Flourless Chocolate Almond Cake

Flourless Chocolate Almond Cake

If you've been looking for a decadently rich flourless chocolate cake to add to your repertoire, this chocolate almond cake is simply the best there is.  It is by far the most heavenly thing I've eaten all year. 

Almond flour and cocoa combined with butter, eggs and melted chocolate make a cake that is decadently dense and moist while still feeling light because of the fine crumb in the finished cake.  Almond spiked chocolate ganache crowns this masterpiece catapulting this one to new heights of luxury.   

And if you want your cake to look as spectacular as it tastes, be sure to check out my video tutorial below for decorating tips.

Flourless Chocolate Almond Cake

Prep time: 10 min

Bake time: 50-55 min

Servings: 12 Slices

Ingredients for the Cake      

• 2 cups ground almonds  
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 6 eggs 
• 1 ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ - ½ tsp almond extract (depending on how strong you want the almond flavor)
• 2 tbsp strong black coffee
• ½ cup butter (1 stick chopped)
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate
• ½ cup of sliced almonds (for the border)

Ingredients for the Ganache

• 4 oz semisweet chocolate 
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1/8 tsp of almond extract

Ingredients for the Writing Glaze

• ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tbsp heavy cream

Video Tutorial

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (or 163 °C) and spray a 9 inch nonstick cake pan with cooking spray then add a circle of parchment to the bottom of the pan and spray it again.
2. For the batter, sift together the almond flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda and set aside.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, almond extract and coffee until the egg mixture is completely smooth and starts to get a little lighter in color and set aside. 
4. In a microwave safe bowl combine the semisweet chocolate and butter then microwave at 80% power, in 30 second increments, stirring after each session until you've got them both melted nicely and well combined. 
5. Pour the chocolate mixture into egg mixture and whisk until well combined.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until well combine being sure to scrape down  the bottom and sides of the bowl as you go.  
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan then tap the pan a few times on the table to level  out the batter.  Bake it for 50- 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.   (I baked it 52 minutes)
8. Allow the cake to rest in the pan for 5-10 minutes then loosen the edges all the way around with a paring knife. 
9. Place a cake plate or serving dish on top of the pan and invert the cake.  Peel off the parchment and let it cool for at least a half hour before topping.
10. To make the ganache, in a microwave safe bowl combine the semisweet chocolate, heavy cream, and almond extract then microwave it at 80% power in 30 second increments stirring after each session until you've got a smooth glossy ganache. 
11. Let the ganache cool for a few minutes then pour it in the center of the cooled cake.  Slowly rotate the cake letting the ganache get just to the edges at first, then begin to let it run over the edges a little all the way around.  Once it looks pretty even along the whole perimeter clean up the edges of the cake plate with a damp paper towel.
12. To decorate the cake sprinkle about a 2 inch border of sliced almonds around the edge. 
13. To decorate it further you’ll need to make the writing glaze by stirring together about ¾ of confectioner’s sugar with about 2 tablespoons of heavy cream until you have a pretty thick smooth glaze.
14. Load it into a piping bag and snip off a tiny corner. 
15. To draw on the almond blossom I started by going around the edge of the almond border 2-3 times for a look similar to a grape vine wreath.  With each pass around the cake you can compensate if the initial circle was off a little bit. 
16. To draw on the five petaled, almond blossom I started slightly off to one side, picked a center point for the blossom then drew in the five petals with the first 2 petals running straight off into the border.
17. Next I tried to define the center of the blossom a little with the five tiny pointed things characteristic of an almond blossom (one coming in between each petal) and I added a little more glaze to the center to help define it more.  To help balance out the design I added a small bud off to one side and a row of dots along the other edge.  (be sure to check out the video tutorial)
18. Chill the cake for a few hours to set the ganache and serve.