Yep. Ghirardelli Flourless Chocolate Cake (Gluten-Free) – with only THREE ingredients. Yes you read that right. It’s quite a mouthful, yet it only has 3 simple ingredients. And it’s not too hard. You will see.
A friend of mine passed this recipe for a Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake along to me saying she couldn’t believe that a Flourless Chocolate Cake would actually be good.
She felt like the whole cake would just fall apart or taste bad. So she asked me to try it and see what happened.
No problem, I’m game. I do this all the time.
So I took it home, and I googled to see if others had made it, and it looks like there are dozens of posts.
It’s pretty popular as chocolate cakes go. It also looks like it may have originated from Cooks Illustrated, as my recipe looks almost identical to one they have posted.
That means it should be really good, right? I’ve actually never had a bad recipe come from Cooks Illustrated.
So was the Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake any good?
So far everyone who has tried it said they loved it. WE loved it. All of us, including the kid who doesn’t like chocolate in my house. (weirdo!)
This is always a good thing.
Pretty sure it will be making an appearance on our Easter table this year.
Rich deep chocolate flavor, extremely creamy texture, almost like thick mousse… just amazing.
I chose Ghirardelli Chocolate for two reasons, one I almost always have a ton in our pantry, but two, I think the flavor is so much better than some of the others out there.
Usually when a recipe calls for baking chocolate, I choose Ghirardelli (and no this is NOT an ad or sponsored in any way, they have no idea who I am, I just love their chocolate).
Using the Ghirardelli Chocolate made this cake SO good.
Ghirardelli Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe
Ghirardelli Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pieces
- 8 large eggs
- 16 ounce semisweet chocolate coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Adjust your oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. This is important so the top or bottom doesn’t overcook.
- Line the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper and grease pan sides. While the original recipe calls for lining it with parchment paper, I actually did not use the paper, I just greased the pan REALLY well.
- Cover the bottom of the pan and along sides with sheet of foil and set in large roasting pan. You are doing this so you don’t have any water seep in. This is actually important.
- Boil some water.
- In a mixer, beat the eggs until they double in volume. This took about 5 minutes or so. I did this with my KitchenAid mixer and had it on Speed 6 for 5 minutes. I was able to walk away and do other things.
- In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and the butter together, stirring until completely blended.
- Fold ⅓ of the beaten egg foam into the melted chocolate/butter mixture until only a few streaks of egg are visible; fold in half of the remaining egg foam, mix again. Then the last of the remaining egg foam, until mixture is totally blended together. Cooks illustrated uses the word: homogenous.It will be foamy and it will take awhile to incorporate and stir it together until you see no streaks.
- Scrape the chocolate mixture into your prepared springform pan and smooth surface with a spatula.
- Use a roasting pan, put the springform pan inside the roasting pan. Pour enough boiling water in the roasting pan to come about halfway up the outside sides of the springform pan.
- Bake at 325 degrees for about 22-25 minutes. The top will have a thin “crust” (like a brownie) that has formed on the surface.
- Remove the springform pan from the water bath and set on a wire rack to cool.
- Once cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate overnight to mellow.
- About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve, remove the springform pan sides, invert the cake on a plate or a sheet of parchment paper. I used a plate because after that you are going to turn the cake back over on a serving platter or another cake. It was just easier.
- Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar and add some seasonal berries.
- Enjoy!
The cake seems delicious and glúten free is amazing. Our cooking classes are also glútrn free due to health questions with people tha visit Portugal. Portuguese population has also some celiacs questions (3%). Thqnks for sharing this recipe.
The cake seems delicious and glúten free is amazing. Our cooking classes are also glútrn free due to health questions with people tha visit Portugal. Portuguese population has also some celiacs questions (3%). Thqnks for sharing this recipe.
Thank you for sharing the info about your gluten-free cooking classes. I think it is important that those that suffer from Celiacs disease have options for the things they need to cut out, so why not make it easier to make things they will still enjoy.
YESSSSS I know I would completely and utterly love this cake!!!! So dense and chocolatey!
Get out of town! I can’t believe that gorgeous, decadent, rich chocolate cake is only made with eggs, chocolate and butter! It’s magic! That looks ah-may-zing, Nicole! I could go for a giant slice right now. Since it’s gluten free and flourless, it’s totally a health food 😉 Aren’t there all those studies that say chocolate is good for us?
If it helps, I couldn’t believe it either. LOL It turned out so incredibly decadent and delicious. And I’m totally with you… a TOTAL health food. I mean, that’s exactly what this is! xoxox
YESSSSS I know I would completely and utterly love this cake!!!! So dense and chocolatey!
Yes my sweet friend, you would, indeed. It’s so rich and chocolaty and I was just literally blown away by the pure chocolate flavor. Thank you!!
The fact that this is gluten free is awesome. I have recently tried to get my family of gluten and of course the kids think it means no more “good” deserts . Cant wait to try this and see the looks on their faces
The fact that this is gluten free is awesome. I have recently tried to get my family of gluten and of course the kids think it means no more “good” deserts . Cant wait to try this and see the looks on their faces
This is one of those desserts that it seems simply unbelievable that it would be gluten free, but it really is and it’s amazing and such a great texture and flavor. Like a cross between a mousse and a cheesecake and my children ALL loved it, so I’m sure yours will too!
Looks good! I normally add ground almonds to mine – but I will try this version without. I love the whole 2 or 3 ingredient idea!
Looks good! I normally add ground almonds to mine – but I will try this version without. I love the whole 2 or 3 ingredient idea!
James, I love the idea of adding ground almonds to it, or even sprinkling almond slices on top either with or without the raspberries (I have a true love affair with almonds!).
I’m always game when a recipe only calls for 2 or 3 ingredients and it still leaves the item completely homemade. 🙂
Thanks for the comment!
OMG! I need this recipe and need to make this. I’ve been staying away from certain foods and I think I could use this as my one cheat since it has no added sugar or flour.
Thanks for sharing. LOVE IT!!
This could totally be used as a “cheat”. Instead of a standard size slice, this is very rich, so we made small slivers and served it up with big glasses of skim milk, tea or coffee and it was decadent and you felt like you were enjoying some gourmet chocolate cake from somewhere expensive.
You are quite welcome, thanks for the sweet comment!
Dropping in from A to Z… this looks super awesome.. I wish I could dig in
Tina from Twinkling Tina Cooks
One of my friends is allergic to yeast and gluten, I made this for him when he came over and he really loved it. Thanks!
One of my friends is allergic to yeast and gluten, I made this for him when he came over and he really loved it. Thanks!
My son cannot have milk/dairy and so I was wondering if there would be a suitable substitution for the butter? So hoping there’s a solution! Thanks.
Does your flourless cake use 8 or 16 Tbsp (2 sticks) of butter? Your recipe calls for 8 Tbsp or 2 sticks.
I had used half sticks for that recipe, so it is 8 Tablespoons. I have updated above.
[…] asked her initially what kind of cake she wanted, she wasn’t sure until I suggested a flour less chocolate cake and then she was like “YES! That’s the one!”. Normally, I’d opt for a Vegan […]
Can this be frozen ahead of time?
Hi Jo, I am not really sure this would hold up being frozen. I have never tried. If you try it, I hope you’ll come back and let us know the results.
Thanks and Enjoy!
The cake seems delicious and glúten free is amazing. Our cooking classes are also glútrn free due to health questions with people tha visit Portugal. Portuguese population has also some celiacs questions (3%). Thqnks for sharing this recipe.
One of my friends is allergic to yeast and gluten, I made this for him when he came over and he really loved it. Thanks!
Looks good! I normally add ground almonds to mine – but I will try this version without. I love the whole 2 or 3 ingredient idea!
The fact that this is gluten free is awesome. I have recently tried to get my family of gluten and of course the kids think it means no more “good” deserts . Cant wait to try this and see the looks on their faces
YESSSSS I know I would completely and utterly love this cake!!!! So dense and chocolatey!
[…] asked her initially what kind of cake she wanted, she wasn’t sure until I suggested a flour less chocolate cake and then she was like “YES! That’s the one!”. Normally, I’d opt for a Vegan […]
Hi Nicole, had this cake recently and was blown away by it! Does the butter and chocolate mixture need to be cooked before adding the whipped up eggs?
Oops spellcheck mistake- meant to say cooled not cooked!
It really is amazing! I have never cooled it more than about 5 minutes before incorporating so no, it does not need to be cooled. Since it’s foam and not “eggy” anymore, it doesn’t “cook” the way you think it would. I hope that helps! 🙂
For some reason there’s no place for a star rating so I’ll give it 5 stars!! Made this just now and just removed it from the oven, but I’m not able to see a thin crust on top, so I baked it an 5 extra minutes beyond the instructions. It’s definitely set on the outside edge but still slightly jiggly in the center. Hopefully it’s done in the middle. If the flavor of the batter is any indication of the final product, it’s gonna be a resounding success! Thank you for the wonderful recipe which was simple and fun to make. I love that it’s baked in a spring-form pan with a water bath because then I know it will be creamy and delightful like a cheesecake! My family is sure to love it!
Thank you so much! We love it too. I’m sorry you were confused by the star rating. It is actually up in the recipe card instead of down in the comments. Thank you for your 5 star review! 🙂
This cake is amazing! My daughter in law has celiac disease and has to eat gluten free. But this chocolate masterpiece has gotten raves from everyone that’s tasted it! Makes a really pretty dessert.