Chocolate Coffee Flourless Cake, with Mocha Chocolate Sauce

In a sea of rhubarb and Spring  veggie madness, I am interrupting the scheduled programming for some chocolate.

Because, no matter the season, no matter the mood, chocolate will always be a good idea.  Hands up, if you agree!  And what is even better than chocolate?  Chocolate and coffee, that’s what!  Even as a little girl, my favourite candy bar was a Coffee Crisp.  Those flakey crunchy layers of cookie and ganachy chocolate filling, with that bitter (in a good way) of coffee.  There would be no turning back for me.  And there was a time, if I was too busy and running late, my roommates would laugh at me as I grabbed a handful of coffee beans to chew on the way to the bus.  Yes, I ate coffee beans.  Don’t judge.  Of course, when I found chocolate covered coffee beans, that did make the process a little bit more decadent, and legitimate!

One of my favourite things to whip up for company is a simple (but never bland) flourless chocolate cake.  Served warm in the winter, with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream slowly melting over the slices, there is nothing quite as indulgent.  In the summer, serving that same cake with fresh fruit, say macerated strawberries or raspberries in proscecco, and it becomes quite festive.  A dab of sweetened creme fraiche is all it really needs at that point.  My other favourite way to serve it: fresh fruit and drippy chocolate sauce.  Oh who am I kidding, I’ll add that chocolate sauce to any of the above versions, and into anything else I can sneak it!

So, I’m going to share that cake and chocolate sauce with you all today.  And both recipes have that crucial key component found in the first paragraph above: coffee.   Adding coffee to any chocolate recipe is like adding a touch of vanilla, lemon or salt to recipes- it brightens and elevates the chocolatey nature of chocolate.  But I don’t just stop at using it to perform that duty.  I like to add enough that it actually stands on it’s own.  This way you won’t just think, “Hmmm, this has quite a deep chocolate flavour.”  You will instead think, “Brilliant, I taste that undercurrent of coffee happening here!”

There are so many flourless chocolate cake recipes out there.  And I have tried many of them.  Some are so dense that they truly do sink as they cool after baking.  The weight of the chocolate and other ingredients can just not be held up by the eggs.  Others are so thick and gooey that they feel like you are cutting into a melted chocolate bar.  Which, if you are looking for a lava cake recipe, is just fine.  I like something with a bit softer crumb.  Yes, it should still be rich.  It should have some density.  But it should still slice and feel like a cake.  It should freeze and thaw well, like a traditional chocolate cake recipe, so that I feel like making it in advance and storing it, I can. 

So, when I finally found this recipe by Makos from ‘The Hungry Bites’ blog, I think my flourless chocolate cake journey was complete.  It had everything that I was looking for.  It is such a simple recipe- there are really only five ingredients in the original recipe.  It’s basically chopped good quality chocolate, nut butter (to replace the dairy butter most recipes use) some cocoa powder, sugar and eggs.  That’s it.  But for my version, I add 2 tbsp of ground espresso or finely ground coffee, and raw cocoa nibs for an extra bitter chocolate kick (and some texture)

It’s so easy to whip up.  The chocolates, coffee and nut butter get melted down slowly in a pot over low heat.  I like to use hazelnut butter because it works so wonderfully with coffee.  It’s just so ‘French’!  And hazelnut butter has such a lovely flavour on it’s own- it is my nut butter of choice for morning toast.  While the mixture is cooling down, the eggs and sugar get beaten.  Actually they get whisked.  You will really need a stand mixer for this one.  You will let the mixer do all the work of tripling the volume of those eggs and sugar.  As Makos describes, the final consistency should be like shaving foam!  I love that reference (because it reminds me of my dad, when I used to play with his shaving foam when he wasn’t looking.  I don’t do that anymore, that’s why it doesn’t remind me of Jim)

Folding in baking is a technique worth mastering. Once the volume has been reached, the cooled chocolate mixture gets gently folded in with the eggs.  This will take a little while. This is not a matter of dumping it in and stirring the two mixtures together.  You want to keep as much egg volume as possible.  So taking 1/3 of the egg mixture and gently folding it into the chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula is the way to do it.  Folding is a technique where you will reach the spatula down into the bowl and make an arch, bringing it back up the side, pulling the two mixtures together as you do so.  Then you will insert the spatula again, but at a perpendicular or cross angle from the first fold, and fold up again.  You will keep doing so, alternating directions, until the two become one.  Keep adding another 1/3 of the eggs and fold it in.  Eventually you will end up with a homogenous mixture, without having lost all the air that you worked hard to put into the eggs.  As a final step, the cocoa nibs are folded in as well.

The final mixture gets poured into the prepared baking pan (I like to use a spring form pan, since I am always guaranteed nicer looking sides than when I use a cake pan and run a knife around the cooled cake to release it.  No dumping the cake out this way.

While the cake is baking you can make the chocolate sauce.  Or you can make the chocolate sauce in advance and have it ready to serve when you serve the cake.

The sauce is easy peasy as well.  Just basically some chopped chocolate, a cup of brewed coffee, corn syrup (or agave nectar or maple syrup or even honey, if you prefer) and sugar.  Simmer it all in a pot.  Once melted, let it cool and store in a sealed jar in the fridge.  It will continue to firm up in the fridge, so it is best that when you are ready to use it, pull it out in advance and use as is (say, adding it to warming milk on the stovetop) or warm it up on low heat to make it pourable again.  The challenging part is to not sneak spoonfuls when no one is looking.  You may need to keep this jar at the back of the fridge for your own protection.  Just saying! And despite what so many recipes say, this will keep in the fridge for quite a while.  I should know, my stash is still going strong!  And it makes the best hot cocoa 😉

Fresh berries, drippy chocolate, and a rich, decadent chocolate cake.  You’re welcome!

Love Jen

5 from 2 votes

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Chocolate Coffee Flourless Cake with Chocolate Sauce

You will get your fix of chocolate and coffee in this exquisite flourless and butter free cake and the accompanying sauce.  The fat in the cake comes from hazelnut butter.  Coffee shines along with the chocolate.  The sauce can be used in a myriad ways.  

Course Dessert

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 10

Ingredients

Chocolate Coffee Flourless Cake

• 8 oz 225 grams chopped dark chocolate (65-70% cocoa mass)
• 3/4 cup hazelnut butter
• 3 tbsp Dutch processed cocoa sifted
• 2 tbsp ground espresso or finely ground regular coffee
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp cocoa nibs

Chocolate Coffee Sauce

• 1 cup brewed coffee
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup or maple syrup, honey or agave nectar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped

Instructions

Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 320°F (160°C). Line a 7-8 inch springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.
2. Combine the nut butter, the chopped chocolate, the cocoa powder and the espresso granules to a medium sized pot and heat gently over low heat, stirring very often until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat.
3. Whisk (use the whisk attachment) the eggs in the bowl of your stand mixer for 2 minutes. Gradually add the white sugar and the salt, and continue beating on high until the mixture resembles thick shaving foam (about 15 minutes).
4. Combine the two mixtures: Add 1/3 of the fluffy egg mixture to the pot with the melted chocolate and gently fold until combined. The mixture will thicken, but that’s normal. Add another 1/3 and repeat. Add the rest of the egg mixture and fold with a spatula using circular motions until homogenized.

   Fold in the cocoa nibs.

5. Pour the mixture to the prepared baking pan and bake till puffed, with slight cracks, and pulling away from the sides of the pan, about 40-45 minutes. Let it rest for 10 minutes and then remove the sides.
6. You can dust with icing sugar or cocoa and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of sweetened whipped cream with a touch of vanilla.
7. Or you can top with fruit and serve with the chocolate sauce below!

Sauce

1. In a medium sauce pan whisk together the coffee, sugars, corn syrup and cocoa powder.
2. Warm the mixture over medium heat. Whisk frequently.
3. When it is getting close to a boil remove from the heat. Stir in the chopped chocolate and stir to melt.
4. Let it cool for a few hours to help it thicken.
5. Store in a sealed jar in the fridge. It will keep for quite a while in the fridge.
6. When needed, return to room temperature to spoon out, or re-heat the amount you want in a small pot, over low temperature on the stove top.

Recipe Notes

This cake is not too sweet, so it’s best served slightly warm and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.

The recipe is a riff on The Hungry Bites, Five Ingredient Flourless Chocolate Cake

The chocolate sauce is loosely adapted from David Lebovitz, The Best Chocolate Sauce