This flourless chocolate cake with a chocolate cream topping is almost souffle like, intentionally cracking and caving in the middle to create the perfect home for the chocolate cream topping! It’s wonderfully delightful! Leavened only with egg whites, it’s naturally gluten free.
I generally love chocolate cake it all its forms. Whether it’s double layer and frosted with buttercream, or dense and fudgy, more closely resembling a torte. I truly believe there’s a chocolate cake for every occasion!
Flourless chocolate cakes are great to make when you first start baking gluten free, as they are naturally gluten free, and require no special ingredients. They can quickly and easily reassure the newly gluten free, that living gluten free does not mean living without chocolate cake!
Depending on the technique used, especially when it comes to the eggs, flourless cakes can have very different appearances and textures. This one is almost souffle like, intentionally caving in the middle to create the perfect home for all that chocolaty whipped creamy goodness! It’s truly indulgent, but doesn’t feel as dense as some other flourless cakes can.
This cake is adapted from Richard Sax’s classic Chocolate Cloud Cake.
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Ingredients
- chopped chocolate or chocolate chips, semi-sweet
- butter
- cocoa powder
- instant espresso powder
- vanilla
- eggs
- granulated sugar
Chocolate Cream Topping
- whipping cream
- icing sugar
- cocoa powder
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredient Notes
Butter: I use regular salted butter, but if you use unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon of salt.
Chocolate: I find the combination of semi-sweet chocolate and the additional cocoa powder creates the right level of chocolate intensity, but you can use darker or lighter chocolate based on your preference.
Cocoa powder: I use dutch-processed cocoa powder for this recipe.
Espresso powder: You don’t taste any coffee flavour in the finished cake itself, the espresso powder just intensifies the chocolate taste, but you can leave out if you prefer.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease an 8” springform pan and line the bottom with parchment. In a large, microwave-safe bowl, add the chocolate and butter. Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave, using 20 second intervals, stirring between each. Generally, 40 seconds total is sufficient.
- Sift the cocoa powder and espresso powder into the melted chocolate mixture. Add the vanilla. Stir until mixture is smooth.
- In another bowl, whisk the 4 egg yolks and 2 whole eggs with a ¼ cup of the sugar.
- Add the chocolate mixture to the egg yolk mixture and gently stir until combined.
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat until foamy, then gradually add ½ cup of the sugar and beat until firm peaks (the whites are holding their shape, but not too stiff, the tip of the peak curls over itself when the beater is lifted).
- Add a third of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and stir until combined.
- Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites. Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake is risen and cracked and the centre doesn’t jiggle.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 1 hour. The cake will sink in the middle as it cools. Carefully release the sides of the pan and slide the cake onto a flat serving plate or cake stand.
- To make the chocolate cream, add the whipping cream to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip the cream until soft and then sift in the icing sugar and cocoa powder. Continue whisking until the cream is firm but not stiff.
- Top the cake with the cream; drop the cream onto the sunken part of the cake and gently spread it out towards the edges of the cake. Lightly dust with cocoa powder.
Top Tips for Perfect Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Soft vs. firm vs. stiff peaks? Soft peaks barley hold their shape, firm peaks hold their shape well, but the tip of the peak will curl when the beater is lifted, whereas stiff peaks will stand straight up when the beater is lifted. Over-whipped egg whites will look dull and grainy and over-whipped cream will look grainy and start to separate.
- Only one bowl for your stand mixer? Beat your egg whites first and then transfer to another bowl. Then you can beat your egg yolks in the same bowl without cleaning between uses. If you beat your egg yoks first you have to clean the bowl; always start with a clean bowl for beating egg whites.
Substitutions
Make it FODMAP friendly: use lactose-free whipping cream for the chocolate cream topping. The amount of lactose in the chocolate and butter in the cake should be within acceptable limits per serving size, but of course will depend on personal tolerance.
Storage
The cake is best eaten the day it is made. You can make the cake earlier in the day and store at room temperature, but make the cream topping just before serving. Store any leftovers in the fridge.
Recipe Card
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips, semi-sweet
- ½ cup butter
- 2 tablespoon cocoa powder, dutch-processed
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 eggs, 2 whole, 4 separated
- ¾ cup granulated sugar, divided
Chocolate Cream Topping
- 1½ cups whipping cream
- ⅓ cup icing sugar
- 4½ teaspoon cocoa powder, dutch-processed, plus more for dusting the top of the cake
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Grease an 8” springform pan and line the bottom with parchment.
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl, add the chocolate and butter. Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave, using 20 second intervals, stirring between each. Generally, 40 seconds total is sufficient.
- Sift the cocoa powder and espresso powder into the melted chocolate mixture. Add the vanilla. Stir until mixture is smooth.
- In another bowl, whisk the 4 egg yolks and 2 whole eggs with a ¼ cup of the sugar.
- Add the chocolate mixture to the egg yolk mixture and gently stir until combined.
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat until foamy, then gradually add ½ cup of the sugar and beat until firm peaks (the whites are holding their shape, but not too stiff, the tip of the peak curls over itself when the beater is lifted).
- Add a third of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and stir until combined.
- Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites. Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake is risen and cracked and the centre doesn’t jiggle.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 1 hour. The cake will sink in the middle as it cools. Carefully release the sides of the pan and slide the cake onto a flat serving plate or cake stand.
- To make the chocolate cream, add the whipping cream to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip the cream until soft and then sift in the icing sugar and cocoa powder. Continue whisking until the cream is firm but not stiff.
- Top the cake with the cream; drop the cream onto the sunken part of the cake and gently spread it out towards the edges of the cake. Lightly dust with cocoa powder.
- Serve immediately. Serves 8 to 10.
Notes
- Soft vs. firm vs. stiff peaks? Soft peaks barley hold their shape, firm peaks hold their shape well, but the tip of the peak will curl when the beater is lifted, whereas stiff peaks will stand straight up when the beater is lifted. Overwhipped egg whites will look dull and grainy and overwhipped cream will look grainy and start to separate.
- Only one bowl for your stand mixer? Beat your egg whites first and then transfer to another bowl. Then you can beat your egg yolks in the same bowl without cleaning between uses. If you beat your egg yoks first you have to clean the bowl; always start with a clean bowl for beating egg whites.
- Make it FODMAP friendly: use lactose-free whipping cream for the chocolate cream topping. The amount of lactose in the chocolate chips and butter in the cake should be within acceptable limits per serving size, but of course will depend on personal tolerance.
- The cake is best eaten the day it is made. You can make the cake earlier in the day and store at room temperature, but make the cream topping just before serving. Store any leftovers in the fridge.
Nutrition
Nutritional information shown is an estimate only.
See full disclaimer here.
Mark says
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.
bakeinbalance says
Thanks Mark!! Glad you're enjoying it 😊