and microwaving it in 30-second intervals until melted. Let it cool slightly.
Step 2- Beat the whites
Next, add the egg whites to a bowl, and using a hand mixer, beat together with the sugar until stiff peaks form.
Step 3- Make the cake batter
Now, add the yolks to the melted chocolate mixture until combined. Slowly fold through the egg whites until fully incorporated.
Step 4- Bake the cake
Finally, transfer the cake batter into a greased 9-inch cake pan and bake at 180C/350F for 35 minutes.
Let the cake cool completely, before slicing and serving.
- Gradually add sugar to the egg whites. If you add the sugar slowly into the egg whites while they are being whipped, you’ll find that achieving stiff peaks is much easier.
- Let the chocolate mixture cool slightly. Never add eggs or egg yolks to the freshly melted chocolate or else you’ll end up cooking them! To combat this, let your butter/chocolate mix for around 5-7 minutes, before adding in the yolks. Use the time it’s cooling to beat the egg whites!
- Dust with cocoa powder. Now, this cake is sans frosting on purpose- it’s delicious enough as it is (if frosting is what you love, try a death-by-chocolate cake!). However, to bring out the sweetness even more, lightly dust some cocoa powder on top. Yes, cocoa powder on its own is bitter but a mouthful of this cake with a touch of cocoa powder on top is *chef’s kiss*.
- Avoid over-baking. Because this cake needs to be cooled completely before slicing, it naturally will continue to bake as it cools down. Remove the cake from the oven when it slight crust forms on top OR when it reaches an internal temperature of 200F.
To store: While this cake keeps very well at room temperature, I prefer keeping it stored in the refrigerator and it gets a deeper and richer flavor. It will keep at room temperature for up to five days or refrigerated for up to two weeks.
To freeze: Place slices of the cooled cake in a shallow container and store it in the freezer for up to 6 months.
More flourless dessert recipes to try
Once you’ve made this flourless cake, you’ll be obsessed with baking without flour! Here are some favorites to try:
Not necessarily! While flourless does typically mean it does not contain white or wheat flour in it, there are often other ingredients in it that may not be suitable for celiacs or those who are gluten-free. Always double check the other ingredients to make sure.
Unfortunately, this is not the dessert to make if you have an egg allergy or do not consume eggs. Because both the whites and yolks have different purposes, an egg substitute won’t work for this. Try a vegan chocolate cake or German chocolate cake instead.
No, a flourless cake does not necessarily have fewer carbs than a traditional cake. Most typically still use chocolate and sugar in them. If you’d like a lower carb dessert, try a low carb flourless chocolate cake.
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Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 8 oz chocolate chopped
- 1/3 cup butter room temperature
- 6 large eggs separated
- 1/2 cup superfine sugar * See notes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line and grease a 9-inch cake pan and set aside.
- In a microwave-safe bowl or stovetop, add the chocolate and butter and melt together. Let it cool slightly.
- While the chocolate is cooling, add the egg whites to a mixing bowl and beat on low speed. Slowly add the sugar until stiff peaks form.
- Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mix until combined.
- Gently fold through the whipped egg whites until fully incorporated.
- Transfer the cake batter to the greased cake pan. Smooth out the top using a rubber spatula.
- Bake the cake for 35 minutes, or until a thin crust forms on top or the cake reaches an internal temperature of 200F.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
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My apologies but I accidentally hit the star ratings twice, while I was trying to see if there was a comment. I have not made this recipe yet. I hit four star and five star. Don’t know if you can reverse it or not or if it even matters but just wanted to let you know. I will try the recipe though, it does sound good.
How can I use maple syrup or honey instead of sweetner
Not sure- only tried it with the granulated kind. Feel free to experiment and see.
This was such an excellent recipe! I tried a “healthier” cake once and it didn’t go so well. This was a welcome success! I used zero sugar chocolate chips and monkfruit sweetener and it came out absolutely devine…I ended up making two! Thank you!
I need to make this in a Bundt cake shape. Could I double check he recipe for 12 inch Bundt??
I haven’t tried but you’ll need to experiment and see