A mixing bowl and a whisk is all you need to make this insanely good flourless chocolate cake! You would never guess that it doesn't contain any grain flours, starches, or dairy, and after one bite, the only thing you'll think is how unbelievably delicious it is!
Hold onto your hats.
I've got a insanely good chocolate cake recipe for you.
But it's not just any chocolate cake.
It's a flourless chocolate cake.
And it's low-carb.
Totally insane, right??
What this cake doesn't have
As the name suggests, this flourless chocolate cake contains no grain flours...not wheat, rice, sorghum, etc. It also doesn't contain any dairy, so no butter or milk or yogurt. There is no refined white sugar.
So what does it have?
Firstly, there's chocolate. DUH. You can throw the chocolate chips as-is into the cake batter, or you can melt them like I do and stir them in.
The dry ingredients are made up of almond flour, coconut flour, unsweetened cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Baked goods that use almond flour are often quite heavy and dense, but a little bit of coconut flour helps to balance the texture so it is more cake-like.
The wet component is composed of eggs, maple syrup, oil, vanilla, melted chocolate, and canned pumpkin.
Yes, canned pumpkin. It adds moisture to the cake as well as sweetness while being low-carb. If incorporating a fruit into baked goods for moisture and sweetness, bananas are a common choice. However, compared to canned pumpkin, they are quite high in carbohydrates. Using canned pumpkin in this recipe makes the carbohydrates at 13g per serving versus 20g if you used mashed bananas.
You might also think that you can get enough sweetness from the maple syrup and melted chocolate alone, but the pumpkin actually adds another layer of sweetness to the cake without making it taste like pumpkin.
Canned pumpkin vs Applesauce
You can use either canned pumpkin or applesauce in this recipe as they will act the same in adding moisture to the cake, and they are both better low carb alternatives to using banana. However, pumpkin beats applesauce in a nutritional level. It is a great source of protein, bests applesauce by leaps and bounds in Vitamins A, C, E, and K, as well as vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6. Then it is rich in minerals like potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron...I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Compared to applesauce, canned pumpkin is a nutritional powerhouse which adds to this chocolate cake more than you realize.
Quick and Easy
Besides being insanely good and relatively (dare I say) healthy, it's also super easy to make. Combine all the dry ingredients and whisk together. Combine all the wet ingredients and whisk together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix with the whisk. Add the melted chocolate and stir into the batter with a spatula or spoon. Transfer the batter to a parchment-lined baking pan and pop it in the oven.
In 45 minutes you're going to have the most amazing looking and amazing smelling chocolate cake.
But...you can't cut into it just yet! Well, you could, if you really wanted to, but let it rest and cool down completely. Your patience will be rewarded.
You'll have an amazing piece of cake that you can either top with a dusting of icing sugar or cocoa. If you don't have an issue with dairy, top it with a dollop of homemade whipped cream to take this your piece of cake up a notch.
One bite of this cake and you won't even think about how it's totally gluten-free or that it doesn't contain any grains or dairy. You probably won't guess there is an ounce of pumpkin in it, and you probably won't even think it's even remotely healthy.
All you'll think is that this is one crazy delicious chocolate cake and about taking that next bite. 😉
~ Lisa.
Watch How To Make It!
Decadent Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup dark chocolate chips
Dry Ingredients:
- 200 grams blanched almond flour
- 60 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
- 27 grams coconut flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 15 oz. can canned pumpkin
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup maple syrup
- 6 tablespoons extra light olive oil (or any neutral flavored oil)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Optional Toppings:
- Icing sugar
- Unsweetened cocoa
- Whipped cream
- Chocolate shavings
- Melted chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat oven 350F/180C.
- Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe dish and microwave for 1 minute to melt. Stir well. Microwave another 15 seconds more, if required, to melt chips completely. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, cocoa powder, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together.
- In large mixing bowl, combine canned pumpkin, eggs, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix together with a whisk until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well with a whisk.
- Add the melted chocolate to batter and stir it in with a spoon or rubber spatula.
- Pour the cake batter into a parchment lined pan. (See Recipe Notes on pan sizes below.)
- Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with crumbs.
- Let cake cool in pan for at least an hour before attempting to remove it (or just leave it in the pan).
- Dust with icing sugar or top with whipped cream, if desired.
- Store leftover cake in the fridge.
Notes
- If you want to make the cake less sweet or reduce the carbs even more, you can reduce the maple syrup by half. You can also reduce or eliminate the chocolate, knowing that you will lessen the chocolatey flavor in the cake.
- If you omit the chocolate chips, your cake will have a slight "fruity" flavor from the pumpkin, but it will not be that strong.
- You can opt not to melt the chocolate and simply add whole chocolate chips to the batter.
- In place of chocolate chips, you can simply use dark chocolate bars.
- Applesauce can be substituted 1:1 for the canned pumpkin.
- If you use an 8x8 pan for the cake, the sides of your pan should be no less than 2" (5cm) to account for the rise in the cake.
- You can also use two 9-inch round pans, or a 9-inch springform pan with high sides would also work.
- Cake tastes great chilled!
- Top with a sprinkle of icing sugar, cocoa, or a dollop of fresh whipped cream.
Joy
It’s a wonderful recipe and taste just nice to me without the maple syrup! My now favourite go-to chocolate fix! Lisa, do you think rice flour (or another gluten-free flour) could sub some of the almond flour in this recipe? There is some sensitivity to almond in my family, and I am wondering if there might be options to consider. Many thanks!
Thanks so much, Joy! You could try substituting the almond flour with an all-purpose GF blend or maybe oat flour, but I'm not exactly sure how it would turn out. I would not do a straight substitution with only rice flour. If you try it, please check back in and let me know how it turns out!
janine Davies
I made this as I came across a tin of pumpkin and wanted to try something different. Very easy to make but SO tasty. Really moist and a nice rich flavour. I made it in cake form but think I will make muffin size next time as such an easy breakfast food and can freeze individually.
I'm so glad you liked it, Janine, and making muffins/cupcakes for breakfast sounds like a great idea!
Tracy Wilkinson
This was delicious! Moist but light. Great flavor. I did switch out the Maple Syrup for monk fruit. I will definitely be making this again.
That's fabulous, Tracy! I'm so glad you liked it, and glad to know that a monk fruit substitution worked!
Sabrina
Yum! So delicious and I had all the ingredients already, no special trips to store needed! A great whole-ingredient cake, thanks!
That's awesome that you had everything on hand to make it already, Sabrina! So glad you liked it!
Sean@Diversivore
I love that this manages to be a flourless chocolate dessert (always awesome), and yet it still looks and feels like a cake. Don't get me wrong, I love gooey, rich flourless chocolate desserts, but sometimes you want that crumbly cake appeal. Lovely stuff!
Thanks, Sean! That cake crumb was exactly what I was after with this recipe!
NANCY @Instanomss
checking the pantry for the ingredients and hoping to make it today!
I hope you have all the ingredients, Nancy! Let me know how it turns out!
Julia
Delicious looking and sounding cake. I never ever think of baking cakes without flour and how appropriate for now!!! I bet it's wonderful, will have to try sometime for sure.
Please do, Julia!