The true gift of Valentine’s Day? Chocolate…all the chocolate. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love some pretty flowers, jewelry, or a restock of my favorite skincare products. But to me, nothing beats a warm chocolate cake. I mean, right? Baking up something sweet for someone you love is a true way to really show them how much you care. Enter this cake. It’s great for Valentine’s Day (do you celebrate?), but equally great for any other day you’re craving a little chocolate. This is that go-to, super easy, insanely rich, but not too sweet, chocolate cake. It melts in your mouth and is truly “roll your eyes’” back delicious. And the crazy thing? This cake is completely flourless making it naturally gluten-free. Promise it’s not too good to be true.
The back story…
This cake took me some time to get right, but the extra effort was worth it. The keys to success? Good chocolate, good extra virgin olive oil, a decent amount of eggs, and apparently no flour. For the chocolate, I usually use an organic chocolate bar from Whole Foods that’s 85% dark chocolate. If you want a sweeter cake, try using a 70% dark chocolate bar. As for the olive oil, I love using Brightland olive oil, especially when baking. It adds the perfect, subtle fruit flavor and creates a cake that is extra moist. If that’s not easily available, any extra virgin olive oil will work well. Alternately, you can use melted butter in place of the oil, but we love this cake best when baked with olive oil. Shocking, I know, but it works.
To make this flourless chocolate cake…
You need only a few simple, pantry staple ingredients. High-quality chocolate, extra virgin olive oil, eggs, sugar, espresso powder, vanilla, and cocoa powder. Just seven ingredients. You’ll want to melt together the chocolate and olive oil. I normally just do this in the microwave, but you can easily melt over low heat on the stove. I like to melt the chocolate and oil together in a large mixing bowl that will fit the remaining ingredients. The fewer dishes the better. Once melted, simply whisk in the egg yolks, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, a pinch of salt, and the vanilla.
Next, take those eggs whites and whip them until stiff peaks form. This step is key to a lighter cake with a slightly crinkly top. It takes no effort at all and creates a truly luscious flourless cake. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture. The real secret of this cake is the final ingredient, a handful of semi-sweet or milk chocolate chunks. Stir these into the cake batter, then bake, and in less then thirty minutes your kitchen will have hints of espresso and rich chocolate in the air. The smell alone is better than any bakery…but the cake itself? Every bite is truly to die for.
That’s not all…there’s whipped ricotta too.
This cake is rich. It’s not light and fluffy like a layer cake, but much more thick and fudgy instead. To balance the richness out, I knew I needed some kind of creamy topping. You can, of course, simply top with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream, but why not try something a little more special? Whipped ricotta…with honey and vanilla too. It’s creamy, lightly sweetened, and heavy on the vanilla…and tastes heavenly. The perfect compliment to this fudgy chocolate cake.
This cake can be served slightly warm or at room temperature. If you’d like to prepare the cake a few days ahead of time, it stores really well. Just be sure to keep it covered and in a cool place. There’s also no need to refrigerate this cake. Making it the perfect make-ahead dessert for everything from Valentine’s Day, to Easter, to Mother’s Day, and any other occasion in between. Like maybe some mid-week Tuesday night baking? Hey, it’s mid-February, we have plenty of snow falling here in Colorado, and that’s the perfect excuse to bake up this delicious cake.
Looking for other Valentine’s Day inspired desserts? Try these sweet lemon rose shortbread cookies. They’re an oldie, but one of my favorite cookies. If you make this Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
