This gluten-free flourless chocolate cake is a rich chocolate cake topped with fluffy vanilla whipped cream. The top of the flourless cake has an almost brownie-like texture and flavor, while the inside is super moist and fudgy.
This is a great dessert choice for if you need to make a gluten-free dessert without having to buy special ingredients. With only 4 ingredients, all that you can grab easily at your local store, this easy flourless cake is great to whip up and enjoy!
I’ve served this flourless cake at Christmas and Valentine’s Day as well as regular dinners where we had friends over. My family and our guests all raved about how delicious this is.Is it the prettiest dessert? Nope. Is it delicious? YES!
Add this to your next special evening with guests or just with family and you will not be disappointed!
This recipe comes from Martha Stewart online, you can see her version here, topped with powdered sugar.
Let’s talk about what you need and how to make this flourless cake.
Notes on ingredients for this flourless chocolate cake:
- Chocolate: The chocolate is the star of this recipe, so I recommend using a good one! Some people like using bittersweet chocolate, but I really prefer semi-sweet chocolate. You can chop your own bars of chocolate or use semi-sweet chocolate chips like I did. I often make with Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Butter: I prefer using salted butter. It has better flavor.
- Eggs: There is no subbing the eggs in this – they’re important for giving this lift, and the incredible texture. You’ll be separating yolks and egg whites. I prefer using this egg separator to perfectly separate eggs without breaking any yolks or getting any shells in there. I’ve had this one for probably 20 years, so it’s worth investing in one!
- Sugar: Just plain white sugar is all you need for this!
See, just 4 simple ingredients for the flourless cake portion! You probably have all of these on hand already too!
How to make flourless chocolate cake:
Preheat the oven to 275°. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9″ springform pan. Set aside.
Place butter and chocolate in a large, microwaveable bowl and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds, until completely melted. Let cool slightly.
Whisk in egg yolks until smooth.
In medium or large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, and continue beating until glossy stiff peaks form.
Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Here’s a pic:
Then gently fold in remaining egg whites. Here’s a pic:
Pour batter into the prepared springform cake pan, and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
Here’s what it looks like in pan before baking:
Bake at 275° until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and is set in the center, 45-50 minutes.
Cool completely on a wire rack; remove sides of pan.
While you can buy Cool Whip topping, I highly recommend you make sweetened homemade whipped cream to top slices of this cake with. It’s quite easy too!
For the whipping cream, you’ll want to grab a quart of heavy whipping cream, some powdered sugar and some pure vanilla extract.
How to make homemade whipped cream:
To a mixing bowl, add the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and pure vanilla extract.
Use the whisk attachment on your mixer or hand mixer to beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. I usually add the powdered sugar a bit at a time.
If not using right away, cover and chill until serving.
Serve this flourless chocolate cake at room temperature with sweetened vanilla whipped cream.
Some people like to sprinkle a bit of cocoa powder over the top too, and you can do that if you want it more fancy.
A little story behind this flourless cake recipe:
It is quite rare that I get to enjoy a meal or dessert that someone else prepares for me in their home. Most of my friends and family, knowing how sensitive I am to gluten, don’t even attempt to cook or bake for me, and that is totally fine. However, it’s a real treat for me when, once in a while, someone that understands cooking and baking gluten-free (and being careful for cross-contamination) will make something to share with me!
When our family was in Montana for Thanksgiving one year, we drove out to a friend’s ranch near Red Lodge, Montana. I wish I had snapped a pic of that beautiful area there, with the breathtaking snow-covered mountain ranges all around. Our friends that live there are truly beautiful people as well, the most generous and kind-hearted people I know. Their warm hospitality and seven smiling children make anyone feel at home. We are continually inspired by their stories of adopting precious children from around the world.
Amanda’s thoughtfulness extended to surprising me with serving an amazing flourless chocolate cake that she made just for our visit. Her oldest daughter helped her make some fresh whipping cream to serve alongside this decadent dessert. This combo of rich, gooey gluten-free chocolate cake and fluffy vanilla whipped cream, combined with the additions of thoughtfulness, surprise and friendship, made this the best dessert I enjoyed all year long. I left Matt and Amanda’s house that night with a big smile, a full tummy, an extra piece of cake to take home, and the recipe in hand!
When desserts are made with love, they taste even better!
Looking for more flourless desserts that’ll impress? Be sure to try my flourless chocolate cookies which is one of my favorite flourless dessert recipes. My gluten-free monster cookies are also flourless and delicious!
I’ve been eyeing this flourless black forest cake from my friend Jeanine for YEARS and definitely think it would impress guests and be delicious too!
I’m also in awe of this pavlova recipe and love all the many options for toppings!
If you make this flourless chocolate cake and love it, please come back and give this recipe a 5 star rating in the recipe card! Feel free to comment with tips or to share any successful substitutions you made.
Gluten-free Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe:
Flourless Chocolate Cake {Gluten-free}
The top of the flourless cake has an almost brownie-like texture and flavor, while the inside is super moist and fudgy. This is a great dessert choice for if you need to make a gluten-free dessert without having to buy special ingredients.
Ingredients
Cake:
- 6 Tbsp. salted butter, plus more for pan
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (or chocolate chips)
- 6 large eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup sugar
Whipped Cream
- 1 1/4 c. heavy whipped cream
- 1/2 c. powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Flourless cake:
- Preheat the oven to 275°. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9" springform pan. Set aside.
- Place butter and chocolate in a large, microwaveable bowl and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds, until completely melted. Let cool slightly.
- Whisk in egg yolks.
- In medium or large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, and continue beating until glossy stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
- Using a spatula, gently fold in remaining egg whites.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
- Bake at 275° until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and is set in the center, 45-50 minutes.
- Cool completely on a wire rack; remove sides of pan.
HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM:
- To a mixing bowl, add the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and pure vanilla extract.
- Use the whisk attachment to beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- If not using right away, cover and chill until serving.
Slice cake and serve with the homemade whipped cream. Enjoy!
Notes
Dairy-free adjustment: Use a dairy-free, buttery flavored substitute like Earth Balance sticks in this recipe. Note that I have not tried this yet, but think it will work! Also be sure your chocolate is dairy-free if needed.
Please note that if your springform pan is narrower than the 9" one I used, your cake will be much thicker, lofty, and will take longer to bake.
This recipe originally from Martha Stewart.
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Pin this to your gluten-free desserts board on Pinterest:
I originally shared this recipe in February 2013, in my first year of blogging! Here’s an old photo from 2013:
Dawn
Thursday 7th of November 2024
Just went gluten free so looking for recipes. Do you have to use a springform pan? Will regular cake pan work?
Bella
Tuesday 22nd of October 2024
I wanted to make this in advance and freeze it. Can you freeze it and what type of wrapping would you use?
Jean
Monday 2nd of October 2023
100000/10 this is a keeper. I followed to a tee except I ran out of chocolate chips… I only had 5.5 ounces. Made everything the same though, in the oven for 50 mins. Sprinkled some powdered sugar once cool. My husband inhaled the cake!! He said this was “fancy restaurant quality cake”. Many thanks for a wonderful recipe!!
AnnMarie
Sunday 7th of November 2021
A friend made this for me….and it was DELICIOUS! I’ll soon be making it myself! Thank you.
Angela
Friday 16th of July 2021
This looks great! Is it possible to make it a day in advance? I’m trying to get a leg up on a dinner I’m hosting tomorrow. If so, should I just wrap in plastic? Thank you for your help!