This easy recipe for Flourless Chocolate Soufflé Cakes has only 4 ingredients and can be made from start to finish in well under an hour. Gluten free and dairy free optional!
Hello, loves!
Valentines Day is next week – do you have plans? We don’t, as we really don’t take Valentines Day very seriously, but I always think it’s a nice idea to celebrate love. People don’t do it enough as it is, so let’s dedicate a day to saying how we feel and thinking about all the love we have in our lives. There is a lot.
Really, though, who are we kidding? Valentines Day is just a great excuse to eat lots of chocolate.
I’ve been bumming out a lot over this whole gluten-free thing. Every time I see a picture of a freshly baked croissant on Instagram or stumble upon a new pasta recipe, a little part of me dies inside. Food is my love, and this has been a hard pill to swallow. But, I’m doing my best to not get upset over the things I can’t have, and instead trying to focus on all of the wonderful things I can have. There are many!
This recipe is a slight variation on one I used to make all the time for dinner parties when I worked as a personal chef. Flourless chocolate cake was always a godsend. It was easy to make, only required a few ingredients, could be made up to 2 days ahead and was always an absolute knock-out crowd pleaser.
A few years ago, I added coffee and cardamom to the recipe and posted it on my blog as this Turkish Coffee Flourless Chocolate Cake. It’s lovely, but sometimes I just crave the pure, rich flavor of chocolate and, well, that’s exactly what this is.
Instead of baking a whole cake, I decided to split the batter into ramekins and make little individual soufflé cakes instead. The soufflé part comes from the fact that eggs, and whipped egg whites more specifically, make up the main structure of this “cake.” Baking in individual ramekins allows you to make as many or as little as you like, which is perfect for dinner parties or for a special Valentines Day dinner.
The recipe is broken down into easily divisible quantities, so you can make as few as 2, or up to 16 if you quadruple the recipe. As you can see, I made 8, and if you’re wondering, yes, Chaser and I polished off each and every one. Although, that probably comes as no surprise.
The ingredient list for this recipe is short and sweet. Salted butter (important that it’s salted!), sugar, chocolate and eggs. That’s all you need, folks. If you want to use unsalted butter – fine. But you best add in a bit of salt, otherwise it will lack that addictive quality that you didn’t even know you needed.
Melt the chocolate and butter, whisk half of the sugar into the egg yolks, combine both of those mixtures together, then beat the remaining sugar and egg whites to soft peaks. Fold them together, bake and you’re done.
For serving, you have two options. You can slightly under-bake them and serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an intensely gooey, molten chocolate cake situation. Highly recommended. Also recommend is baking them off and then chilling them in the refrigerator until you’re ready. The consistency, flavor and texture all change to more of a dense, fudgy brownie type deal. Serve them this way with a generous dollop of whipped cream, but ya know, ice cream obviously works here too.
You can’t go wrong, friends. Make two. Make eight. Warm. Hot. Ice Cream. Whipped Cream. No cream at all. This recipe is fool proof, and did I mention naturally gluten free?! So no matter which way you slice it, everyone wins.
One Year Ago: Croissant Morning Buns
Two Years Ago: Dijon Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb | Brussels Sprouts with Anchovy Caper Butter | Peanut Butter and Jelly Granola Bars
Three Years Ago: Homemade Vinaigrette (with 10 different variations!) | Turkish Coffee Flourless Chocolate Cake | Chorizo con Huevos
Four Years Ago: Celery Root + Parsnip Gratin
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This easy recipe for Flourless Chocolate Soufflé Cakes has only 4 ingredients and can be made from start to finish in well under an hour. Gluten free and dairy free optional! Perfect dessert recipe for entertaining, dinner parties, romantic dinners or Valentines Day!
This recipe makes 4 individual chocolate soufflé cakes, but it can easily be doubled or halved
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons salted butter *
- 4 ounces good quality bittersweet dark chocolate *
- 2 eggs separated
- 6 tablespoons sugar, divided
- vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter 4 4-inch ramekins, then place them on a sheet pan.
- Gently melt the butter and chocolate, either over a double boiler or in the microwave, in intervals, at half power. Let cool slightly.
- Whisk together the egg yolks and 3 tablespoons of sugar until light and frothy. Add the cooled melted butter and chocolate mixture, then whisk to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites and the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar until it forms soft peaks. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, being careful not to deflate.
- Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins, then bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until puffed up and set in the middle (no longer jiggly). If you want a more gooey center, you can under-bake them about 5 minutes and serve them warm.
- If serving warm, I suggest a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Otherwise, let them chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve, then dollop with whipped cream.
Notes
This recipe can easily be halved or doubled depending on how many people you want to serve.
*To make this recipe dairy free, substitute vegan butter (such as earth balance) and use a dairy free chocolate.
Keywords: chocolate, souffle, cake, gluten free, dairy free, dessert, valentines day, romantic dinner, dinner party, entertaining
Nicole Gaffney, aka Coley, is a professionally trained chef, recipe developer, tv host and food writer.
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