Flourless Chocolate Cake

Flourless chocolate cake lovers can rejoice – because here’s the best flourless chocolate cake recipe! With just 5 ingredients it’s easy, ultra rich and decadent, gluten-free, nut-free, paleo and keto friendly.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

With the holidays right around the corner it truly is the baking time of year. Last year’s wildly successful desserts – my Amazing Paleo Chocolate Cake and Vegan Caramel Cheesecake – are still reader favorites. And if you haven’t yet made them, you should.

But for Christmas this year I wanted something simple and easy, yet still dazzling to the eyes. Let me introduce you to my Flourless Chocolate Cake!

Most flourless chocolate cakes are extremely dense, almost fudge-like. And while those are delicious, I was aiming for something lighter, fluffier and more cake like. Because if I want fudge, I’ll eat fudge, but when I want cake, I truly want cake.

Ingredients in Flourless Chocolate Cake

With just 5 ingredients, this flourless chocolate cake is pretty fool proof. It’s just semi-sweet chocolate, butter, eggs, coconut sugar and espresso powder.

I use coconut sugar instead of processed white sugar for a natural sugar. But you could also use maple syrup. If you do use maple syrup, the end result won’t have the crackle on top (as maple syrup has more moisture) and it’ll be slightly sweeter. The coconut sugar version will have a more cake-like texture, the maple syrup one a lighter texture.

And for those following a low-carb or keto diet, you can substitute a keto-friendly sugar like monkfruit.

The choice is yours. All variations are delicious.

Is Flourless Chocolate Cake Gluten-Free?

Yes, it is! That’s the beauty of this recipe. There’s absolutely no flour involved.

My version of flourless chocolate cake can also be made paleo (just swap the butter with coconut oil) and low carb or keto (swap in a keto-friendly sugar like monkfruit or erythritol). All sugar variations can be swapped in on a 1:1 ratio.

How to Make Flourless Chocolate Cake

Start by separating your eggs. Put the egg whites in a small bowl and the yolk in a different bowl. This will also help them come to room temperature.

Add the chocolate chips and butter to a large glass bowl and heat over a double-boiler. Use a bowl larger than what you need, as you’ll be adding egg whites to this mixture later. Stir the chocolate and butter together until it’s completely melted and silky smooth. Then remove it from the double boiler and let it cool to room temperate.

Add the egg whites to a stand mixer. Beat until you have soft peaks, then slowly add the coconut sugar (a small bit at a time) until it’s fully incorporated. Normally sugar would turn the egg whites glossy (like when you’re making a merengue), but that won’t happen in this case as the coconut sugar granules are much larger. And that’s fine. You just want them combined.

Once your chocolate is at room temperature add the egg yolks and stir to combine. Be sure to not add these while the chocolate is hot, otherwise you’ll end up with scrambled eggs in your chocolate, which is never ideal. Then, stir in the espresso powder.

Add 1/3 of the egg white mixture to the chocolate and stir to lighten it up. Don’t worry about deflating the egg whites in this first batch. Then add the remaining egg whites and gently fold them in, trying not to deflate them too much.

Pour the batter into a 9-inch greased springform pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. The cake will rise significantly as it cooks (like a soufflé), but will fall back down as it cools. That’s what gives it that lovely crackled texture on top.

Once it’s fully cooled, remove it from the pan and serve it plan with berries and coconut whipped cream or sprinkle cacao powder or homemade powdered sugar on top. Enjoy!

More Gluten-Free Chocolate Dessert Recipes

• Amazing Paleo Chocolate Cake
• Chocolate Mug Cake (gluten-free, paleo)
• Mint Double Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten-free, paleo)
• Chocolate Covered Bananas
• Chocolate Avocado Pudding with Hazelnuts and Sea Salt

Watch the Video of my Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe

And subscribe to my YouTube Channel for weekly cooking videos!