This gluten free flourless dark chocolate cake is rich, fudgy, and incredibly simple to make. Instead of flour, it uses ground hazelnuts, which give it a beautiful texture and a naturally moist crumb. If you love deep chocolate flavour and easy, one-bowl recipes, this cake will become a favourite!
Now let me just “warn” you: this is a cake for dark chocolate lovers. It’s a little bitter, as it doesn’t have much sugar. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but if you love dark chocolate, you’ll love this recipe.
Serve it with a hot cup of tea or coffee – and maybe even a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you’re feeling really extravagant!
My family loved it… except for our youngest son Ben, who would liked it better if it had had more sugar! I guess I can’t satisfy everyone ALL the time – right?
Ingredients
You only need a handful of simple gluten-free ingredients to make this flourless chocolate cake:
- 200 g dark chocolate (the one I used had 47% cocoa in it)
- 200 g butter
- 200 g ground hazelnuts
- 100 g sugar
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder (gluten free)
- Pinch of salt
Fun fact: the ground hazelnuts make this cake naturally gluten free without any flour at all.
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F). Line or grease a cake tin (I used a round, 24cm diameter cake tin. Click this link if you need to buy one.)
- Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl.
- Melt in the microwave for a minute, or place over a saucepan of boiling water.
- Add the sugar, cocoa, ground hazelnuts, baking powder and salt.
- Mix thoroughly.
- Add the eggs and give it all a final good mix.
- Whisk in the sugar, cocoa powder and salt.
- Pour the batter into your prepared tin and bake for 25–35 minutes, depending on your oven.
- Allow to cool completely before slicing. The cake will firm up as it cools.
Variations & Substitutions
Make it dairy free: I haven’t tried this, but you can easily use dairy-free chocolate and vegan butter to make this dairy free.
Use almonds instead of hazelnuts: that works perfectly. The taste is a little different, but almonds blend in wonderfully with chocolate.
Make it extra fudgy: bake the cake for 5 minutes less.
Add coffee: I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m CERTAIN this would be amazing. Simply add 2 tbsp of coffee – it will enhances the chocolate flavour and make the cake even more moist.
Storage Tips
This cake keeps beautifully thanks to the ground nuts (but you might wolf it down in a day lol!)
I just wrap it up with foil and store it at room temperature for 3 days maximum.
You can refrigerate it too – but it will make it a little harder.
If you want to freeze it, you can! Just wrap it up well in foil and make sure to give it plenty of time to defrost completely before serving it.
FAQ
Can I make this gluten free flourless cake without nuts?
No, not this recipe. The hazelnuts replace the flour and give it its unique taste. You can use ground almonds instead.
Does this cake taste very nutty?
I wouldn’t say so, no. Chocolate is the dominant flavour, and the hazelnuts give moisture more than taste. It tastes very chocolatey, with a hint of bitterness. You’ll love it if you love very dark chocolate.
Can I use milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate?
You can, but the cake will be sweeter and slightly softer. I personally wouldn’t do that. If you want the cake to be sweeter, I suggest you add extra sugar. I’ve tried it and it works well if you add 200g sugar instead of 100g.
Did you make this cake?
Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!