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Flourless Chocolate Almond Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

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By Jenn Segal
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Made with ground almonds and chocolate ganache, this flourless chocolate cake is rich and elegant.

Flourless Chocolate Almond Cake

I’m in charge of dessert for Passover every year so I’ve made my fair share of flourless chocolate cakes. This one, adapted from Maida Heatter’s Cakes, is my all-time favorite. Originally called the Queen Mother’s Cake (it’s a long story), the cake is Heatter’s most popular recipe ever. It’s made with ground almonds instead of flour and frosted with a decadent chocolate ganache, making it rich, elegant and surprisingly light.

Collage of boy smiling while eating flourless chocolate almond cake with chocolate ganache frosting.

Even though it’s fancy and made with nuts, kids love it. As you can see, my son has been enjoying it as a snack cake all week long!

What you’ll need to make flourless chocolate Almond cake

Cake ingredients including lemon, eggs, and matzo meal.

There aren’t that many ingredients in this cake, which makes it look simple but I’ll be honest: there are a lot of steps! It’s not hard to make but it does take a few hours start to finish. I think it’s worth it!

Step-by-Step Instructions

Begin by buttering a springform pan. Line the pan with a round of parchment paper, then butter the paper. Dust the pan with matzo meal (if making for Passover) or fine bread crumbs so the cake won’t stick. Next, toast and grind the almonds, separate the eggs and melt the chocolate in the microwave.

Collage of creating flourless chocolate almond cake batter.

Next, beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until soft. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition, then add the melted chocolate and ground almonds. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold them into the chocolate mixture.

Flourless Chocolate Almond Cake Batter

Bake the cake for about one hour and ten minutes, then let the cake cool. It will fall in the center as it cools; that’s okay — the next step is to cut off the edges of the cake to make it flat.

Collage of baking and trimming a flourless chocolate almond cake.

Next, make the frosting.

Chocolate, heavy cream, and instant coffee on a counter.

Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a medium saucepan, then whisk in the instant coffee powder. Off the heat, stir in the chocolate and stir until completely melted. Let the ganache thicken for 10-15 minutes, then pour it over top of the cake. Use a thin spatula to smooth it over the top and down the sides. Serve with fresh berries, sweetened whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or any combination.

Collage of frosting a flourless chocolate almond cake with chocolate ganache frosting.You may also like

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Flourless Chocolate Almond Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Metric Cup Measures
By Jenn Segal; Adapted, just a bit, from Maida Heatter's Cakes by Maida Heatter

Made with ground almonds and chocolate ganache, this flourless chocolate cake is rich and elegant.

Servings: Makes one 9-inch cake, serving 10-12
Total Time: 3 Hours

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 1½ cups slivered almonds
  • Handful fine dry breadcrumbs, matzo meal or gluten-free substitute (for dusting the pan)
  • 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (best quality, such as Ghirardelli)
  • ¾ cup sugar, divided
  • 1½ sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 6 large eggs
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

For the Ganache Frosting

  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder
  • 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (best quality, such as Ghirardelli)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Spread the almonds in a single layer on the prepared pan and bake for 5-7 minutes, or until the almonds are lightly colored and fragrant. Set aside to cool. Leave the oven on.
  3. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9'' x 3'' springform pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper cut to fit. Butter the paper. Dust the pan all over with the fine bread crumbs (or matzo meal); rotate the pan several times to spread evenly, then invert over the sink and tap lightly to shake out any excess crumbs. Set the prepared pan aside.
  4. Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring in between, until about 75% melted. Stir and let the residual heat melt the chocolate until completely smooth. Set aside until tepid.
  5. Place the almonds and ¼ cup of the sugar (reserve remaining ½ cup sugar) in a food processor fitted with a metal chopping blade. (Reserve the parchment paper from the nuts for icing the cake.) Process until the nuts are finely ground, stopping the machine once or twice to scrape down the sides. You should process for about one minute total. The mixture will be a little pasty but should not be the consistency of a nut butter. Set aside the ground nuts.
  6. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add ¼ cup of the sugar (reserve the remaining ¼ cup sugar) and beat to mix. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary until smooth. On low speed, add the chocolate and beat until mixed. Then add the processed almonds and beat, scraping the bowl, until incorporated.
  7. Now, the whites should be beaten in the large bowl of the mixer. If you don't have an additional large bowl for the mixer, transfer the chocolate mixture to any other large bowl. Wash the bowl and beaters.
  8. In the clean bowl of the mixer, with clean beaters, beat the egg whites with the salt and lemon juice, starting on low speed and increasing it gradually. When the whites barely hold a soft shape, gradually add the remaining ¼ cup sugar. Continue to beat until the whites hold stiff peaks when the beaters are raised. Do not overbeat.
  9. Stir a large spoonful of the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it a bit. Then, in three additions, fold in the remaining whites. Do not fold thoroughly until the last addition and do not handle more than necessary.
  10. Turn the mixture into the prepared pan. Rotate the pan briskly in order to level the batter.
  11. Bake for 20 minutes at 350°F, then reduce the temperature to 325°F and continue to bake for an additional 50 minutes. The top might crack a bit; that's okay.
  12. Remove the cake pan from the oven and place it on a rack. Let stand until tepid, 50 to 60 minutes.
  13. Release and remove the sides of the pan (do not cut around the sides with a knife—it will make the rim of the cake messy). Now, let the cake stand until it is completely cool.
  14. The cake will sink a little in the middle as it cools. Use a long, thin, sharp knife (I prefer serrated) and level the top. It will seem like you're cutting off a lot; don't worry about it. The finished cake should be about 1½-inches high. Brush away any loose crumbs. Place a rack or a small board over the cake and carefully invert. Remove the bottom of the pan and the paper lining.
  15. The cake is now upside down; this is the way it will be iced. Place 4 strips of the reserved parchment paper (each about 3'' x 12'') around the edges of a cake plate. With a large, wide spatula, carefully transfer the cake to the plate; check to be sure that the cake is touching the paper all around (in order to keep the icing off the plate when you ice the cake).
  16. To make the ganache frosting, heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it boils. Add the espresso or coffee powder and whisk to dissolve. Add the chocolate and remove from the heat. Stir until all the chocolate is all melted and the mixture is smooth. Let the ganache stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until it begins to thicken.
  17. Pour the ganache slowly over the top of the cake. Using a long, narrow metal spatula, smooth the top and spread the icing so that a little runs down the sides of the cake (not too much—the icing on the sides should be a much thinner layer than on the top). Smooth the sides with the spatula, then remove the parchment liners.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (12 servings)
  • Calories: 464
  • Fat: 34 g
  • Saturated fat: 17 g
  • Carbohydrates: 38 g
  • Sugar: 32 g
  • Fiber: 4 g
  • Protein: 8 g
  • Sodium: 81 mg
  • Cholesterol: 137 mg
Nutritional Data Disclaimer

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

Gluten-Free Adaptable Note

To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.

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Comments

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  • Lovely way to please your ‘gluten-free’ guests without risking flavor and texture. Divine! I have substituted toasted ground pecans for the slivered almonds. Also I nut up the sides of the cake after the glaze sets. Decorating the top with a thin drizzle of white or milk chocolate and then combing adds to the visual appeal. I give it a dollup of whipped cream & raspberries to brighten the cheer!

    • — Georgianna Goetsch
    • Reply

  • Jen,
    I would love to make this cake but I do not have slivered almonds — only a massive amount of sliced almonds. Do you have any idea how many cups of sliced almonds I would need to use??
    Thank in advance for your time. I love you recipes!!
    Ashlea

    • Hi Ashlea, Thank you! So glad you’re enjoying the recipes 🙂 I actually think the quantity would be about the same; just watch the baking time as the sliced almonds will cook faster. Please let me know how it turns out!

      • Hi Jenn!
        Thanks for your quick reply. So I did make it and used approximately the same amount of almonds. The cook time was maybe a touch less than described. It was delicious and everyone was giving it rave reviews!
        Thank you!
        Ashlea

  • Hi Jenn!
    I made this cake for a birthday party and this was the best chocolate cake I have ever had. – Raquel

  • Excellent chocolate cake recipe. Just made it tonight 6/17/14 nice rich flavor and very easy to prepare. I have to commend the way the recipe is written because it makes it so easy to follow. I will be making this again and again. I am very excited to try some more recipes from this site. It will be very easy to give this a 5 star rating!

  • This turned out fabulous. Maida Heatter is my most favorite bakers so this was perfect. I planned to use Callebaut chocolate but surprisingly couldn’t locate any. I used Guittard instead with a low % cacao semisweet for the cake and a higher % cacao for the ganache.
    Really wonderful!

  • This cake is excellent and turned out exactly as in the photos. If you have a hand mixer and a stand mixer, you can use the former for beating the egg whites in a metal bowl so that you do not need to disturb the stand mixer bowl and its contents. You can also skip the towel thing and just cool the cake on a regular rack. Instead of using parchment to prevent the icing from reaching the plate, you can use short sheets of waxed paper or, if you’re careful, you can even use plastic wrap as I did. Finally, I took a serrated cake decorator (looks like a plastic ruler with teeth on the side) and I twirled it around the top of the ganache for a nice pattern. For cutting, a large serrated bread knife works great. We made Passover dishes, including this one, for Jewish friends staying with us during the holiday. Over the weekend, the four of us could not get enough of this cake.

  • Hi

    This is my first Seder where I’m doing all the preparation. I just placed this cake in the oven to cook. I looked online at various recipes before making this one. In one recipe that I looked at, it called for orange zest to be added. I added a small amount to the top before cooking. I’m excited about doping this Seder this year.

    • Hi Bette, Chocolate and orange are a great combination. Please let me know how it turned out!

  • Excelente

  • Jenn: I would love for my slices to look as perfect as the one in your photo. Can you share your technique for slicing the frosted cake?

    • Hi Liesel, This cake slices easily. Just wipe the knife in between slices 🙂

  • Looks delicious, if i use almond meal/flour instead of grinding up almonds myself, how much should i use?

    • Hi Jen, I’d stick to the 1-1/2 cups. Please let me know how it turns out!

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