I had never made a flourless chocolate cake before. I wasn’t sure what to expect with my limited kitchen skills against a cake recipe without flour… and especially with one that calls for “peaked” egg whites. But this was surprisingly simple and easy to do, with just five ingredients, and the result was very rich and decadent delivering dense layers of chocolate and amazing flavor. I’m even drawn to the imperfect look of the cake, like when you find that perfect antique to fit in with your mid century modern vibe. And anytime you serve up a recipe in a room full of women and every one of them asks for the recipe, well, you know you’ve hit the jackpot.
Which reminds me, I need to make this again soon.
Ingredients //
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces or 1 pound bittersweet chocolate chips
- 9 large eggs at room temperature, separated
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Process //
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease or butter the inside of a 9″ springform pan. Cut your butter into pieces and place the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate and the butter in a medium bowl and melt in the microwave in 20 second increments, stirring the mixture between. Be very careful not to burn the chocolate as it will seize.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand-held mixer, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale yellow in color. Add a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs. You don’t want to add all the warm chocolate to the egg mixture as it will scramble the eggs. Once tempered, add the rest of the chocolate to the eggs. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or with a hand-held mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed (try not to get any bit of yolk into the whites). Gently add the egg whites to the chocolate mixture being careful not to deflate your egg whites.
Pour the mixture into your prepared pan. Bake until the cake is set and the top starts to crack, and when a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, about 50-55 minutes. Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes before releasing the sides of the springform pan. Serve at room temperature. You can dust with powdered sugar, and serve with a dollop of freshly whipped cream and/or berries, or serve a la mode with some vanilla bean ice cream and caramel sauce.
Recipe from here.


Imperfectly delicious… just like life, right?!
I’m always on the lookout for a delicious (and hopefully simple) dessert recipe, if you have one, please feel free to share here.
xo
Becca Niederkrom says
I love this! Simple and gluten free, definitely going to make this recipe for my next get together.