Flourless Chocolate Torte

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.

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.

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 25 minutes mins

4.77 from 69 votes

Flourless Chocolate Torte

By Dahn Boquist

This 3-ingredient flourless chocolate torte is rich, smooth, and intensely chocolatey with a dense, truffle-like texture. It does not bake up like a traditional cake, so don’t worry if the center still wobbles when it comes out of the oven. After chilling, it firms into a creamy chocolate. The raspberry sauce is optional, but highly recommended.

If you make this recipe, please leave a star rating and comment.

Servings: 10 servings

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Ingredients 

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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

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Instructions 

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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

Trust the jiggle: When the cake is finished baking, it will look wet, jiggly, and underdone. That is what you want. The chocolate is still soft at this point, but the cake will firm up into a smooth, creamy texture once it cools and chills. Do not keep baking it or the texture can turn gritty.

Warm the eggs: Room temperature or slightly warm eggs whip with more volume than cold eggs. To warm them quickly, place the eggs, still in their shells, in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes before beating.

Use the water bath: The water bath helps the cake bake gently, which keeps the edges from overcooking while the center stays creamy.

Serve at room temperature: This cake is best served at room temperature. Straight from the fridge, it will taste denser and firmer. Letting it sit out softens the texture and brings back that creamy, truffle-like texture.

Adjust the raspberry sauce if needed: If your raspberries are especially juicy and you want a thicker sauce, simmer it a few extra minutes. For a more set sauce, whisk 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1 teaspoon water, then stir it into the sauce during the last minute of cooking.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 557kcal, Carbohydrates: 28g, Protein: 11g, Fat: 45g, Saturated Fat: 27g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 15g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 161mg, Sodium: 201mg, Fiber: 13g, Sugar: 9g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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