Making a cake without flour is absolutely possible, especially a chocolate cake. It works because cocoa powder contains a good amount of starch and fiber, ingredients which absorb moisture and are part of the cake building structure. Therefore making a cake without flour, in case of a chocolate cake, is not very complicated. In fact by simply manipulating the ingredients. a perfect chocolate cake without flour can easily be obtained.

So when I went looking for not just good-sounding, but truly tested flourless chocolate cake recipes, I found what I needed on one of my favorite foodie websites: The Prepared Pantry, a great pantry-, baking-, and food storage-oriented website, PreparedPantry.com. The Prepared Pantry offers wonderful food products at great prices and articles on how to use their products. And they always test any recipe they post, so you can benefit from their experience. This is the case with the flourless chocolate cake recipes they shared. Thus considering our many readers with gluten-intolerance issues, I just had to pass on this yummy information.

Here’s what the site said about this topic: “We love flourless chocolate cakes. They're decadent, fudgy monstrosities. Our recipes use only four ingredients.” Then they went on to share their recipes as well as explain how flourless cakes work, the differences in chocolate grades, and even recommend certain cake pans.

Newspaper Flourless Chocolate Cake

Prepared Pantry found this recipe in their local newspaper, hence the name of the cake. They say it makes a very dense, rich cake—almost like a brownie.  It is very good and very easy. 

Make sure that you use the very best cocoa that you can find.  The Prepared Pantry used Ramstadt Breda Rich Dark Cocoa and they say it made perfect cakes. 

Make this recipe in two bowls: one to mix the batter and the other to whip the egg whites.  Melt the butter in the batter bowl, then use a microwave-safe bowl for the batter. Egg whites should always be beaten in a glass or steel bowl. 

1 cup butter
6 large eggs, separated
1 cup rich, dark cocoa, Ramstadt-Breda or equal
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. 

Melt the butter in the batter bowl in the microwave.  Add one-half cup of the sugar to the melted butter.  Add the cocoa and egg yolks and stir to blend. Whip the egg whites in another bowl.  Drizzle in the remaining sugar as they beat.  Beat until stiff peaks form.

Scrape the egg whites into the batter bowl and fold them into the chocolate mixture.  Scrape the batter into a 9-inch spring-form pan with a good seal.

Bake for 48 minutes or until a toothpick comes out nearly but not entirely clean. Cool on a wire rack and then place in the refrigerator to chill.  The cake will become dense as it cools.  Dust with powdered sugar if you desire.   Serve with a raspberry sauce and/or whipped cream.

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Easy Flourless Chocolate Cake

With only four ingredients and three steps, this is an easy flourless, dense and chocolaty cake.  

A simple dusting of powdered sugar makes this cake elegant. Drizzle it with raspberry sauce, raspberry chocolate sauce, or chocolate sauce.  (A recipe for raspberry sauce follows.) 

Finally add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Be sure and use good quality, dark cocoa.  Ramstadt-Breda Dark Cocoa, which has three times the cocoa butter of most national brands, is what Prepared Pantry recommends and sells. They add a caution: This will not be the same with ordinary cocoa. 

8 large eggs
1 cup rich, dark cocoa, Ramstadt-Breda or its equal
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  In your stand-type mixer and with the whip attachment beat the eggs for three minutes at medium speed, until they are bubbly and lighter colored. While the eggs are beating, melt the butter and measure the other ingredients.  Measure the cocoa by spooning cocoa into a cup — do not compress the cocoa.

Add the sugar and cocoa and beat in.  While the mixer is running, drizzle in the melted butter.  Continue beating until mixed.  Scrape the batter into the pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or an insta-read thermometer registers 165 to 170 degrees when inserted into the center of the cake.  Cool on a wire rack and then place in the refrigerator to chill.  The cake will become dense as it cools.  Dust with powdered sugar if you desire. Yield: 12 servings. 

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Raspberry Sauce

Raspberries alone are not tart and not flavored enough for a dessert sauce even when thickened with a starch.  There are two possible solutions:  Cooking the fruit down to concentrate the flavors or adding a jelly for thickness and flavor.  This recipe uses the latter.

12 ounces, about 3 cups frozen, unsweetened raspberries
2/3 cup red currant jelly
about 1/4 cup sugar

Thaw and puree the raspberries.  Strain them twice through a sieve/strainer or until nearly all of the seeds are removed.  Place the puree in a small saucepan.  Add the jelly. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the jelly is completely melted and blended with the fruit.  Sweeten to taste with the sugar while it is still hot.  Stir to make sure that the sugar is dissolved.  Let cool.  Yield: About 1 1/3 cups of raspberry sauce. 

What Prepared Pantry says you’ll need for either recipe: For the cake, you will need a good quality nine-inch springform pan.  We recommend our glass-based springform pans.  We have baked this cake many times and have not had a single leak.  We cut the cake right on the glass base.  A good quality cocoa is essential.  You want at least 16% cocoa butter.  Most store cocoas are 8 to 10%.  Ramstadt-Breda cocoa is 24%.  An insta-read thermometer.  The proteins in the eggs will coagulate at 165 degrees and create the structure for the cake. 

For the raspberry sauce, you will need a medium sieve/strainer, one about 6 inches in diameter.  The mesh in this size of sieve is usually the right size to catch most of the raspberry seeds and still let the puree pass.  The red currant jelly gives the puree body, tartness, and color. 

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"Death by Chocolate" Flourless Cake

This fabulous flourless cake is easy to make. And it is so good — moist, dense, and fudgy.

For a nice presentation, make it in a spring-form pan. Be sure to use the very best intense chocolate. The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate but you can substitute a quality semi-sweet chocolate.

Warning: This is an intensely chocolate cake. If you are not a certified chocoholic, eat this cake with a scoop of ice cream or a little whipped cream.

1 cup butter
15 ounces bittersweet chocolate wafers (about three cups—you may substitute good quality semisweet chocolate wafers or chips)
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave, stopping to stir several times. Whip the eggs until light and fluffy, about three minutes at medium speed.

Add the vanilla, powdered sugar and cornstarch and continue beating until smooth. Fold the melted chocolate into the egg mixture. Grease a 9-inch spring-form pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the center of the cake is firm to the touch.

Set the pan on a wire rack to cool. Let cool for five minutes before gently loosening and removing the ring. Let cool completely before serving. Garnish with whipped cream or sift powdered sugar over the cooled cake.

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