 Flourless chocolate cake is a little bit overdone. And by “a little,” I actually mean “quite a lot.” It was the hottest dessert that a restaurant could serve for a while, but now it has fallen back into a comfortable, but permanent, position beside cheesecake on almost every single dessert menu.
That said, the reason that it became a dessert menu-staple is that flourless chocolate cake is very good and is still very popular. The rich chocolate dessert is difficult for chocolate-lovers to turn down.
As a belated Valentine’s Day treat (as you might guess from the little heart-shaped pans that I used), I baked up a batch of mini flourless chocolate cakes.
Fudgy and flavorful, these cakes are not too sweet by any means. I used a 65% dark chocolate for these and would only go up to a 70% without adjusting the sugar level. I know that it’s popular to get as dark as possible without increasing the amount of sugar in something, but that is one trend that is starting to get old. Of course dark chocolate is good – I just think that desserts still need to have some balance and that you’re always going to find that a slightly sweeter dessert, when compared to a bitter one, is going to be more popular with guests.
I used Reynold’s Fun Shapes pans to get the oh-so-sweet heart shapes of my cakes, but these can also be made in a regular muffin tin.
Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes
14 tbsp butter (2 sticks minus 2 tbsp)
7 oz bittersweet/dark chocolate (65 or 70%), chopped
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cocoa powder
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a cupcake pan or set 12 foil molds (like the hearts that I used) on a baking sheet.
In the microwave, working in 30-second increments, melt together the butter and chocolate in a large bowl, stirring after each time increment. When melted, stir int the sugar and let the mixture cool for a few minutes before whisking in the eggs one at a time. Once all the eggs have been incorporated, whisk in the cocoa powder and vanilla extract.
Pour batter evenly into prepared pan(s) and bake for 10 minutes. Turn off oven and let cakes sit inside for an additional 10 minutes. Remove pan to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
Use a spatula to gently turn out the cakes before serving.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Makes 12.
m3rni3
February 19, 2007Looks yummy and kinda simple to make with just 7 ingredients.
I’ll try to make these some time .. ;-))
Lydia
February 19, 2007These cakes look absolutely perfect to me!
missy-j
February 19, 2007can these be kept at room temp or do they need to be put in the fridge?
ByTheBay
February 21, 2007Hi there – Just wanted to let you know I’ve included this recipe in this week’s Semi-Weekly Gluten-Free Roundup.
Jean Layton-GF Momma
February 21, 2007Yummy! I used to make this kind of recipe in my chefing days. I love the simplicity and the tastiness.
Have you thought about adding a frozen truffle to the center? You get a molten lava chocolate cake without any effort at all.
I am so glad that you were highlighted for the Gluten by the bay recipe review. Now I can follow your blog with interest.
D-man
February 22, 2007LOVE your stuff. Any recipe that starts off with 14 tbsp of butter has to be tried at least once. I’ll be attempting these sometime soon with Jersey butter and day old eggs……to the Farmer’s Market I Go!
Nic
February 22, 2007Jean – I already have a recipe for a molten-center cake with a truffle in the center in my archives. It’s always a hit for a dinner party!
Helene
February 23, 2007Love these cakes! I just made a batch of flourless cakes and I am in chocolate heaven…
I love your work at slashfood, keep it coming!
me
March 3, 2007i’ve made two batches this week. They are wonderful, thank you.
Verena
March 3, 2007I have been visiting your blog for some days and just fell in love with your recipes and the way you write! I wanted this recipe for a long time… let’s hope it turns out the way I want!
xxxx
Verena
A brasilian fan!
Lauren
September 25, 2007I made these for my dad who cannot eat gluten/wheat, and he loved them! Thanks for all your great recipes. 🙂
Sophia
October 14, 2007Yum!
Carla
December 15, 2007I sent a few of these over to my husband’s boss, who is gluten intolerant but LOVES chocolate cake. He said they were like “chocolate heroin.” I love how easy and delicious this recipe is!
May
February 16, 2008Hi
I’d very much love to try out this recipe but am not sure how much butter to use. This recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter minus 2 tbsp. Is one stick of butter equivalent to 250 grams of butter?
Thanks.
May from Singapore
p/s
Butter sold at our local supermarket are in blocks of 250 grams.
Nicole
February 16, 2008Hi May. 1 stick of butter is 1/2 cup and comes out to about 112 grams. You’d want to use about 200 grams of butter for this recipe, so just take off about 50 grams from your block and you should be fine.
Maggie
July 1, 2008When I asked my mom what cake/frosting combo she wanted for her birthday, she said chocolate with whipped cream. I did something a little different and made these lovely individual cakes, serving them with fresh, lightly sweetened whipped cream. Oh my god! They were so rich and perfect. Thanks for helping me treat my mom!
Carly
August 5, 2008I tried to make these in a muffin tin, but they completely sank in!!
What am I doing wrong?
Could it be that I used margarine instead of butter??
Nicole
August 6, 2008Carly – You probably didn’t do anything wrong. Most flourless chocolate cakes, if not all, do sink in the middle. The cakes pictured did sink a bit, but because muffin tins are a little deeper than the small pans I used, the sink will be slightly more dramatic. So no worries! I hope they tasted good – and if you don’t like the look of the cake, you can always top it with whipped cream or fresh fruit.
Carly
August 6, 2008Oh okay, great!
I forgot to mention that they do taste amazing!!
Thanks 🙂
Carly Jane
January 26, 2009These were absolutely exquisite!! I was craving something chocolately/cakey/moltenish and these hit the spot. I did use semisweet chocolate instead of bittersweet because it’s what I had on hand and also added M&M’s to the centers, because I had an abundance of them after a day of cupcake decorating.
Thanks so much for posting this recipe, it’s definitely a keeper! 🙂
Sara
February 14, 2009These were great. I made 1/6 the recipe in two ramekins for my husband and myself. I did cook them for about 12 minutes and left them in the oven for 10 minutes. The centers were a little to underdone for me but my husband liked them that way. Super easy to make!
Charity
February 17, 2009I want to make these for some girlfriends tonight but only have regular semisweet chips on the shelf. Could I use the semisweet and adjust the amount of sugar?
Birthday Cakes
February 18, 2009If only I had seen this a week earlier! My bf would have loved them! 🙂
Charlotte
March 18, 2009Just checking that these are Kosher for Pesach? x
Maddie
June 17, 2009Hi. I dont have dark chocolate/bittersweet chopped. Would milk chocolate chips work?
Emily
April 7, 2010Sounds Awesome! I will try it!
Lauren
July 12, 2010These turned out fantastic, but I had to bake them for another ten minutes because they were completely raw inside after 20min. One thing I did to differently, however, was use cupcake liners.
Babysitter&kids
January 1, 2011These muffins turned out really good for us. They were very easy to make, and a great activity for the kids and I to do on a rainy day. Thanks heaps!