There is a reason why fine restaurants serve flourless chocolate cakes: they are scrumptious. What makes them work? It’s chocolate, eggs, and starches that give them structure instead of flour. This one has ground nuts for extra flavor and richness.
If you can make an angel food or sponge cake, you can make this flourless chocolate cake.
This cake is made much a like a sponge cake: you whip the egg whites and fold them in with the chocolate and yolk mixture. It’s really quite simple.
Make this cake in a springform pan. Our Candy Apple Red Silicone Springform Pan is perfect.
This cake is rich enough that frosting is not necessary. Simply dust it with a little powdered sugar.
Ingredients
2/3 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (10 ounces) or 1 3/4 semisweet chocolate wafers (10 ounces). See note.
8 large egg whites
8 large egg yolks at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- In a blender, chop the walnut pieces and sugar together until finely chopped. Set aside.
- Melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave, stirring as needed. Set aside to cool slightly.
- While the chocolate is cooling, beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
- Fold the nuts, egg yolks, and vanilla into the chocolate mixture. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Pour the batter into a nine-inch springform pan.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until done. Test for doneness as you would a cheesecake, by gently jiggling the pan. When done only the center of the cake will jiggle. Remove from the oven and set on wire rack to cool. After five minutes, run a knife or spatula around the edges and remove the ring. Let the cake cool completely before cutting. (The cake is fragile until it cools.)
Baker’s notes:
- We use Pure Dark Chocolate Wafers for a scrumptious cake.
- Don’t over beat the egg whites; soft peaks are sufficient. Over beating incorporates too much air which will make the cake drier.
