Flourless 4-ingredient chocolate cake

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Flourless 4-Ingredient Chocolate Cake

Light and spongy chocolate cake. Made with only 4 ingredients, served with whipped cream and berries coulis.

Course Dessert
Cuisine Gluten-free, vegetarian
Tags cake, chocolate, eggs, flourless, gluten free
Prep time 20 minutes
Cook time 1 hour
Servings 10 servings
Author Silvia Cooks

Ingredients

  • 230 gr dark chocolate bar, to melt
  • 85 gr salted butter (or use unsalted + 1 pinch salt)
  • 6 small eggs
  • 115 gr sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 190ºC (no fan)

  2. Melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave in increments of 30 secs at bain marie on the stove. Stir with a spatula every now and then, and remove from heat when you see the chocolate is almost completely melted.

  3. Take the eggs and separate the yolks from the whites into two different bowls. Beat the whites with an electric whisker. Gradually add 1/4 of the sugar (about 30g) and whisk until soft but not stiff peaks are formed.

  4. Beat the egg yolks until they start to foam up, add the remaining sugar and beat well, until the mixture doubles in volume. Once the chocolate mixture has cooled down, add it to the egg yolks and beat until smooth.

  5. Take the spatula and fold in 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it up. Then, add the remaining egg whites, folding them in gently, scraping the sides of the bowl to fully incoporate the whites. It's OK if you still see some white or light-coloured stripes. No need to overfold, otherwise you might "deflate" the egg whites.

  6. Pour the cake mixture into a previously buttered/oiled round springform pan (22x7cm). Bake for

    15 mins at 190ºC

    15 mins at 175ºC

    25-30 mins at 120ºC

    or until the cake starts pulling away from the sides of the pan. It's ok if the top is slightly cracked.

  7. Let the cake cool in the pan before removing it. Dust the top with cocoa powder or confectionery sugar. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream or ice-cream, and some fresh berries or coulis.

A brief story and history of this cake…

I first tried a cake like this 5 years ago at The Fumbally Café in Dublin, a place we used to go to quite often for brunch. I remember when my parents came to visit, my mom (who doesn’t eat gluten) would sometimes order it twice. It was that good. Chocolaty, with a slightly crunchy top, full of flavour and surprisingly light in the belly. Served with whipped cream and enjoyed with black tea on the side. Happiness was never so simple.

This Spring, while fantasising with food, the memory of it came up in my head and I decided to give it a go. I found a “flourless chocolate cake” recipe online (that, and gluten-free was all I could remember from the café sign). Made with only 4 ingredients. I loved it. We loved it. You will love it too.

I originally found a video for this recipe, which I recommend checking out if you like seeing what the process actually looks like.

And while doing some research on the history of this cake, I came across a really humble, down-to-earth article about it, as well as some useful tips on how to properly bake it that I’ve taken the liberty to incorporate into the recipe I propose here.

Apparently, this cake has been, perhaps a little inaccurately, associated with the typical Austrian Sacher cake (which contains flour) or the Italian Torta Caprese (which is made with almond flour). What is actually true is that you could find this cake in many restaurants across the US during the 80s, it seems like it was a very popular to put in menus.

In any case, I hope you like it, and if you make it, like always please let me know how it turned out and what you thought.

Bon profit!

Silvia