Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache (Gluten Free)
What goes better with chocolate than more chocolate? This flourless chocolate cake uses chocolate chips and cocoa powder, plus chocolate ganache, for a rich, delicious dessert. It's naturally gluten free.
Flourless Chocolate Cake Tips
This flourless chocolate cake recipe is pretty simple, but there are a few things you can change up, if you so desire.
Dutch-Process or Natural Cocoa Powder
By default, this recipe uses Dutch-process cocoa powder, which is made with cocoa beans that have been washed in an alkaline solution. Dutch-process has a neutral pH and a smooth flavor.
If you don't have Dutch-process cocoa on hand, natural cocoa powder will work, but given the cake a slightly different flavor profile. (Most cocoa powder sold in the U. S. is natural, unless labeled otherwise.)
Mocha or Chocolate Mint Flavors
Add one to two teaspoons of espresso powder into the cake batter for a chocolate mocha cake, or a teaspoon of mint extract for chocolate mint cake.
If You Need to Go Dairy Free
If you need your flourless chocolate cake to be dairy free as well as gluten free, substitute coconut oil for the butter in the cake, and full fat coconut milk for the cream in the ganache.
The texture won't be exactly the same, but it should be an acceptable substitute.
To Dress Up Your Flourless Chocolate Cake
We are fans of the ganache, but if you need to trim some calories or are in a hurry, you can dust the top of the cake with a little powdered sugar instead. Simply brush off any crumbs, and sprinkle powdered sugar gently through a mesh strainer.
If you enjoy nuts or coconut, sprinkle 1/4 cup over the top of the ganache. To bring out more flavor, toast nuts/coconut at 350℉ for 10 minutes before spreading on cake.
PrintFlourless Chocolate Cake
This flourless chocolate cake uses chocolate chips and cocoa powder, plus chocolate ganache, for a rich, delicious dessert. It's naturally gluten free.
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
Glaze:
- 1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a metal 8″ round cake pan. Cut a piece of parchment or wax paper to fit in the bottom of the pan. Grease the paper and place it in the bottom of the pan.
To Make the Cake:
- Put the chocolate and butter in a medium sauce pan. Heat until the butter is melted and the chips are soft. Stir until the chips melt.
- Stir in the sugar, salt, and vanilla.
- Add the eggs, beating briefly until smooth. Add the cocoa powder, and mix just to combine.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake the cake for 25 minutes; the top will have formed a thin crust, and it should register at least 200°F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into its center.
- Remove the cake from the oven and cool it in the pan for 5 minutes.
- Loosen the edges of the pan with a table knife and turn it out onto a serving plate. Allow the cake to cool completely before glazing.
To make the chocolate ganache glaze:
- Place the chocolate chips and cream in a small sauce pan. Heat gently, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and lump free.
- Pour the ganache onto the cake. Use a spatula or butter knife to spread it so it drips over the edge. Let set several hours before serving. (Ganache will firm up as it cools.) To speed up the process, move the cake into the refrigerator.
More Made From Scratch Recipes
We have over 100 made from scratch recipes on the site, including more yummy desserts like:
- Chocolate Chestnut Brownies -gluten free, grain free, dairy free, no refined sugar
- Old Fashioned Rhubarb Pudding Cake
- Tigernut chocolate chip cookies – gluten free, nut free (tigernuts are tubers), paleo friendly
We hope you enjoy this flourless chocolate cake as much as we do. It's become a “go to” recipe for family gatherings.
Have any questions, comments or recipe requests? Share your thoughts below. See 12 Baking Tips for Great Results and a Stress Free Kitchen for more baking tips.
Are you using a mixer for this cake? It says to slight beat in eggs
I generally beat by hand, though you could use a mixer on low if you preferred.
I’d like to make this without sugar. Can you suggest anything?
The simplest option would be to use a one for one sugar replacement, like Swerve granular sweetener. Swerve gets its sweetness from a combination of erythritol and oligosaccharides, and has become popular in the keto and low carb communities.
If you use a sugar free chocolate chip, you may need to bump up the sweetener in the recipe, depending on your taste preferences. Better Foods sugar free chocolate chips are sweetened with allulose, so these may swap one for one, but some other chips have no sweetener at all.