Absolutely delicious and easy to make is this flourless chocolate cake with an intense chocolate flavor.
The grated almonds give this cake a wonderful texture and pair perfectly with the dark chocolate couverture. This cake recipe is also suitable for making gluten-free chocolate muffins!
Prepare this gluten-free chocolate cake in less than an hour.
A perfect chocolate cake for the whole family!
Pair this chocolate cake with the following beverages:
- French Press Eggnog Coffee
- Lumumba - Hot Chocolate with Rum
- Festive Eggnog Hot Chocolate
- Homemade Caramel Milk
- Cointreau Coffee
Jump to:
🥘 Ingredients
- Unsalted butter - very soft.
- Sugar - superfine granulated sugar or baking sugar is best for this purpose.
- Vanilla pod - Do not throw away the scraped-out pod! Cut them into small pieces and use them to infuse granulated sugar. So you can quickly and cheaply make your homemade vanilla sugar!
- Eggs - medium size, room temperature.
- Semisweet chocolate chips - or dark chocolate chips to intensify the chocolate taste. Pay attention here to high quality. The better the result will be. Our all-time favorite is Felchlins' chocolate. You can buy it at Prime Chocolate and save some bucks!
- Grated Almonds - You can also use grated hazelnuts or walnuts as a replacement.
Get your chocolate couverture at Prime Chocolate and save 10 % with the code ThankYouNora
Optional for decorating
- Heavy cream - to add a big dollop of whipping cream when serving.
- Fresh raspberries - a fitting counterpart to the dark chocolate cake and a nice splash of red on top of it.
- Powdered sugar - for dusting the cake.
See the recipe card for quantities.
🔪 Instructions
Prepare the mixing bowl of your food processor and cut open the vanilla pod. Scrape out the pulp and add the scraped vanilla to the mixing bowl.
Refrain from throwing away the scraped-out pod, but use it to make homemade vanilla sugar afterward. This re-utilization will save you money and reduces waste. Win-win!
Cut open the vanilla pod.
Add butter and sugar.
Add the very soft butter and sugar to the mixing bowl and beat the ingredients, using the food processor with a whisk attachment, until fluffy.
Mix vanilla, butter, and sugar until fluffy.
Add the eggs.
Add the eggs and beat the mixture until the eggs combine well with the rest of the ingredients until smooth.
Preheat the oven to 356 °F // 180 °C top-bottom heat and line the springform pan with parchment paper. In the meantime, melt the chocolate chips in a bain-marie (water bath) or tempering device.
Water bath: If you use a water bath for melting, you need two pots of different sizes. Fill one pot 3-4 finger-widths with water and place the second, smaller pot in it. The second pot should not touch the water! Now put the chocolate to be melted into the upper, smaller pot and melt it over moderate heat while stirring over the rising steam.
Tempering unit: Add the chocolate to be melted to the tempering unit and set it to the appropriate melting temperature. White and milk chocolate: 40 °C // 104 °F, dark chocolate 50 °C // 122 °F.
Once the chocolate has melted, add the melted chocolate to the mixture, and finally, stir in the nuts.
Add the grated almonds.
Spread the chocolate cake batter evenly.
Or into the muffin molds.
Bake the filled pan for about 45 minutes.
Once the cake batter is well combined, pour the batter into the prepared springform pan or muffin molds.
Bake the chocolate cake on the middle shelf for about 45 minutes. To ensure the cake is done at the end of the baking time, always test it with a toothpick. Insert the toothpick into the center of the cake. The cake is ready if no more dough is sticking to the toothpick when pulling it out.
If you have decided to bake the muffins, they will only take about 20 minutes to bake.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a cake rack, then remove from the mold.
Place the cake onto a serving plate and sprinkle it with powdered sugar. If you fancy, you can also add a dollop of whipped cream and some fresh raspberries.
You can also use these muffins as cupcake bases.
Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!
🥜 Substitutions
Use grated hazelnuts or walnuts as a replacement for grated almonds.
🍽 Equipment
- Food processor or hand mixer - with a whisk attachment
- Springform pan - 8 inch round cake pan (optional muffin molds).
- Parchment paper
- Pastry spatula
- Cutting board
- Kitchen knife
- Water bath or tempering device - for melting the chocolate coating
- Cooling rack
🌡 Storage
Our flourless chocolate cake lasts up to a week under a cake cover. You can also freeze it for up to three months.
Before freezing, cut the chocolate cake into portions and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.
💭 Top tips
9 inch pan vs. 8 inch pan
Preparing the chocolate cake with a 9 inch springform pan is also possible. The cake will become flattened out, and the baking time can be reduced by a few minutes.
Re-use of the scraped vanilla pods
Do not throw away the scraped-out pod! Cut them into small pieces and use them to infuse granulated sugar. Check out this blog post and find three ways to make homemade vanilla sugar!
Different baking time for chocolate muffins
If you use the recipe to make chocolate muffins, remember that the baking time is reduced to 20 minutes!
The chocolate muffins also make a great cupcake base! Try them with our strawberry buttercream or Bailey's salted caramel buttercream!
🙋🏻 FAQ
Yes! Since the cake becomes gluten-free without using any flour. So people with celiac disease can consume it without concern.
The predominant flavor is in the chocolate. Thus, it is essential here to use a chocolate that you particularly like and has high quality. The grated almonds combine perfectly with the chocolate and provide a second level of flavor.
To prepare an easy chocolate cake that people with celiac disease will tolerate well. But also for people who now and then feel like having a lightweight cake whose texture is different from usual cakes due to the absence of flour.
The gluten-free cake often falls when it is cooled too quickly after baking. Another cause, the more common, is when the ingredients used are not at room temperature. So, in our case, with the eggs and butter, ensure you take them out of the fridge in time for them to be at room temperature.
More delicious cake recipes for you to try:
- Chestnut Cake
- Egg White Chocolate Cake
- Austrian Strawberry Sponge Cake
- Potato Flour Cake with Eggnog
- Whipping Cream Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Chip Ricotta Loaf Cake
- Double Chocolate Bundt Cake
If you make this recipe, let me know how you liked it by ★★★★★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. This would be awesome! You can also follow me on Pinterest or Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @combinegoodflavors and hashtag #combinegoodflavors, so I don't miss it.
📖 Recipe
Best Chocolate Flourless Cake
Equipment
- Food processor or hand mixer
- Springform pan 8-inch round cake pan (optional muffin molds).
- Pastry spatula
- Water bath or tempering device
Ingredients
- ½ cup Unsalted butter very soft
- ¾ cup Sugar
- 1 Vanilla pod
- 4 Eggs medium size, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups Semisweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips
- 1 ¾ Almonds grated
Optional for decorating
- Heavy cream to add a big dollop of whipping cream when serving.
- Fresh raspberries
- Powdered sugar for dusting the cake.
Instructions
- Prepare the mixing bowl of your food processor and cut open the vanilla pod.1 Vanilla pod
- Scrape out the pulp and add the scraped vanilla to the mixing bowl.
- Add the very soft butter and sugar to the mixing bowl and beat the ingredients, using the food processor with a whisk attachment, until fluffy.½ cup Unsalted butter, ¾ cup Sugar
- Add the eggs one at a time and beat the mixture until the eggs combine well with the rest of the ingredients until smooth.4 Eggs
- Preheat the oven to 356 °F // 180 °C top-bottom heat and line the springform pan with parchment paper.
- Melt the chocolate chips in a bain-marie or tempering device.1 ¼ cups Semisweet chocolate chips
- Once the chocolate has melted, add the melted chocolate to the mixture, and finally, stir in the nuts.1 ¾ Almonds
- Once the cake batter is well combined, pour the batter into the prepared springform pan or muffin tins.
- Bake the chocolate cake on the middle shelf for about 45 minutes. (If you have opted for the muffins, they will only take about 20 minutes to bake.)
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a cake rack, then remove it from the mold.
- Place the cake onto a serving plate and sprinkle it with powdered sugar. If you fancy, you can also add a dollop of whipped cream and some fresh raspberries.Heavy cream, Fresh raspberries, Powdered sugar
Please note that all my recipes are developed and tested in metric grams. I recommend using digital scales for more accurate results. I provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe, but please note that I haven't tested it using this method.
Notes
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
⛑️ Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
Helen
This cake is incredible. Rich and moist- full of flavor!!
Nora
Thank you so much, Helen! I am so happy you liked it!
Alexandra
A flourless chocolate cake is a real treat, and one of our favourite desserts to make. This recipe was an absolute winner - simple to prepare and produced the perfect cake.
Nora
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you so much, Alexandra!
Katie
This was SO delicious! I made it for a gluten intolerant friend and she LOVED it!
Katie xoxo
Nora
Thank you so much, Katie! I am so happy she loved it!
Andréa Janssen
We loved the full chocolate flavor of this cake. And it was so easy to prepare. This is a cake we're going to bake more often!
Nora
Thank you, Andréa! I am so happy you liked it!
Gloria Duggan
I have a few chocolate lovers in my house. This chocolate cake is going to be a hit. Rich and delicious. Just the way they like it.
Nora
Thank you so much, Gloria! Please let me know how it turned out!