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Sharing a simple Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake for your mid-week chocolate fix. Don’t let the flourless detail scare you away, this chocolate cake is insanely delicious. Made using dark chocolate and olive oil for richness, sweetened simply with only a touch of sugar, made airy with whipped egg whites, and studded with chocolate chunks. Top with honey whipped ricotta for a sweet creamy balance to the rich, fudgy, molten-like cake. Trust me, this is SO GOOD, and extra chocolatey. Bonus? This cake is even gluten-free!
The true gift of Valentine’s Day? Chocolate…all the chocolate. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love some pretty flowers, jewelry, or a restock of my favorite skincare products. But to me, nothing beats a warm chocolate cake. I mean, right? Baking up something sweet for someone you love is a true way to really show them how much you care.
Enter this cake. It’s great for Valentine’s Day (do you celebrate?), but equally great for any other day you’re craving a little chocolate. This is that go-to, super easy, insanely rich, but not too sweet, chocolate cake. It melts in your mouth and is truly “roll your eyes'” back delicious. And the crazy thing? This cake is completely flourless making it naturally gluten-free.
Promise it’s not too good to be true.
The back story…
This cake took me some time to get right, but the extra effort was worth it. The keys to success? Good chocolate, good extra virgin olive oil, a decent amount of eggs, and apparently no flour.
For the chocolate, I usually use an organic chocolate bar from Whole Foods that’s 85% dark chocolate. If you want a sweeter cake, try using a 70% dark chocolate bar.
As for the olive oil, I love using Brightland olive oil, especially when baking. It adds the perfect, subtle fruit flavor and creates a cake that is extra moist. If that’s not easily available, any extra virgin olive oil will work well. Alternately, you can use melted butter in place of the oil, but we love this cake best when baked with olive oil. Shocking, I know, but it works.
To make this flourless chocolate cake…
You need only a few simple, pantry staple ingredients. High-quality chocolate, extra virgin olive oil, eggs, sugar, espresso powder, vanilla, and cocoa powder. Just seven ingredients.
You’ll want to melt together the chocolate and olive oil. I normally just do this in the microwave, but you can easily melt over low heat on the stove. I like to melt the chocolate and oil together in a large mixing bowl that will fit the remaining ingredients. The fewer dishes the better.
Once melted, simply whisk in the egg yolks, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, a pinch of salt, and the vanilla.
Next, take those eggs whites and whip them until stiff peaks form. This step is key to a lighter cake with a slightly crinkly top. It takes no effort at all and creates a truly luscious flourless cake. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
The real secret of this cake is the final ingredient, a handful of semi-sweet or milk chocolate chunks. Stir these into the cake batter, then bake, and in less then thirty minutes your kitchen will have hints of espresso and rich chocolate in the air.
The smell alone is better than any bakery…but the cake itself? Every bite is truly to die for.
That’s not all…there’s whipped ricotta too.
This cake is rich. It’s not light and fluffy like a layer cake, but much more thick and fudgy instead. To balance the richness out, I knew I needed some kind of creamy topping. You can, of course, simply top with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream, but why not try something a little more special?
Whipped ricotta…with honey and vanilla too. It’s creamy, lightly sweetened, and heavy on the vanilla…and tastes heavenly. The perfect compliment to this fudgy chocolate cake.
This cake can be served slightly warm or at room temperature. If you’d like to prepare the cake a few days ahead of time, it stores really well. Just be sure to keep it covered and in a cool place. There’s also no need to refrigerate this cake. Making it the perfect make-ahead dessert for everything from Valentine’s Day, to Easter, to Mother’s Day, and any other occasion in between.
Like maybe some mid-week Tuesday night baking? Hey, it’s mid-February, we have plenty of snow falling here in Colorado, and that’s the perfect excuse to bake up this delicious cake.
Looking for other Valentine’s Day inspired desserts? Try these sweet lemon rose shortbread cookies. They’re an oldie, but one of my favorite cookies.
If you make this Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Flourless Chocolate Espresso Olive Oil Cake with Honey Whipped Ricotta.
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 522 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 7 ounces dark chocolate (75% - 85% dark)
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 ounces semi-sweet or milk chocolate chunks
WHIPPED RICOTTA
- 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch spring-form pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. 2. In a medium bowl, melt the dark chocolate and olive oil in the microwave until melted and smooth. Let cool 5 minutes. Whisk in the 5 egg yolks, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, and vanilla until combined. 3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Fold half of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mix until just combined, fold in the remaining egg whites. Gently stir in the chocolate chunks. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, spreading it in an even layer. Bake 25-30 minutes, until the center is no longer jiggly. Remove from the oven and let sit 10 minutes.4. To make the honey whipped ricotta. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the ricotta, honey, and vanilla. Pulse until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Taste, adding more honey if needed to sweeten. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.5. Serve the cake warm or at room temp, dusted with cocoa powder and dolloped with honey whipped ricotta. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
Notes
Whipped Egg Whites: if you prefer, you can skip whipping the eggs all together and just use 5 whole eggs. Your cake will not have a crinkly top, but will still be delicious.
Olive Oil Substitute: you can use an equal amount of melted butter in place of the olive oil.
We have tried different flourless chocolate cake recipes and we did not care for this one. We used high quality Guittard dark chocolate and followed the recipe. Sorry I think the olive oil threw off the taste for us.
Hi Vee! I am sorry this did not turn out well for you! Are there any questions I could help you with? If not, I hope you enjoy some other recipes of mine! xTieghan
Made it, loved it! Will make it again, will love it again!
Thank you so much Eike! xTieghan
The flavor was decent, but the texture was odd. It was weirdly crumbly and dense. I know flourless cakes are usually dense, but this just had a weird texture. I actually preferred the flavor/texture of both the cake and the ricotta after it was a couple days old (I guess everything melded together better by then), but who wants to have to make dessert 3 days in advance? Overall, I was a little bummed because it looked delicious in the pictures!
Hi Jennifer! I am sorry to hear that! Is there anything that could have gone wrong while making this? xTieghan
I had this at a friends house and it was delicious! I plan on making it myself and was thinking of adding walnuts? How do you think that would be?
HI! I love the sound of adding walnuts. Yum!! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Made this last night and was impressed with how simple it was! I served it warm with vanilla ice cream, but want to try it with the ricotta next time! Another winner Tieghan, thank you!
Thank you Hayden! That is so awesome to hear! xTieghan
Hi! Can’t wait to make this!! Can I make this a day ahead of time? Assemble & then put it in the oven?
Thank you!xx
HI! I would recommend baking and just storing the cake at room temp until ready to serve. I am not sure how the cake would bake up when the batter is left to sit overnight. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan, I’m pretty excited to try this recipe. I’ve recently made two other chocolate desserts that called for espresso powder just as a chocolate flavor enhancer – and both times I felt overwhelmed by the espresso flavor….which makes me suspicious that may be the brand I’m using is more potent. So just putting it out there to the world, doing a little investigating, and wondering what brand you use. I have a jar from King Arthur Flour. Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Hi! I use a local brand that I pick up from Whole Foods, but yes, brands will vary. You can reduce the amount to your taste if you are finding it over powdering! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
This cake made my whole apartment smell so incredible the smell alone made it worthwhile. The taste and texture of the cake matched the smell, and had everyone (myself included) in heaven. I had to hand whip the eggs so that was a a bit of a chore, and the cracks didn’t turn out as well as I hoped but now a hand mixer is my next kitchen appliance to purchase. Great recipe! Will absolutely be making again.
Hi Abby! I am so glad you all loved this cake and the smell is one of the best parts haha! Thank you for trying this! xTieghan
This cake is absolutely amazing! I served it at a dinner party for five people and we ate almost the whole thing. Everybody took seconds which never happens otherwise but it was just too good to not have more of. It is probably the best chocolate cake I have ever made and considering how many chocolate cakes I have made over the years, that says a lot. It was easy to make also which of course makes it even better. I did whip the egg whites separately. It’s the perfect make-ahead cake also. I had to bake it three days prior to the dinner party because I knew I wouldn’t be able to find the time to do it otherwise. Most cakes are not very good when they are three days old but with this one, you couldn’t even tell. I didn’t make the whipped ricotta but instead just whipped some heavy cream which was quite tasty on the cake. Next time I will add some raspberries also. Or make the whipped ricotta. It sounds really interesting. I’m having several women coming over for game night in another week and I am planning on making this cake then again. You just can’t go wrong with this cake. Excellent deep chocolate flavor. Soooooo very tasty. I’m definitely having another piece tonight when I get home from work. It’s weird because I never eat desert otherwise and I especially don’t look forward to having some.
Hi Annika! Wow that is so amazing to hear! I am so glad everyone loved this cake and I hope your friends love it at your game night! Thank you so much for trying this and sharing it! xTieghan
I am a major fan of flourless chocolate cake. In fact we skipped traditional cake for this at our wedding. However this is the first one I’ve ever made myself. I wonder if I overcooked but when took out at 30 minutes it still seemed giggly. Cooked another 5-10. It sunk in places and the outer became harder. Despite all of this it was still delicious. Also only had 2 tbs honey left and wish I had extra to add to ricotta. I’m also in Colorado (foco), so I’m assuming baking instructions work for high altitudes. I don’t have a ton of experience baking here so I’m not familiar. If you can’t tell from all of my recent comments, I LOVE your work! You’ve changed my life! ??
Hi Sabrina! Well thank you for trying this one as your first! Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with, so this turns out better next time! Would love to help! xTieghan
Making this cake tomorrow for a birthday, but I don’t have a working blender or food processor on hand at the moment. Any workarounds for how I could still make the ricotta topping without last minute buying a new blender??
Hi Clare! I would just stir together the ricotta + honey and serve un-whipped. That will still be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Hi
I’m looking to make this for dessert but wondered, can I make A day ahead and warm on the day?
Think it sounds more delicious warm?
Thank you
Caroline
Hi Caroline! Yes, that will work very well! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Looks delicious! Would coconut oil work in place of olive oil?
Hey Chris! I would think coconut oil will work nicely. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Can this be made in ramekins for individual servings? What would your guess on bake time be?
Hey Robyn! I bet that will be so cute. Fun I idea! I would divide between 5-6 ramekins and bake 20-30 minutes. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
made the flourless chocolate cake and it tasted super!!
but it shrunk down considerably and was quite flat.
ah well dont know what caused that but it was very nice!
thank you
inge
Thank you so much for trying this! I am really glad you enjoyed it! xTieghan