Flourless Chocolate Soufflé Cake
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One of the easiest (and most impressive) flourless chocolate soufflé cake recipes you’ll ever make. Serve warm, with a scoop of ice cream or simply dusted with cocoa or powdered sugar.
Everyone needs at least one back-pocket chocolate dessert recipe.
In fact, chocolate is awarded its very own category on this blog!
Having this pretty dessert on hand is a lot like stashing a little black dress (or crisp oxford shirt) in your pantry.
Break loose and pull it out when it’s party time – or simply when the desire for chocolate is real.
This chocolate soufflè cake is like that perfect dress — deceptively basic but oh-so-delicious in action.
This warm, light chocolate cake is so simple to put together and always gets rave reviews.
I promise you can fearlessly pull this recipe out of your hat for last-minute desserts.
Just like a fun party trick!
The cake batter is gluten-free, and it doesn’t contain wheat flour — it’s basically just eggs, chocolate, cocoa and sugar with a small amount of almond flour.
Equipment and tools to make chocolate souffle cake
The one thing you’ll need is a heavy-duty mixer (or this sturdy hand mixer) to whip the egg whites, which then get folded into the melted chocolate batter.
Otherwise, you can go old school and whip the whites by hand in a bowl with a balloon whisk.
The cake bakes in about half an hour, and it has an intense chocolate flavor and moist cloud-like texture.
The middle of the cake stays soft, almost pudding-like in texture, while the top of the cake forms a light crust that cracks as it cools.
If it’s a special occasion and you’re feeling it, make individual chocolate cakes that are perfect for sharing situations.
What size pan to use for chocolate soufflé cake:
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 springform pans and the other half in ramekins.
Baking the cake in the cups makes for a more casual presentation — simply serve warm and devour straight out of the cups.
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
- 4 ounces (113 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- ½ cup (50 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1¼ cups (245 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
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…