Flourless chocolate cake
This cake is built on four ingredients — chocolate, butter, eggs and sugar — and not a gram of flour. The structure comes mainly from whipped egg whites, the flavour from chocolate — so its quality is everything here. The centre should stay moist and slightly fudgy; overbaked, it loses the point.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Melting the chocolate 8 min
- Whipping the whites 8 min
- Folding together 6 min
- Baking 30 min
- Cooling 60 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneMelt the chocolate with butter
Melt the chopped chocolate with the butter over a water bath, stirring until smooth. Take off the heat, stir in the cocoa, salt and coffee and cool to lukewarm. The espresso will not taste of coffee — it deepens the chocolate.
Ingredients: 250 g dark chocolate · 180 g butter · 20 g cocoa · ½ tsp salt · 2 tbsp coffee
TipHot chocolate would scramble the yolks. Wait until it is barely warm to the touch.
A smooth, glossy mixture with not a single lump.Beat the yolks with sugar
Whisk the yolks with half the sugar and the vanilla for 4 minutes until pale and noticeably increased in volume. Fold in the lukewarm chocolate — you get a thick, glossy base.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 150 g sugar · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 2 tbsp icing sugar
Whip the whites to soft peaks
Whip the whites slowly and, once foamy, add the remaining sugar a spoonful at a time. Whip to soft, glossy peaks — not stiff ones. Over-whipped meringue breaks into lumps when folded.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 150 g sugar · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 2 tbsp icing sugar
A soft peak that flops slightly off the whisk.Fold in three additions
Stir in one third of the meringue vigorously to loosen the heavy chocolate base. Add the rest in two additions, folding with a spatula from the bottom up and turning the bowl. Stop when the last white streak disappears.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 150 g sugar · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 2 tbsp icing sugar
TipA few paler streaks beat a deflated meringue. Do not force it to uniformity.
The bottom-up motion preserves the air bubbles.Bake for 30 minutes
Transfer to a lined 23 cm springform and bake at 175°C for 28–30 minutes. A skewer inserted 3 cm from the edge should come out clean while the centre stays moist. The top will crack — as it should.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 150 g sugar · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 2 tbsp icing sugar
Cool in the tin
Cool for an hour in the tin. The cake sinks in the middle by a good centimetre — not a fault, just what flourless cakes do. Dust with icing sugar before serving.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 150 g sugar · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 2 tbsp icing sugar
Before you start
Serving
Serve with unsweetened whipped cream and raspberries. The tartness of the raspberries balances the very intense cake.
Better the next day
After a night in the fridge the cake becomes denser and more truffle-like. Take it out an hour before serving.
Choosing chocolate
Chocolate below 60% cocoa gives a bland, over-sweet cake. 70% is the minimum; 80% makes a grown-up version.
