Flourless Chocolate Soufflé Cake
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One of the easiest (and most impressive) flourless chocolate soufflé cake recipes you’ll ever make, with intense chocolate flavor and cloud-like texture. Serve warm, with a scoop of ice cream or simply dusted with cocoa or powdered sugar.
Everyone needs at least one (but preferably more) back-pocket chocolate dessert recipe. In fact, chocolate recipes have their very own category in Familystyle Food’s recipe index.
With this rich-tasting, airy chocolate soufflè cake recipe in your file, I like to call it the “little black dress” of desserts. It’s simple to put together and always gets rave reviews every time I serve it.
I promise you can fearlessly pull this recipe out of your hat. Break it out when it’s party time — or simply when your desire for chocolate is real, but time for fussing around isn’t. Just like a fun party trick!
Ingredients for the cake
The cake batter doesn’t contain wheat flour or butter — it’s basically just eggs, chocolate, cocoa and sugar with a small amount of almond flour.
- Chocolate: Use good-quality bittersweet dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate. Chocolate that’s shaped into discs or chunks is convenient — you won’t have to do any chopping.
- Cocoa powder:
- Almond flour: Fine, blanched almond flour gives the cake structure.
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Vanilla extract
Basic steps for making chocolate souffle cake batter
- TIP: A heavy-duty mixer (or a sturdy hand mixer) is a great tool for whipping the egg whites, Otherwise, you can go old school and whip the whites by hand in a bowl with a balloon whisk.
Combine melted chopped chocolate, cocoa, and sugar with hot water in a large bowl. 
Stir in egg yolks and almond flour until smooth.
In the same large bowl, add whipped egg whites. 
Fold together until evenly blended.
- Divide the batter into baking cups or pans.
- Bake about 20 minutes for small cakes, or 30 minutes for one 8-inch cake. The middle of the cake will be soft, almost pudding-like in texture, while the top of the cake forms a light crust that cracks as it cools.
- Dust more cocoa powder or confectioners’ sugar over the cake and serve.
Recommended pan sizes
Serving individual chocolate cakes is perfect for dinner parties, or casual cravings for one or two people. You have a few cake pan options to make this chocolate cake.
- Four 4-inch nonstick springform pans
- One 8-inch springform pan
- Four 8-ounce ramekins or soufflé dishes
For the cakes in the photos, I baked half the batter in the mini springform pans, and the other half in ceramic ramekins.
More chocolate cake recipes:
- Chocolate Almond Caprese Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Baby Cakes with Rosewater Mascarpone
- Venetian Chocolate Walnut Cake
- Chocolate Birthday Cake
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Flourless Chocolate Soufflé Cake
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) softened butter, or neutral oil
- 4 ounces (113 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- ½ cup (50 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1¼ cups (225 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup (120 ml) boiling water
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup (60 g) fine blanched almond flour
- 4 egg whites, at room temperature
Instructions
- Position rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 375 (190C) degrees.
- Line the bottoms of 4 (4-inch) mini or 1 (8-inch) springform pans with a round of parchment paper. Brush softened butter all over the inside of the pan. Place the pan(s) on a baking sheet.
- Combine the chopped chocolate, cocoa, 1 cup of the sugar and the salt in a large mixing bowl. Pour the boiling water over and whisk until mixture is smooth and the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in the egg yolks, vanilla extract and almond flour. Set aside.
- Beat egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in the remaining ¼ cup sugar and continue beating until stiff but glossy.
- Fold about ¼ of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in remaining egg whites. Spoon the batter evenly into the pans.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes for 4-inch cakes or 30-35 minutes for the 8-inch cake, or until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool on a rack 5 minutes. Remove sides of pan.
- Slide a small knife or spatula under the cakes to release them.
- Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with cocoa and/or powdered sugar, if you like.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- Bake the cakes in 8-ounce ramekins (20-25 minutes) and serve warm right out of the dishes, with a scoop of ice cream.
- Fill the pans with the batter and refrigerate up to 4 hours in advance of baking.
Nutrition
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
Sorry how much water?? Half a cup is like125 ml,it says 30 ml?
Oya – It should be 1/2 cup or 120 ml. Thanks for pointing out that typo! It’s been corrected. I hope you enjoy the cake.
Can you clarify the amount of sugar? The ingredient list says 1 1/4. The directions say to add 1 c sugar to the chocolate and then 1/2 cup to the egg whites. Which is correct?
Hi Greg – Thanks for letting me know. There was a typo and now the recipe is correct, 1 1/4 cups sugar (not 1 1/2).
This is such a beautiful cake! I love the dense chocolatey texture ♥
my parents and freinds will love this
this will help me with my sweet 16 birthday thank you for this awsome recipe it is so sick
Mmmmmmmmm. I can see I’ll have to be making those soon. Maybe after we get back from our in-town vacay…