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.
The Best 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.
Watch the Video of my Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe
This cake is easy to whip up, but watch the quick video below for my step-by-step instructions. And you can subscribe to my YouTube Channel for weekly cooking videos!
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
Flourless Chocolate Cake (gluten-free, paleo)
Ingredients
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- 6 tablespoons butter, or coconut oil
- 6 large eggs, egg whites and yolks separated (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp espresso powder
- optional cacao powder, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit.
- Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. You can also line the bottom of the springform pan with parchment paper (on top of the butter) for easy removal.
- Add the chocolate and butter to a large glass bowl and melt over a double-boiler, stirring until fully melted. Alternatively, you can slowly heat the chocolate and butter in 20-second increments in the microwave. Remove the bowl from the double-boiler (or microwave) and let cool to room temperature.
- While the chocolate is cooling, add the egg whites to a large bowl and beat on medium-high until soft peaks form. Slowly add the coconut sugar while beating, about one tablespoon at a time, until fully incorporated. Set aside.
- To the melted and now room temperature chocolate add the egg yolks and espresso powder and stir together. (*Please make sure the chocolate is cooled to room temperature, otherwise you'll end up with scrambled eggs in your chocolate).
- Add 1/3 of the egg whites to the chocolate, then stir to combine and lighten the chocolate mixture. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites, trying not to deflate the mixture too much.
- Pour the batter in the springform pan and bake for 45 minutes. The cake will rise to the top of the springform pan while baking, but will deflate once cooled.
- Let the cake cool completely, then remove from the springform pan. Dust with cacao powder before serving.
Lisa's Tips
- My favorite chocolate chips are Pascha Chocolate Chips as they're gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. Very allergen-friendly!
- Sometimes it can be difficult to find espresso powder in the supermarket. I purchase this one from Amazon. Make sure to read my Paleo Chocolate Cake recipe to understand the amazing effect espresso powder has on chocolate desserts.
- Definitely use a springform pan and not a regular pan for this cake recipe. It makes it easy to remove and transfer to a serving plate.
- If you do opt for maple syrup in this recipe, you may need to cook the cake several minutes longer as maple syrup adds moisture to the recipe.