Flourless chocolate cake in a cake pan cake pan lined with non-stick paper

This recipe is perfect for beginners because it requires little blending. In addition, cheers up any occasion due to its deep chocolate flavour. Third, it meets the needs of people who are willing to try a gluten free cake recipe because it contains only ground almonds.

When you bake to your friends for the first time, try to make them guess what is included. It will be fun to observe how answers will vary. When I asked my friends, they always went too far with explanations trying to guess what was a simple flourless chocolate cake. The original texture can mislead our taste buds in a surprisingly delicious way.

How did I develop this recipe?

I came across this recipe in Australia’s Women Weekly. In the original recipe, hazelnut meal is the main ingredient, but the recipe asks for refined sugar. My version uses almond flour (skinless ground almonds) and brown sugar, or whole sugar.

If you want to know in more details the difference between almond flour and almond meal look here.

I baked different versions using gradually less sugar until I found out the right balance between sugar and dark chocolate. The organic dark chocolate contains 60% of cocoa. You can use 70% if you love an intense chocolate flavour.

This recipe requires unsalted melted butter and chocolate melted as well. If you want to know how to melt chocolate fast in the microwave, look here.

Ingredients of chocolate flourless cake recipe

Ingredients

  • 80 ml hot water
  • 35 g cocoa powder (cacao only no sugar)
  • 150 g melted butter (unsalted)
  • 150 g melted dark chocolate (60% or 70% cacao)
  • 200 g raw sugar (wholesome sugar or rapadura)
  • 125 g almond flour (skinless ground almonds, the kind with a fluffy texture and a light cream colour)
  • 4 eggs, separated egg whites and yolks
  • Cocoa powder for decoration (optional)

Skills you need

Just a few skills:

  • To separate egg yolks from egg whites .
  • To whip egg whites until soft peaks appear.
  • To melt chocolate. If you want to know how to melt chocolate in the microwave without burning it click here.

Instructions

Be sure to read the full recipe and ingredients list.

Some tips for making this recipe

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 F or 180 C.
  2. Line a cake pan with baking paper on the bottom and at sides.
  3. Heat water in the stove or pour cold water in a mug and heat in the microwave, until warm, no need to boil.
  4. In a bowl, blend hot water with cocoa powder until cocoa dissolves completely.
  5. Add brown sugar, melted butter, melted chocolate, egg yellow and almond flour and blend gently.
  6. In a different and clean bowl, mix egg whites in the mixer until it forms peaks
  7. Add half of egg whites in almond-chocolate batter and blend gently.
  8. Pour the other half of egg whites and blend gently again until you observe that all ingredients are combined. Don’t need to blend a lot.
  9. Pour in a lined cake pan and put in a pre-heated oven for around 40 minutes.
  10. After 40 minutes, stick a toothpick in the middle of the cake; if it gets out clean the cake is ready.
  11. If not, let it cook for just a few minutes more such as max 4-5. Do not let it cook too much because it will lose its moister which is one of the best features of this recipe.

Tips & Tricks

  • When you melt butter and chocolate in the microwave they get out of microwave too hot. Put the other ingredients first while melted chocolate and butter cool a bit. They will still be warm at the moment you blend them with other ingredients.
  • You blend ingredients in a bowl with a spatula or wooden spoon by hand. When you see that ingredients are combined, it’s ready. You don’t need to mix.
  • It’s expected that craters appear on top when cake is ready. This is the beauty of this kind of recipe. Looks like a moon.
  • Use wholesome sugar, also known as demerara or raw sugar because they bring a gentle sweetness.
  • This recipe freezes well, so you can make ahead for an occasion.