A classic flourless chocolate cake recipe, like sliceable chocolate mousse, with a long list of variation ideas.
If you've never baked a flourless chocolate cake, please consider this serious encouragement. Not much of a baker? This is the cake that can change your mind. It's a classic. Nearly every great baker I know has a version in their repertoire. Likely because it's relatively simple to make, uses a short list of ingredients, and is a legit showstopper.
The magic of a flourless chocolate cake is the way it billows and expands as it bakes, then collapses onto itself once out of the oven. As it continues to cool the top sets and crusts a bit like meringue, and the center settles into the consistency of a sliceable chocolate mousse. I like to fold extra chocolate chunks into the batter just before baking for extra dense little pockets of chocolate. Once you get the basics of this cake down, you can use this recipe as a jumping off point for endless variations. The recipe is below, but there are a lot of extra tips, variations and whatnot on my site! -h
Your choice of chocolate really sets the tone here. I love making this cake with Guittard Organic 74% Bittersweet Chocolate. But chances are you'll be happy with any good chocolate - the last time I baked this cake with a bag of 63% chocolate chips I had on hand, and it was equally well-received. General rule of thumb? Opt for a chocolate 63% cacao or more and all the way up to 85%. Choose a favorite and it's hard to go wrong. Lastly, I've baked many different variations of this cake over the years, and they are listed on this page.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup / 110g extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for pan
12 ounces / 340g bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
5 large eggs, room temperature, separated
For serving: powdered sugar, lightly-sweetened whipped heavy cream
INSTRUCTIONS
Pre-heat your oven to 350F with a rack in the center. Prepare an 8-inch cake pan (see notes here if you're using 9-inch) by rubbing well with olive oil. Take a large piece of parchment paper line the pan - press it into the bottom and work it up against the sides (see photo).
Place the chocolate in a large heat-proof mixing bowl. Arrange it over a small saucepan of simmering water. This is a make-shift double boiler and allows you to gently melt the chocolate. Stir the chocolate regularly, and once it has nearly melted remove from heat. Avoid letting the chocolate get too hot. Whisk in the olive oil, half of the sugar, and the salt. Confirm that the mixture isn't hot to the touch (you don't wan't to scramble your yolks), and if o.k. whisk in the egg yolks. The mixture can look a bit gritty at this point, it's fine. Fold the remaining 4 ounces of chocolate chunks in and set aside.
Whisk your egg whites using an electric mixer. Once they turn white and have a good amount of structure and volume, gradually whisk in the remaining sugar. Continue whisking until the egg whites are glossy and hold nice peaks.
Fold one third of the egg white mixture into the chocolate, mixing until the batter is nearly uniform with few streaks. Gently fold in the remaining whites, folding from the bottom of the bowl, up and over. All the while try to keep as much volume as possible. You might have a few streaks left, and that's ok.
Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and bake for about 40 minutes, a little less if you're using a 9-inch pan. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit in the pan, on a cooling rack. Gently remove from the pan after 15 minutes or so. Once cool dust with powdered sugar.
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