If you are a chocolate lover, then you will go craaaaaazy over this flourless chocolate cake! It’s rich, dense and decadent while not being overly sweet. It will make you wonder why anyone ever puts flour in their cake! Topped with a thick layer of light and fluffy espresso whipped cream to balance out the richness of the cake. You’ll want to save room for seconds!
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Just look at that whipped cream topping. Yummy! Have you had trouble finding flour recently in the grocery stores? Me too. None to be found! With the current circumstances we find ourselves in, I thought it would be a good to get creative and develop some flourless recipes for you to bake in all of the spare time that you have now!
First up is this flourless chocolate cake. I’ve never made a flourless cake before and to be honest, was a bit nervous about how the final product would turn out! But WOW. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to normal flour-filled cake. This flourless chocolate cake is rich, and very dense like a fudgy brownie. It’s not overly sweet either but boy, is it decadent and rich! The chocolate flavor really shines through in this recipe. Plus, I added a secret ingredient to get this even more chocolatey and delicious!
Read on for how to make flourless chocolate cake!
How to Make Flourless Chocolate Cake
Because we aren’t using flour in this recipe, we are going to have to rely on whipped egg whites to give the cake height and structure.
I have never actually tried whipping egg whites before because it has always sounded super intimidating. People always say don’t under whip because the egg whites will be runny, but don’t over whip either because then they become grainy, foamy, watery and unsalvagable. Gah! What does that even mean?! Intimidating.
But, I surprisingly got this right on the first try! The key is to whip the egg whites JUST until stiff peaks form on your whisk. If you whip them any longer, they will become foamy – much like how they will start out when you’re first whipping them up. You’ll just want to check them occasionally as they are whipping in your mixer. Dab the whisk into the egg whites and make sure that they do not drip off of the whisk but instead form a stiff, almost frosting-like peak.
Secondly, this flourless cake recipe calls for sugar to be added to the egg whites. Be sure to add the sugar GRADUALLY to the egg whites as you beat them otherwise, they will collapse and you will have to start all over. Just one more thing you don’t need standing between you and your delicious chocolate cake!
I found this resource very helpful. It explains exactly how to whip egg whites if you’re curious! If not, just follow my tips above and the recipe below and you should be successful if this is your first egg white whipping experience!
Lastly, I added espresso powder to both the cake batter and the whipped cream topping because it really enhances the flavor of the chocolate. If you are a chocolate lover like me, TRUST ME – you will want to add the espresso powder!
If you don’t have espresso powder or don’t like whipped cream, no worries! You can top your cake with anything you’d like such as fresh fruit, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, or even frosting!
Helpful Tools and Ingredients
Here are some of the tools that I used to make this easy flourless chocolate cake! I know that it has been hard to find certain baking items, but I tracked down my favorite high-quality items below!
- Espresso Powder
- Rodelle Vanilla Extract
- Rodelle Cocoa Powder
- Spring Form Pan
- Lindt Dark Baking Chocolate Bar
I hope you enjoy making this easy, flourless chocolate cake while you are spending time at home! If you are looking for more decadent chocolate recipes that require minimal ingredients, check out my other posts below. Happy baking!
And please be sure to tag me on social media if you bake this recipe. I love seeing what you make!
Flourless Chocolate Cake with Espresso Whipped Cream
Ingredients
For the Flourless Cake
- 11 tbsp unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 2 cups dark chocolate, chopped (65% cocoa or higher)
- 5 large eggs, separated (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Espresso Whipped Cream
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1 tsp warm water
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp Dutch processed cocoa powder
Instructions
For the Flourless Cake
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Spray a 9-inch round springform pan with non-stick cooking spray and line with parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chopped chocolate, whisking until completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Set aside to cool.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat egg whites on medium speed just until foamy, about 30 seconds.
- While continuing to beat on medium-high speed, slowly add in the sugar. Eggs will begin to become glossy and bright white.
- Continue to beat on medium-high until stiff peaks form on the end of the whisk. The meringue should be stiff and not drip off of the whisk attachment. This took me about 5-7 minutes of mixing.
- Add the egg yolks and vanilla to the slightly cooled chocolate mixture and whisk together until smooth.
- Sift the dutch processed cocoa powder and espresso powder into the chocolate and egg mixture. Add the salt and whisk until combined.
- Add ⅓ of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and gently fold using a large spatula. Continue to add the egg white meringue to the chocolate mixture and gently fold until no streaks remain. Be sure not to over mix because you will lose the airy texture of the egg whites and will have a flat cake!
- Pour mixture into the prepared pan, smoothing top with an offset spatula.
- Bake in on the center rack for 30-40 minutes, depending on how powerful your oven is. Watch closely and remove the cake when it is set on the edges and in the middle. You will not want the cake to be jiggly in the middle. Do not overbake or the cake will be dry!
- Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Remove the springform pan and continue to cool on a wire rack until room temperature. Sometimes I like to stick the cake in the fridge before topping with whipped cream and slicing because it helps the cake stay together better when cutting it!
- Top with Espresso Whipped Cream (instructions below).
For the Espresso Whipped Cream
- Using a whisk, mix together the espresso powder and warm water. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a medium bowl with a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream, sugar, cocoa powder, and espresso mixture on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, about 3-4 minutes.
- Spread onto your cooled cake and slice and serve!
