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This flourless chocolate torte is what happens when you skip the flour and let the chocolate do all the heavy lifting. It’s naturally gluten-free, rich, smooth, and has a texture somewhere between a truffle and the creamiest fudge cake you’ve ever had. With just three ingredients, it’s surprisingly simple but still feels fancy enough for a dinner party.
Serve this torte room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream. The raspberry sauce is optional, but I highly recommend it because the bright berries balance the deep chocolate flavor.
Why This 3-Ingredient Chocolate Torte Works
I adapted this flourless chocolate torte from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Chocolate Oblivion Torte in The Cake Bible, but I use salted butter instead of unsalted. The cake only needs three ingredients: chocolate, butter, and eggs.
The structure comes from whipped eggs, so there’s no flour, no leavening, and no filler getting in the way. A water bath keeps the edges from overbaking while the center stays smooth and creamy. The cake will look too soft when it comes out of the oven, but that’s exactly what gives it that dense, truffle-like texture once it chills.
I like serving it with raspberry sauce because the tart berries and lemon juice cut through the richness. Chocolate can do a lot of things on its own, but a little brightness doesn’t hurt.
For another rich chocolate dessert with that same dense, truffle-like feel, my Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake is a good one to try next.
Ingredient Notes
Bittersweet chocolate: Since chocolate is the main flavor here, use one you actually enjoy eating straight from the package. A bittersweet chocolate in the 60% to 70% range gives the torte a deep chocolate flavor without making it overly sweet.
This is the same reason I’m picky about the chocolate in recipes like my Chocolate Ganache Cake. When chocolate is the main event, it needs to pull its weight.
Salted butter: I use salted butter instead of unsalted because it balances the bitterness of the chocolate and gives the cake a fuller flavor. It’s a small change, but it makes a difference.
Eggs: The eggs are what hold the entire cake together, so this isn’t the place for shortcuts. Let them come to room temperature first, or warm them slightly in a bowl of warm water so they whip with more volume.
Raspberries: Fresh or frozen raspberries both work well for the sauce. Frozen berries are especially handy when fresh raspberries are expensive or out of season.
Lemon juice: A little lemon juice brightens the raspberry sauce and keeps it from tasting flat next to the rich chocolate.
If you love the chocolate-raspberry combination, my Chocolate Raspberry Tart leans into that pairing even more with a fudgy ganache filling and fresh berries.
Why doesn’t the cake have added sugar?
The bittersweet chocolate provides all the sweetness the torte needs. Since the cake is so rich and dense, extra sugar would make it overly sweet instead of deeply chocolatey.
Recipe Tips
Use good chocolate: With so few ingredients, the bittersweet chocolate carries the whole dessert.
Warm the eggs first: Room temperature or slightly warm eggs whip faster and create more volume.
Fold gently: Once the eggs go into the chocolate mixture, don’t stir aggressively or you’ll knock out the air you just whipped in.
Trust the jiggle: The center should look underdone when it comes out of the oven. That soft wobble turns into a silky texture once chilled.
Serve at room temperature: Cold cake tastes denser and firmer, while room temperature brings back that creamy, truffle-like texture.
Wrap the springform pan well: A couple layers of heavy-duty foil help keep water from sneaking into the pan during the water bath.
Don’t rush the chill time: The cake needs time in the refrigerator to fully set before slicing.
Use a hot knife for clean slices: Run the knife under hot water and wipe it clean between cuts.
Line the pan with parchment: It makes unmolding the cake much easier and helps prevent sticking.
Flourless Chocolate Torte
This flourless chocolate torte proves you don’t need a long ingredient list to make a seriously impressive dessert. The texture is smooth and rich, the chocolate flavor takes center stage, and the raspberry sauce keeps everything from feeling too heavy.
Just don’t panic when the center still jiggles coming out of the oven. That soft center is what gives the cake its creamy texture once it chills.
If you want something a little more casual but still deeply chocolatey, my triple chocolate brownies are always a solid choice.
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Flourless Chocolate Torte
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Ingredients
Flourless Chocolate Torte
- 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped 454 grams
- 1 cup salted butter, 227 grams
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature
Easy Raspberry Sauce
- 4 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
For the Chocolate Torte
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease an 8-inch springform pan and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Wrap the outside of the pan with heavy duty foil.
- Combine the butter and chocolate in a large bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of hot water and stir occasionally until the chocolate is completely melted. (You can also melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave if you stop the microwave every 15 to 20 seconds to stir).
- Optional step: While the eggs are still in their shells, place them in warm water (about body temperature or slightly warmer) for about 10 minutes. Warm Eggs will beat with a higher volume.
- Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat until thick, pale, and tripled in volume. When you lift the whisk, the eggs should fall back into the bowl in a thick stream that briefly sits on the surface before sinking back in. This may take 5 to 7 minutes.
- Using a wide spatula, fold ½ the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture until almost all the streaks are gone. Gently fold in the rest of the eggs until no streaks appear and all the chocolate is blended with the eggs.
- Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and smooth the batter with a spatula.
- Place the springform pan inside a larger baking pan. Pour hot water into the larger pan until it reaches about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Be careful not to splash water into the cake batter.
- Bake for 5 minutes then cover loosely with foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven and discard the foil. Let it cool at room temperature for 40 to 50 minutes. You can leave it in the water bath while the water cools. The cake will look wet and jiggly while it is still warm. Once it reaches room temperature, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, or until firm.
To unmold
- Run a thin spatula or knife around the sides of the pan and release the ring of the springform pan. Place a plate on top of the cake and invert the cake onto the plate.
- Remove the bottom of the pan from the cake. If it doesn’t release easily, place a hot rag on the bottom of the pan for a minute to loosen it. Peel off the parchment paper, then invert the cake onto a serving platter.
Easy Raspberry Sauce
- Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the berries break down and the sauce thickens slightly.
- Press the sauce through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
I want to buy a nordicware springform pan for this but the one available in Amazon is 9 inch and not 8 inch. Can i use the same quantities of ingredients for the 9 inch pan as your 8 inch pan recipe?
I haven’t tried it in a 9-inch pan but it should work. It will be a bit thinner.
@Dahn Boquist, thank you so much ?