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Flourless chocolate cake is the little black dress of desserts. Minimal, simple and universally pleasing, this go-to recipe is a classic. With a short list of ingredients, minus any flour, you can whip this cake up in an hour. It’s a lighter version of my Sinfully Rich Chocolate Cake, which makes it more of an every day cake and a guaranteed hit with children. Serve simply naked or adorned with a dusting of sugar and a scoop of whipped cream.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
With so few ingredients, quality makes a difference. If possible, use a European-style butter such as Lurpak or Plugra and a high quality dark chocolate. I prefer Valrhona or Lindt. Serves 12.
8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
6 eggs, separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 300 F. Butter a 9 inch springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment and butter the parchment. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler over just-simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl; cool to lukewarm. Whisk in the egg yolks.
Beat egg whites in a bowl of an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar and continue to beat until stiff glossy peaks form. Mix 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate. Gently fold in remaining egg whites. Pour into prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Bake until edges pull away from the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes clean, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Such a great recipe and no one ever realizes it’s simple when you serve it. We make one with Kahlua and my wife’s coworker always asks her to take it to parties. (My wife doesn’t like this since we don’t always have Kahlua on hand and she makes other nice things too. Maybe she just doesn’t like the coworker. Hmm, how do I get off on these tangents.)
Flourless chocolate cake is my absolute favorite. And you are so right about it being the little black dress of desserts.
These are always such a crowd pleaser and a small slice goes a long way at the end of a meal. Nice!
You couldn’t be more right about this being the little black dress of desserts! Love the simplicity of the recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
Looks fantastic – and the butter makes a huge difference, I imagine – just as with the choice of chocolate.
Mmm! These look delicious 🙂 Never tried a flourless cake…this looks super easy and awesome tho!
Such a divine looking confection, and just 4 ingredients….sounds like some sort of magic to me. My gluten avoiding wife will be thanking you for this one, Lynda! – S
I love how this has like 4 INGREDIENTS!! That is AWESOME! 😀
LOVE this–can never go wrong with a flourless chocolate cake! 🙂
Wow, love this recipe. Never thought it was possible to make a cake with just 4 ingredients. Thanks.
This is a thing of beauty, and I love that you call it the little black dress of desserts.
It’s time to think about the perfect passover dessert…here it is! 🙂
Reblogged this on PassionBaking and commented:
although i used a very small tin and it overflowed in the oven, this is a really tasty recipe!