Name: Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Cake
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: Butter or oil, for greasing the pan; 250 g (about 8.8 oz) dark chocolate, chopped; 1/2 cup (1 stick, about 112 g) unsalted butter; 5 eggs, separated; Pinch of salt; 1/2 cup (about 100 g) sugar; Cocoa powder or powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Five eggs, 250 grams of dark chocolate, butter, and sugar make up nearly all of this flourless chocolate cake. With no flour and no baking powder in the bowl, the whipped egg whites do every bit of the lifting.

It’s a different animal from my layered chocolate cake. This one bakes into a single dense, fudgy round in an 8-inch springform, then spends a few hours in the fridge before anyone gets a slice.

The step I slow down for is the fold. A quarter of the whites goes in first to loosen the chocolate, then the rest in two gentle batches.

Pulling it from the oven takes a little nerve. The center still looks soft, and that’s exactly where it should be.

Prep: 25 minutes · Cook: 25 to 30 minutes · Total: at least 4 hours (with cooling and chilling) · Serves: about 8 (an estimate from one 8-inch springform cake)

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How do you know when a flourless chocolate cake is done?

Bake it at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are set and the center is still slightly soft. A toothpick in the middle should come out with a few moist crumbs. It will look underdone, and it firms up as it cools and chills in the fridge.

Why It Works

The only lift comes from egg whites beaten with the sugar to stiff, shiny peaks. Folding them in gently gives the cake its height without any flour or leavening in the batter.
Half a cup of butter and half a cup of sugar for 250 grams of chocolate is a tested balance. Recipes by Carina lands on the same butter and sugar per chocolate in her own version.
The melted chocolate cools slightly before the yolks go in, so it doesn’t scramble them or knock the air out of the whites later.

At 25 minutes I give the pan a small shake. The edges stay put and the middle wobbles a little, and that’s when the toothpick comes out.

Why I Keep Coming Back to This One

Five ingredients, plus an optional dusting of cocoa or powdered sugar.
One 8-inch springform and a regular oven, with no water bath to set up.
It’s made ahead by design, since it needs hours in the fridge before serving.
The slices are dense and fudgy from the edge to the center.

Grab These Ingredients

Butter or oil, for greasing the pan
250 g (about 8.8 oz) dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick, about 112 g) unsalted butter
5 eggs, separated
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup (about 100 g) sugar
Cocoa powder or powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Ingredient Notes and Swaps

Chocolate decides almost everything here, since there’s no flour to hide behind. Recipes by Carina and Brian Lagerstrom both reach for dark chocolate in the 60 to 70% range, and that’s what I buy for this cake.

I chop it from a bar so it melts evenly alongside the butter. None of the sources says anything about chocolate chips, so I leave them out of this one.

The eggs get separated, and the whites need a spotless bowl to whip up properly, since any grease holds them back. The recipe doesn’t name an egg size, and I’m not going to guess one for you.

The pinch of salt goes in with the whites. The method beats the sugar into the whites, added gradually once they hold soft peaks, and that sweetened foam is what carries the cake.

How I Make It

Prep the pan. Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch springform pan, line the bottom with a round of parchment paper, and grease the parchment too. It’s ready when the paper lies flat and shiny with no dry spots.
Melt the chocolate. Set a heatproof bowl over a pot of gently simmering water and melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring often. Stop when the mixture is completely smooth and glossy, with no unmelted bits, then take the bowl off the heat.
Let it cool slightly. Leave the chocolate off the heat until it goes from hot to warm. Touch the side of the bowl, and when it feels comfortably warm against your hand, it’s ready for the yolks.
Add the yolks. Stir the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture until it turns smooth and glossy again. Keep stirring until no yellow streaks remain and the mixture falls off the spatula in a thick, shiny ribbon.
Whip the whites. In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar gradually and keep beating until the peaks are stiff and shiny and stand straight up when you lift the beaters.
Lighten the chocolate. Whisk about a quarter of the whipped whites into the chocolate mixture. This loosens the heavy chocolate so the rest of the whites can go in gently, and it’s done when the batter looks lighter and evenly brown.
Fold in the rest. Gently fold in the remaining whites in two additions, turning the bowl as you go. Stop as soon as no white streaks remain, since every extra stroke knocks out air the cake needs to rise.
Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the flourless chocolate cake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are set, the center is still slightly soft, and a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Cool, then chill. Let the cake cool completely in the pan. Then refrigerate it for at least 2 to 3 hours, until it’s firm enough to slice cleanly. Dust the top with cocoa or powdered sugar just before serving, if you like.

Good to Know

Don’t cut it warm. The center is still setting as it cools, and a warm slice slumps on the plate.
It’s going to look underdone when you pull it, and it’s supposed to. It’s tempting to give it five more minutes, but the wobble in the center is the cue to pull it.
If you’d like a water bath, Recipes by Carina wraps her tin in foil, sets it in a roasting pan half filled with water, and bakes at 325°F for 25 to 35 minutes. Use her lower temperature with the water bath, since 350°F is meant for a pan with nothing around it.
This is an egg-rich cake, so don’t leave it out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. It belongs in the fridge between servings.

Storing and Reheating

After it’s cut, keep the cake covered in the fridge. The recipes behind this post don’t say how many days it lasts, so I won’t give you a number I can’t stand behind.

None of them mentions freezing either, so this one stays in the fridge. The long chill is part of the recipe itself, at least 2 to 3 hours before the first slice.

That makes it an easy dessert to bake earlier in the day, so the cake is cold and firm by the time dinner is cleared. The cocoa or powdered sugar goes on after the chill, right before the cake goes to the table.

I keep the shaker next to the plates so it’s the last thing I do.

On the Side

Softly whipped cream, since its light, cool texture balances the dense chocolate.
A scoop of ice cream, which melts a little against the slice and makes its own sauce.
Fresh raspberries or strawberries, because their tartness cuts through the richness.
Hot coffee, to stand up to the dark chocolate.

Special Equipment

An 8-inch springform pan, so the cake comes out without being flipped upside down.
Parchment paper, cut into a round for the bottom of the pan.
A heatproof bowl that sits snugly over a saucepan, for melting the chocolate gently.
A hand mixer or stand mixer, since whipping the whites to stiff peaks by hand takes a long time.
A large flexible spatula for folding without deflating the batter.

Questions I Get About Flourless Chocolate Cake

Is flourless chocolate cake supposed to be gooey in the middle? It should be soft in the center when it comes out of the oven, with a toothpick showing a few moist crumbs. After cooling and at least 2 to 3 hours in the fridge, it sets into a dense, fudgy slice.

How is this different from regular chocolate cake? There’s no flour or baking powder, so whipped egg whites give it all of its lift. The result is one dense layer, closer to a torte than to a fluffy layer cake.

Can I use chocolate chips? The sources behind this recipe don’t cover chips, so I can’t promise how they’d behave. I use chopped dark chocolate from a bar.

Do I need a springform pan? The recipe is written for an 8-inch springform, and the removable ring means the cake never has to be turned over.

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