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    Dana's Table » Recipes » Jewish Holiday Favorites

    Published: Dec 21, 2012 · Modified: Feb 27, 2023 by Dana Shrager · This post may contain affiliate links

    Almost Flourless French Chocolate Cake

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    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    This Almost Flourless French Chocolate Cake is deceptively easy, yet will make you look like a professional baker! It has a deep chocolate flavor with a light texture that is between cakey and fudgy. Guests go crazy for this impressive dessert which is easy enough for a casual gathering and elegant enough for a special occasion. 

    Chocolate cake on pedestal with slice on server hovering above revealing fudgy texture.

    Like a little black dress, this Almost Flourless Chocolate cake is versatile and can even be adapted for Passover by swapping the flour for matzo meal. Or I also recommend my other favorite chocolate cake: Nutella Flourless Chocolate Cake, which is kosher for Passover too.

    Jump to:
    • Why You'll Love This Recipe
    • Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
    • Step by Step Photos
    • How to fold ingredients
    • Top Tips
    • Variations
    • Make Ahead
    • Storage and Reheating
    • More dessert recipes
    • Recipe
    • Comments

    Why You'll Love This Recipe

    • Not fussy! No need to separate egg whites from egg yolks, and no whipping to soft peaks.  
    • Perfect texture between a cake and fudge. 
    • Just the right amount of richness and sweetness.
    • Can be easily made kosher for Passover with a simple ingredient swap.

    Dana’s Note: This chocolate cake recipe has gone viral by word of mouth. Guests frequently ask me for the recipe, and now it has made its way around my daughter's school. Countless people have come up to me in the hallway to thank me for this recipe.

    The original recipe was discovered by my sister in a Bon Appetit print issue a long time ago. A reader submitted the recipe, which had come from their French au pair. I can no longer locate this recipe online, so I'm happy to have the recipe live on my site. This foolproof recipe is a go-to recipe for many people, and I hope it will be for you too.

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    Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

    Ingredients in small bowls including butter, sugar, bar chocolate, flour, cocoa, and eggs.

    See the recipe card below for a complete ingredient list and measurements.

    Jump to Recipe

    • Semisweet chocolate - I have tested this recipe with the following chocolate brands: Guittard bittersweet chocolate baking bar, Baker’s Premium Baking Bars, and Ghirardelli Premium Baking semi-sweet chocolate bar. They all come out very well.
    • Baking powder - To check if baking powder is still active, add hot water over a small amount of baking powder. If it bubbles, it is still active and good to use. 
    • Cocoa powder - I like to use cocoa powder instead of flour when buttering a pan to prevent a chocolate cake from sticking. Any cocoa powder residue that remains on the outside of the cake after baking won't be visible. No white streaks from flour on a brown cake!
    • The remainder of the ingredients include unsalted butter, eggs, granulated sugar, unbleached all-purpose flour, and powdered sugar.

    Step by Step Photos

    See the recipe card below for complete directions.

    Jump to Recipe

    STEP ONE: Prepare the pan

    Prepare a 10 inch springform pan by buttering the inside of the pan and lightly dusting with cocoa powder (or flour). Measure 2 pieces of aluminum foil that are slightly larger than the pan and set aside.

    Cocoa powder in the bottom of a cake pan.
    Dust the buttered pan with cocoa powder.

    STEP TWO: Melt chocolate and butter

    In a small saucepan, heat the chocolate and butter over low very heat until melted and smooth. Stir periodically. Don’t turn the heat too high, or the chocolate may burn. 

    You can also melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave at 50% power in 30 second increments. Do this a few times, stirring in between, until everything is melted and smooth.

    Allow the mixture to cool slightly. 

    Butter and chocolate melted together in a pan.
    Melt chocolate and butter.
    Eggs and sugar beaten together in a bowl.
    Whisk or beat the eggs.

    STEP THREE: Beat eggs

    In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until ingredients are well combined and the mixture begins to thicken. You can do this with an electric hand mixer or whisk it yourself by hand. 

    Dry ingredients sifted into the egg mixture.
    Sift flour and baking powder.
    Cake batter folded together in a bowl.
    Fold ingredients together.

    STEP FOUR: Sift

    Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture. Gently fold flour into the mixture until incorporated.

    STEP FIVE: Fold

    Next, gradually fold the melted chocolate mixture into the egg, sugar, and flour mixture until incorporated. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan.

    STEP SIX: Bake

    Place the springform pan in the oven with one piece of foil under the pan to catch any drips. Bake the cake uncovered for 20 minutes. 

    Then remove the foil from under the pan, and place a clean piece of foil resting on top of the cake pan. Finally, bake the cake covered for 30 minutes more. 

    The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs attached (rather than a wet batter). The cake should also start to pull away from the sides of the pan. 

    Set the cake uncovered in the pan on a rack until it is cool. The cake will fall slightly in the center. 

    Once the cake cools, run a knife or thin spatula around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake. Gently remove the side of the springform pan. 

    Cake just out of the oven and cooling.
    Top down view of cake showing doily design made with powdered sugar.

    STEP SEVEN: Decorate

    Once the cake is completely cool, sift confectioners’ powdered sugar over the cake so that it looks like a dusting of light snow. You can use a sifter, sugar shaker, or small hand-held colander to sprinkle the sugar on the cake for decoration.

    Alternately, for an extra pretty presentation, use a stencil or doily to make a pattern with the powdered sugar. The best way to do it is to gently hold the stencil/doily down flat against the cake with one hand, and then sprinkle the powdered sugar over the holes with the other hand. If the stencil is held too high above the cake, the pattern gets blurry. Sprinkle with a sugar shaker or a small hand-held colander with powdered sugar. Fill the stencil holes with sugar. It works even better with two people- one person to hold down the stencil with both hands, and the other person to sprinkle the sugar over the stencil. 

    Once you finish sprinkling the sugar, you need to put your hands on each side of the stencil and then lift straight up so that you don't smear the design. You can practice on a colored plate until you feel ready to do it on the real thing. The result is a beautiful confectioners’ sugar design! 

    STEP EIGHT: Serve

    Serve this cake as is, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, fresh raspberries, or a dollop of whipped cream. It’s also delicious atop a bed of raspberry sauce on the bottom of a serving plate. 

    How to fold ingredients

    Folding is a mixing technique that will help insure that your French chocolate cake will be as light and delicious as possible.

    In Step 5 of this cake, the lighter egg mixture needs to be incorporated with the denser chocolate mixture. The mixing motion needs to be done gently so that the lighter, airier mixture keeps its fluffy texture. Doing this too vigorously will cause the air to escape from the lighter ingredient, causing the cake to be more dense.

    This gentle mixing is called folding, and it's done like this: Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. Hold a silicone spatula or large mixing spoon above the bowl with the utensil's flat surface parallel to the surface of the bowl. In a continuous swooping motion, gently go into the ingredients on one side of the bowl, slowly move the utensil across the bottom of the bowl, and then come up the other side in a continuous, slow circular motion.

    Repeat this motion starting in different sections of the bowl until the mixture is smooth and incorporated using as few gentle strokes as possible to accomplish the task.

    Top Tips

    • Use baking chocolate bars to produce a cake with best taste and texture. Chocolate chips may be made with stabilizers to help them hold their shape, so they're not the best match for this cake.
    • Be careful not to burn the chocolate when melting it by keeping a low temperature on the stove, or microwaving at half power. 
    • Dust cocoa powder into the bottom of the buttered pan to help keep it from sticking. Or you can cut a circle of parchment paper for the bottom of the pan, but I find using cocoa powder works just as well. 
    • How to tell when the cake is done? It should start pulling away from the side of the pan, and be set in the middle. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. It should have moist crumbs, and not a wet batter. 
    • Decorate the cake by sifting powdered sugar over a doily or stencil. 
    Slice of chocolate cake on blue plate.

    Variations

    This cake can be easily modified for Passover by swapping out the flour for matzo meal or matzo cake meal. It's only a small amount of matzo meal, so it's not detectable at all. This cake is not just a Passover dessert that's pretty good by Passover standards. This cake is amazing, period.

    Make Ahead

    You can make this cake one day ahead of time and store it covered on the counter. 

    You can also freeze this cake whole for up to a month. Defrost covered on the counter overnight and serve.

    Storage and Reheating

    How to store: Store leftovers covered on the counter for up to 3 days. 

    How to freeze: Freeze this cake in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

    More dessert recipes

    • Italian Chocolate Chip Cookies
    • Passover Flourless Chocolate Cake with Nutella
    • Honey Cookies
    • Passover Macaroons
    Whole chocolate cake on pedestal with a slice cut out.

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    Recipe

    Chocolate cake on pedestal with slice on server hovering above revealing fudgy texture.

    Almost Flourless French Chocolate Cake

    This Almost Flourless French Chocolate Cake is deceptively easy, but will make you look like a professional baker! It is chocolatey and rich without being too sweet. The texture is a mix between cakey and fudgy. It’s an impressive dessert easy enough for a casual night, and elegant enough for a special occasion.
    4.98 from 35 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: French
    Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
    Servings: 12 servings
    Calories: 390kcal
    Author: Dana Shrager

    Equipment

    • 10-inch springform pan
    • mixing bowls
    • Hand mixer or whisk
    • Sugar shaker or flour sifter

    Ingredients

    • 10 ounces semisweet chocolate baking bar
    • 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, plus extra for greasing the pan
    • 5 large eggs
    • 1 ¼ cups granulated white sugar
    • 5 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
    • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
    • cocoa powder for dusting the pan or additional flour
    • powdered sugar for garnishing the finished cake

    Instructions

    • Place rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 325ºF. Prepare a 10 inch Springform Pan by buttering the inside of the pan and lightly dusting with cocoa powder (or dust with flour). Measure 2 pieces of aluminum foil that are slightly larger than the pan. Set aside.
    • Melt chocolate and butter in a small, heavy saucepan on the stove with low heat and stir periodically. Alternatively, melt in the microwave with 50% power until just melted; do not overcook. Stir so ingredients are combined and smooth. Set aside to cool a little.
    • In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with a mixer or whisk vigorously until ingredients are well-combined and the mixture begins to thicken.
    • Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture. Then gently fold until incorporated.
    • Next, gradually fold in the chocolate mixture. Pour batter in the prepared pan.
    • Place the cake pan in the oven with one piece of foil under the cake pan to catch any drips, and bake the cake uncovered for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil from under the pan, and place a clean piece of foil resting on top of the cake pan. Bake the cake covered for 30 minutes more. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs attached.
    • Let cake cool uncovered in the pan on a rack. The cake will fall a little. When the cake cools, run a knife or thin rubber spatula around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake. Remove the side of the springform pan. Garnish cake by sifting powdered sugar over the top of the cake like a dusting of snow. You can even use a stencil or doilies on top of the cake to make a pattern with the powdered sugar. Enjoy!

    Notes

    Make ahead: This cake can be made a day ahead. It can even be frozen for up to a month. It doesn't get any more amazing than this.
    Passover adaptation: To make this cake for Passover, simply substitute matzo cake meal or regular matzo meal for the flour. It comes out really well!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 390kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 110mg | Sodium: 84mg | Potassium: 168mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 584IU | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 2mg

    Nutritional Disclaimer

    Nutritional information is an estimation only.

    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @DanasTableLA or tag #danastableLA!

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      Recipe Rating




      4.98 from 35 votes (35 ratings without comment)
    1. Lois says

      September 23, 2023 at 3:47 pm

      Is it better to use margarine or oil for pareve? Which sugar substitute do you suggest?

      Reply
      • Dana Shrager says

        October 02, 2023 at 12:18 am

        I haven't tested this recipe with alternate ingredients. I think that margarine would be better than oil for this cake. My kosher pastry chef colleague recommends Fleischmann's Margarine for baking. I'm not versed in sugar substitutes. If you adapt this recipe, I'd love to hear how it comes out so we can let others know who'd like to do the same.

        Reply
    2. Ayu says

      October 28, 2017 at 3:36 am

      Hi, i just try your recipe. If i want to give to mu cousine tommorow, am I need to put in the freezer or just in room temperatur until tommorow??

      Reply
      • Dana says

        October 28, 2017 at 9:25 am

        Once the cake cools, cover it and leave it on the counter until tomorrow. Cover the cake with foil or plastic wrap, or use a cake stand with a lid. Dust the cake with powdered sugar tomorrow, or if you already put it, add a little more if needed tomorrow. It will taste great tomorrow- enjoy!

        Reply
    3. Beth (OMG! Yummy) says

      April 20, 2016 at 7:12 am

      I'm not in charge of dessert this year or I would absolutely be making this!

      Reply
      • Dana @ Foodie Goes Healthy says

        April 20, 2016 at 7:35 am

        Well, then it's good news that this recipe is great any time of the year.

        Reply
    4. Kathy Gallagher says

      December 22, 2012 at 1:45 pm

      Yum! The picture makes me want to eat it!

      When I make it, i place a paper doily over the top of the cake and lightly dust powdered sugar through a mesh sieve over the doily. Then I carefully lift up the doily and have a pretty pattern on top. Fancy! I also sometimes slice the cake and set it on top of a pool of raspberry sauce (from a jar) on the plate with a few fresh raspberries on top.

      Reply
      • Dana says

        December 22, 2012 at 10:03 pm

        Thanks for the decorating tips, so professional. And thank you for the recipe for the best chocolate dessert ever.

        Reply

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