Flourless Chocolate Cake – Barefeet in the Kitchen

Have you tasted a Flourless Chocolate Cake? If so, you’ll likely never forget that first bite. Unassuming in appearance and almost ridiculously easy to make, this cake is a fantastic decadent treat.

Several years ago, a sweet friend of mine requested a Flourless Chocolate Cake for her birthday. I’d never heard of it before, but she told me that she had fallen in love with it at a restaurant once and wondered if I could make her one.

I found a number of different recipes and I tried a couple of them. Then I made this one and it took my breath away. This cake delivers the most intense chocolate flavor you can possibly imagine.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

I’ve made this cake many times over the past 10+ years and every time this is served, the room goes silent. There isn’t a better compliment than knowing that your guests are reveling so happily in what you’ve served them that no one is talking while they eat it.

And when the plates are empty? Oh my, the raves over this cake are always over the top. It’s a timeless recipe for a good reason.

This flourless cake is creamy and smooth, not at all dry. The serving size truly is the tiniest sliver. The slice pictured here served two people.

This recipe for flourless chocolate cake uses dark bittersweet chocolate instead of the traditional combination of chocolate and cocoa powder. The dark chocolate here intensifies the chocolate flavor in the cake and the result is a creamy, almost truffle-like cake with a creamy velvet smooth interior.

If you’re already a fan of this easy flourless chocolate cake and want to try something a little different, this version is sweet, cold, creamy, chocolate cake combined with a hint of unexpected heat as you finish each bite; it is unforgettable.

The heat will increase marginally, after a night or two in the refrigerator, and the cream balances it out nicely. I made the flourless “hot” chocolate cake for my family and then sliced the remaining cake into slivers and sent it to work with my husband.

The reviews from everyone who tried it were fantastic. (Even my non-spice-loving children went a bit crazy for it.)

Flourless Cake

I call this an “accidentally gluten-free” recipe, as it requires no special ingredients and zero fuss. Because this type of gluten-free recipes are always appreciated, I’ve gathered up a whole collection of the best gluten free recipes that require no special ingredients. And don’t miss the rest of our Gluten Free Dessert Recipes if that’s something that is a fit for you.

Speaking of that dark bittersweet chocolate, even if you aren’t usually a fan of dark chocolate, trust me when I say it is a requirement here.

I made this once with regular semi-sweet chocolate chips that I had on hand and most of us were barely able to eat it. It was crazy levels of sweetness. My youngest boys (who both have a pretty strong sweet tooth) enjoyed it, but we all agree that the dark chocolate version is much better.

Chocolate Flourless Cake

You’ll need just six ingredients to make this recipe:

• sugar
• salt
• water
• bittersweet dark chocolate
• butter
• eggs

Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe

In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the sugar, salt, and water.

Simmer, stirring frequently, until completely clear and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water (or in a microwave at 50% power for 1 minute intervals), melt the chocolate.

Pour the melted chocolate into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. 

Cut the butter into 1 inch pieces and slowly beat the butter into the melted chocolate one piece at a time. (It’s okay to have some tiny unmelted butter pieces in the chocolate mixture.)

Pour the hot sugar and water mixture into the chocolate. Beat to combine.

Slowly add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each egg is added to the mixture.

Pour the batter into the well-greased springform pan.

Prepare a pan larger than the springform pan and set the springform inside it.

In the past, I’ve used the broiler pan from my oven. This is the easiest option, but unfortunately, I no longer have an oven with a broiler pan like that.

Now I use a large foil catering pan with a baking sheet underneath. As you can see in the photo below, it isn’t the prettiest option, but it works well.

Pour about 4 cups of boiling water into the bigger pan, or enough water to fill the pan about halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

Carefully set the pans in the oven and bake the cake in the water bath for 45-48 minutes. The center of the cake will still look wet when it is finished baking.

Chill the cake overnight in the pan. Carefully slide a knife around the edges of the pan and remove the springform ring prior to serving.

Slice into very thin pieces and serve sprinkled with powdered sugar or topped with freshly whipped cream and berries.

How to Use a Springform Pan

If you’re new to using a springform pan, I have a tip for you. Some springform pans will allow water to pass through to the bottom of the cake.

If you are concerned about that happening or aren’t certain how tight your pan will seal, you can wrap the outside bottom and sides of the pan very tightly with foil.

The foil ensures that water will not be able to enter the pan. I’ve done that in the past with water-bath recipes and different springform pans and it works well.

I almost always wrap my springform pans in this way, just in case. It only takes a minute and your dessert will have no risk of turning out less than perfect.

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Chocolate Quinoa Cake (I kid you not) has the texture of a traditional cake, yet no special flours are required. This is pure, sweet chocolate cake. This cake has blown my mind. Just writing about it here makes me grin as I think about how perfectly moist, rich, and chocolatey it is.

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{originally published 2/13/12 – recipe notes and photos updated 4/11/23}