What dessert do you make when you need an intense, amazing, and rich dessert, but don’t want to spend hours fussing in the kitchen? When you want a showstopper of dessert? Easy flourless chocolate cake is exactly what you make.
Just four ingredients, and one of them is a whole POUND of chocolate, so get the best tasting chocolate you can! Soon you will be on your way to a decadent torte of chocolate nirvana.
Hello, all!
Easy Flourless Chocolate Cake
This flourless chocolate cake is a recipe I’ve been making for many years. I remember seeing the recipe in an issue of Cook’s Illustrated and I loved the simplicity of it – basically just chocolate, butter, and eggs. Plus coffee, though I’ve changed that to Kahlua. 🙂
Because why not?
Like my Chocolate Lava Cakes, I like to keep it simple with this cake. Because a chocolate torte this rich and this dense and this melt in your mouth good doesn’t need anything fancy.
A little fruit – I like strawberries or raspberries. A little shake of powdered sugar. And that’s it!
This is a dessert which can speak for itself.
As for you? You’ll be reduced to little sounds of happiness as you eat every last morsel.
What do you need?
Now that I’ve convinced you to make this, while the dessert isn’t difficult, you will need a few tools!
Two important ones are: a mixer – either a hand held mixer or a stand mixer – and a springform pan. If you have those rattling around your kitchen, you are good to go!
You need the mixer so you can whip those eggs into a foam. Yes, if you have a very strong arm and feel like spending some time, you can use a whisk, but that’s a lot of work.
A mixer is really the way to go. If you have a standing mixer, even better since it can work while you melt the chocolate.
And the springform pan allows you to easily remove the cake for serving. Just open up the side and you can serve it right on the base. Or use some parchment and slide it off onto a serving tray.
Other than that, you need a pot and a heat safe bowl and some spoons/spatulas.
Tips on making this chocolate torte
Just a few more bit of advice before I give you the recipe.
1 – Don’t overcook it! It won’t look completely done when you take it out and that is okay. 140F is the temperature you are shooting for. Once you see it, it’s time to get it out of the oven.
2 – It needs some time to rest. It’s hard work becoming such a great cake! So, make it the day before and let it relax in the fridge. You can even let it rest for a few days, since it’s still yummy even days later. (Though don’t let it sit for a whole week! 3-4 days is plenty.)
3 – A warm knife and a cloth to wipe it down in between cuts is the best way to cut it neatly.
Intense Chocolate Desserts
Here are a few more of my favorite intense chocolate recipes!
- Amazing Fudgy Brownies with Peppermint Ganache
- Dark Chocolate Panna Cotta
- Soft and Chewy Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Rich Pistachio and Chocolate Baklava
- Dark Chocolate Mousse Pie
If you try my recipe for Flourless Chocolate Cake, I would love to hear from you in the comments with your experience and rating! And I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.
You can connect with me by subscribing to my emails or liking my Facebook or Pinterest (see the form and icons in the sidebar or below the recipe card)
– Happy Baking, Annemarie
Easy Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 8 large eggs
- 16 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
- 8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 2 tbsp coffee liqueur such as Kahlua
Instructions
- Move the oven rack to the lower middle position. Preheat the oven 325F.
- Grease the sides of a 9-inch springform pan with butter and then cut a parchment round to line the bottom of the pan. Wrap heavy duty aluminum foil around the outside of the pan to guard against leaks. Place the springform pan in a large straight sided skillet or roasting pan and begin heating water for the water bath. You will need enough water to reach about half-way up the side of the springform pan.
- Crack the eggs into the bowl of a standing mixer. Fit it with the wire whip attachment and start the mixer on medium low until the eggs begin to foam, about 30 seconds. Then increase the speed to medium high and whip until doubled in volume, the color is light, and the bubbles are very fine, about 5 minutes. If you are using a hand mixer, crack the eggs into a large bowl, start on medium and then whip them on high until they are done.
- Heat a medium saucepan of water on the stove until just beginning to simmer. Place a large heatproof bowl over the saucepan and melt the chocolate, butter, and coffee liqueur. Keep the water steaming, but not boiling and stir the chocolate mixture frequently until it is smooth and has reached 115F on a thermometer.
- Fold 1/3 of the egg foam into the chocolate with a large rubber spatula until it's mostly mixed in. Then add the next 1/3 of the egg and mix again. And finish with the last 1/3 of the egg, this time folding it in until it is thoroughly mixed in and the batter is homogeneous.
- Pour the batter into the springform pan, smoothing the top. Transfer the pan in the roasting pan to the oven and pour the water around it. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a thermometer in the center reaches 140F.
- Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Then wrap the cake in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight.
- Before serving, put the cake on the counter to warm up a bit. Then remove it from the springform pan. You can serve it right on the base or invert the cake onto a cutting board lined with wax paper and then invert it again onto a serving dish.
- If desired, serve with raspberries or strawberries and dust the cake with confectioners' sugar.
Notes
- Equipment: You will need an 8-inch or 9-inch springform pan. I use a 9-inch pan. If you are using an 8-inch pan increase the cooking time to 22-24 minutes.
- Coffee Liqueur: Feel free to skip the coffee liqueur or to use strong coffee in its place. Also, you can change up the flavor by using other liqueurs, such as orange, hazelnut, or raspberry.
- Getting the cake out of the pan: If the cake does not want to release from the bottom of the springform pan, a hair dryer is a great way to quickly warm up the bottom of the cake and soften the butter which is holding the cake in place.
- Chocolate seizing/splitting: If you overheat the chocolate, it will either seize or split. If the chocolate seizes, you will see it turn into a solid mass. If it splits, the fat will separate out. To prevent this, keep the temperature low as you melt the chocolate and be ready to take it off the heat if you think it is getting too hot.
- Source: Adapted from Cook's Illustrated.
Amy says
Could I make this in ramekins?
justalittlebitofbacon says
Probably. I never have but I’m sure there is a recipe out there somewhere for individual flourless chocolate cakes with the time and temp needed. Good luck.
Sharon says
My attempt was a failure. It is about 1/2 inch high. Don’t know what went wrong. Waste of $10 worth of chocolate.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Too bad! If you didn’t scorch the chocolate and followed the recipe, I have no idea what could have gone wrong, especially to make it so short.