No flour? No problem!  Flourless Chocolate Cake drizzled with Salted Caramel Sauce is my new obsession!  I don’t think there is a more decadent, delicious, cake on the face of the earth.  If you’ve never tried one before, you need to put it on your baking list ASAP.  It might look and sound complicated, but it’s actually simpler to make than a regular chocolate cake.  And it’s gluten free. That makes it healthy, right?  Probably not – haha!

Flourless Chocolate Cake is slightly adapted from the recipe in the new America’s Test Kitchen book “Everything Chocolate”…. I know this won’t be the last recipe I share from here, it’s a great book for chocolate fans!

Here’s how the cake’s made!

The Batter

Start by melting the chocolate and butter together in a microwave safe bowl.

Here is the mixture after about 2 minutes in the microwave, cooking and stirring in 30 second intervals.

While the mixture cools.  Combine sugar, eggs, water, vanilla, and cornstarch in a large bowl.

Mix until combined.  And add cooled chocolate mixture, and mix until combined (about 45 seconds).  Pour this mixture through a fine mesh strainer into the prepared sprinform pan, pressing on the sides with a rubber spatula to make faster work of it.

This step takes some time, but will make your cake extra smooth and creamy.

I wondered at first if this step was necessary, but then I saw what was strained out and it probably would have changed the texture of the cake a little.

But if you don’t have a strainer, don’t let it keep you from trying the cake – I think it would honestly taste great either way.

Let the unbaked cake sit on the counter for 10 minutes and pop any air bubbles that rise to the surface with a toothpick.

Bake as directed and let cool on a cooking rack until completely cooled.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Serve chilled, drizzled with Salted Caramel Sauce

Flourless Chocolate Cake

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces (I like the Ghirardelli brand)
16 tablespoons salted butter
6 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 275 F. Spray a 9″ springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Microwave butter and chocolate together in a microwave safe bowl. Cook in 30 second increments, stirring between each cook time. It took about 2 minutes total for my butter and chocolate to melt completely. Heat just until the mixture is melted and let the residual heat gently finish melting the mixture. Let cool for about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, whisk eggs, sugar, water, cornstarch, vanilla, and salt together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Whisk in cooled chocolate mixture and mix until completely combined, this will take about 1 minute.

Strain the mixture into prepared springform pan, pressing against side of the strainer with a rubber spatula as it drains through. This takes a few minutes, but helps the cake to bake up really smooth and silky.

Let the unbaked cake sit on the counter for 5 minutes and pop any air bubbles that come to the surface with a toothpick.

Bake until edges are set and center jiggles slightly when cake is gently shaken, 45-50 minutes.

Let cake cool for 10 minutes, then run a thin knife around the edge of the pan to keep the cake from sticking to the pan. Let cool completely at room temperature and then cover and refrigerate overnight.

Serve chilled, drizzled with salted caramel sauce, and whipped cream if desired. So good!

And here is the link to the Salted Caramel Sauce