Recipe: Flourless Chocolate Cake

Moist, dense, and fudgy, this Flourless Chocolate Cake is a super simple cake designed to impress.

After copious amounts of cake, cupcakes, and cookies to celebrate Madeline’s birthday over the last week, you would think we would be done with sweets for a bit.

You would be wrong.

We were almost done.

On Monday, we all converged at my sister and brother-in-law’s place to celebrate her birthday, and I volunteered to bring dessert.

At that point, between all the cooking and baking I had done for Madeline’s birthday, coupled with the fact that we don’t currently have a working dishwasher, I was pretty over doing any more dishes.

Which means when I was trying to decide what to make, I wanted to keep it simple, but still have something worthy of the occasion.

I originally went with chocolate-studded brownies, but it didn’t yield enough for everyone, which means I was scrambling for a second dessert at the eleventh hour.

So much for keeping it simple.

The best laid plans and all.

I had noticed this Bon Appetit recipe for a Flourless Chocolate Cake earlier in the week, and since I had just cleaned out all our kitchen cabinets, I knew I had most of the ingredients on hand.

The recipe comes from celebrated cookbook author, Richard Sax, who has quite the library of cookbooks, and this particular recipe is actually featured on the cover of his Classic Home Desserts: A Treasury of Heirloom and Contemporary Recipes cookbook.

If you haven’t had flourless cake before, it is something pretty special. More dense than traditional cake made with flour, it also is extra fudgy and downright delicious.

Which made it perfect for birthday celebrations.

Bonus points for being able to slide it into the oven under thirty minutes after the decision to make it.

It’s a good recipe to keep on stand-by … for when you are having last minute guests over. For when you are in the mood for something slightly rich and very chocolatey. For when you have a double birthday weekend sandwiched around Valentine’s Day.

Or just because.

Topped with whipped cream, it was perfect.

Fallen Chocolate Cake
Recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit 

The late Richard Sax, celebrated cookbook author and champion of home cooks the world over, inspired this flourless chocolate cake—a riff on his iconic chocolate cloud cake.

Ingredients

SERVINGS: 8–10

Cake

• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1” pieces, plus more, room temperature, for pan
• ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar, divided, plus more for pan
• 10 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (61%–72% cacao), coarsely chopped (I used two 4.4 oz bars of Hershey chocolate instead)
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 6 large eggs
• 2 tablespoon natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• (I added a teaspoon of espresso powder)

Topping

• 1 cup chilled heavy cream
• ½ cup mascarpone
• 3 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions
Cake

• Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly butter springform pan and dust with sugar, tapping out any excess.
• Combine chocolate, oil, and ½ cup butter in a large heatproof bowl. Set over a saucepan of simmering water and heat, stirring often, until melted. Remove bowl from saucepan.
• Separate 4 eggs, placing whites and yolks in separate medium bowls. Add cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, ¼ cup sugar, and remaining 2 eggs to bowl with yolks and whisk until mixture is smooth. (I added a teaspoon of espresso powder) Gradually whisk yolk mixture into chocolate mixture, blending well.
• Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg whites until frothy. With mixer running, gradually beat in ½ cup sugar; beat until firm peaks form.
• Gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture in 2 additions, folding just until incorporated between additions. Scrape batter into prepared pan; smooth top and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar.
• Bake until top is puffed and starting to crack and cake is pulling away from edge of pan, 35-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cake cool completely in pan (cake will collapse in the center and crack further as it cools).
• Do Ahead: Cake can be made 1 day ahead. Cover in pan and store airtight at room temperature.

Topping

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