Flourless chocolate cake


A flourless chocolate cake is a dense "fallen" cake made from an aerated chocolate custard.

Overview

Whole eggs are whipped to a foam in a manner similar to a Génoise cake, using low heat from the melted chocolate to stabilize the protein matrix. The resulting batter contains only the starch naturally present in the chocolate, and is baked in a bain-marie.

Popularity

In Jewish cuisine

Flourless chocolate cake is a very popular dessert among Jewish people during the holiday of Passover, because they are not allowed to eat anything with flour during that holiday, making flourless chocolate cake one of the few cakes that is kosher for passover.

In gluten-free diets

Flourless chocolate cake is a popular dessert in gluten-free diets.

In fine dining

A similar cake with little or no flour in which the egg matrix is allowed to collapse is known as "fallen" or "molten" chocolate cake and was popularized by, among others, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's restaurants.

Similar cakes

, originating from the Italian island of Capri, is a traditional flourless chocolate cake popular in that region.