Easter is well and truly on the way so I personally am knee deep in all things chocolate. I recently updated my flourless, nut free chocolate cake recipe which gave me inspiration for a dairy free version. With a few little tweaks, I am very excited to publish this dairy free flourless chocolate cake.
This chocolate cake is totally flourless – no nuts, no tapioca starch, no nothing. It relies on whipped eggs, dairy free chocolate and a little bit of Dutch processed cocoa for body, structure and texture. Olive oil is our fat of choice in this recipe – no dairy free butter or margarine required.
We’re using dark chocolate that is naturally dairy free. I have tested Lindt 70% and Pico salted vegan chocolate (which is 47%). The quantity of light brown sugar we’re using is chosen to complement this dark style of chocolate. The result is a deeply chocolatey yet perfectly sweet fallen chocolate cake.
On the note of falling: this cake falls as it cools. The result is a perfectly gorgeous crispy crust that is delicate and crackly, almost akin to a brownie. This is my new favourite chocolate cake and I hope you love it as much as I do.
Ingredient notes
- This recipe specifically calls for dark chocolate made without dairy products. I find the 70% results in a rich and dark chocolate cake for chocolate lovers.
- I have also tested Pico salted dark chocolate which is 47% cocoa. This resulted in a more ‘milk chocolate’ flavour and a lighter colour.
- It is important to choose a chocolate that is made in the traditional way – that is, cocoa butter and cocoa solids. I have not tested any coconut oil or nut based chocolates.
- The chocolate should contribute some sweetness to this cake. Using something above a 70% chocolate will likely result in a cake that is too rich and bitter.
- I also did not want to add in too many new ingredients by way of a chocolate bar. Sweet William, for example, contains soy flour and chicory fibre in their bar at the time of writing. You can try using this style of chocolate in the recipe but I can’t guarantee the results.
- I used light brown sugar for an extra layer of flavour. I daresay you could also use caster sugar. Coconut sugar or any other alternative sugars have not been tested in this recipe and I can’t offer any advice. Personally, I feel that coconut sugar would add an unwanted flavour here.
- Unfortunately, there is no substitute for eggs here. I do have a recipe for a gluten free vegan chocolate cake but it is not flourless.
- Dutch processed cocoa gives the richest, most chocolatey flavour and a darker colour. It is pretty much all I use and I haven’t tested regular cocoa here.
Dietary notes
This cake is gluten free, nut free, xanthan gum free and dairy free. Chocolate dependent, it is also soy free and corn free (but be sure to read the labels of the chocolate).
To ensure the cake remains nut free, choose a chocolate brand that contains no nuts (and no traces of nuts for a nut allergy).
Per serve, this cake is also low FODMAP. According to FODMAP Friendly, dark chocolate is low FODMAP in up to 100g serves as of March 2026. In larger serves, they say it contains moderate lactose and fructans. They don’t specify what percentage the dark chocolate is. I will note here that we are using dairy free chocolate so the lactose component doesn’t apply here.
Monash has two entries for dark chocolate in their app. Dark chocolate without a percentage is listed as low FODMAP in serves of up to 79g. In larger serves, it contains moderate lactose. 85% dark chocolate is low FODMAP in 20g serves but no upper limit is provided.
This cake uses 200g dairy free chocolate. It is quite rich, so I recommend slicing into 10-12 slices. This means we are consuming approximately a maximum of 20g chocolate per serve.
Monash has a low threshold for cocoa powder (up to 13g per serve) whereas FODMAP Friendly is more generous at 50g per serve. Either way, we’re only using 20g divided between 12 serves.
Recipe tips
I find it very easy to overcook a flourless chocolate cake – particularly the edges of the cake. While the centre is fudgy, the edges can be over-baked and dry. To counteract this, I do a few things. First, I wrap my springform tin edges in two pieces of foil. This helps ensure that the edges don’t cop too much full on heat. I daresay you could use cake strips if you have them, but I don’t.
Secondly, I bake the cake on 170C/338F. This is just a little lower than a flourless chocolate recipe generally calls for, but I find it helps minimise the dry edges.
It can be hard to tell if the cake is cooked because the top looks crispy and crackly but the underneath may not be. My solution to this is to underbake the cake just a little timing wise and to make it the day before. The texture changes enormously from an overnight rest in the fridge and it becomes a fudgy, dense and rich cake.
Aforementioned overnight rest means that underbaked cake innards won’t spill out as you slice the cake fresh. It can also be a little easier to slice the cake in terms of the crispy top.
On the top of the crispy top: be careful and gentle! This is a ‘fallen’ style chocolate cake which means that the top will shatter and crumble a little as you slice the cake. It is almost like a meringue top to a chocolate cake. Slice carefully and have hand spare to hold the crust in place while you slice. It’s worth it, I promise!
What to serve with your flourless dairy free chocolate cake
I love serving this cake with some dairy free whipped cream and macerated berries. The dairy free cream I use is Flora Plant Cream. I recommend adding a good amount of sugar and vanilla bean paste to disguise the ‘dairy free’-ness.
To make macerated strawberries, I use 1 tablespoon of caster sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (add this to taste) and 250g of hulled and chopped strawberries. A pinch of salt is always welcome too.
Other ideas include a dairy free ganache (this will be very rich, so I recommend using a lighter style of dairy free chocolate) or dairy free vanilla ice cream (I have a Ninja Creami dairy free vanilla ice cream recipe here). If you don’t need the cake to be nut free, you could make the dairy free pistachio ice cream from my Ninja Creami e-book, or the dairy free ‘Nutella’ ice cream from my second Ninja Creami e-book.
I do highly recommend a fruit component as the freshness and acidity are the perfect foil for a rich cake like this. Strawberries, fresh blueberries, raspberries or a mixed berry coulis would all work beautifully. Below I have used whipped Flora Plant Cream with freeze dried crushed raspberries.
More dairy free gluten free chocolate recipes
- Dairy free Ninja Creami chocolate ice cream from my Ninja Creami e-book
- Vegan gluten free brownie cookies
- Gluten free vegan chocolate mug cake
- Buckwheat chocolate muffins (vegan option)
- Dairy free egg free chocolate mousse
Dairy free flourless chocolate cake
Equipment
- 24cm springform cake tin (9.5 inch)
Ingredients
- 200 g of 40-70% dairy free dark chocolate I have tested Pico sea salt 47% and Lindt 70% (see notes)
- 6 extra large eggs 45-55g per egg weighed out of shell
- 200 g light brown sugar
- 20 g Dutch processed cocoa, sieved
- Pinch of fine salt if your chocolate is not salted
- 125 ml (1/2 cup)* oil of choice (I have tested olive and vegetable)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 170C/338F. Grease the edges of a 24cm/9.5 inch springform cake tin and line the base. I like to line mine by placing a large piece of baking paper over the base of the tin, then clipping the springform sides in over the baking paper. This lines the base with a bit of overhang to help move the cake around later.
- Wrap your springform tin in two overlapping pieces of aluminium foil. Wrap them up around the edges of the tin to help protect the crust of the cake from overbaking.
- Place the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and place it atop a small saucepan ¼ filled with water. Turn the heat to medium and cook gently, stirring regularly until melted. Set aside.
- Separate your eggs into clean, dry bowls. Place each clean egg white (no yolk permitted) into the bowl of your stand mixer before cracking the next one. The fat in egg yolks prevents egg whites from whipping, so if you have any whites with broken yolk you should set them aside and use them for something else. You should also get a clean bowl for cracking the next egg.
- Use the beater attachment of your stand mixer to beat the egg whites on a medium speed. Once they are frothy, add the brown sugar. Beat for 3-5 minutes or until the bowl can easily be flipped upside down without any slippage.
- Add the cocoa powder, salt, oil and egg yolks to your melted chocolate bowl. Stir just to combine – stirring too much may start to seize up the chocolate.
- Using a silicon spatula, add a large spoonful of the whipped egg whites to the chocolate mixture. Gently fold it in – we want to fully incorporate the two without smashing the air out of the egg whites. This first spoonful is a bit sacrificial to help loosen up the chocolate though, so don’t panic too much.
- Add the remaining whipped egg whites to the chocolate in 2-3 batches. Fold gently to combine and make sure to get the bottom of the bowl. There is generally chocolate stuck on the bottom of the bowl so make sure to fold it up from the bottom to incorporate it all.
- The mixture should be fluffy and a uniform light to medium brown colour, depending on the chocolate you used. When you fold the mixture, there should be no more streaks of darker mixture or chocolate from the bottom.
- Pour the mixture into your lined springform baking tin. Place it into the oven for 30-40 minutes. After 30 minutes, the top will likely looked cooked and crackly. If you intend to serve it the next day, you can remove it at around the 30-35 minute mark as the chilling process will firm up the centre. If you are serving it the same day, I recommend cooking it closer to 40 minutes. This will depend on individual ovens and whether they run hot or cold as well as the chocolate you are using (see notes below). I find it best to slightly underbake flourless chocolate cakes as they can easily become dry. See the notes below for more information on this.
- Carefully run a knife around the edge of the cake before releasing the springform side. Be very careful as the top can (and will) crack. It has a meringue-like top that cracks and crinkles so keep this in mind when touching the cake.
- I recommend allowing the cake to cool for at least half an hour before slicing. It is both crinkly and fudgy so slice carefully (a hot knife might help). I use my spare hand to hold any crinkly bits in place. It also helps to slice straight down and pull the knife out, rather than dipping the tip in and doing a more 'see-saw' style of cake slicing.
- The cake performs brilliantly if you make it the day before and cool it completely before storing it in an airtight container in the fridge.
Notes
- I have not tested this cake in a larger or smaller cake tin and I don’t recommend it. The cake expands in the oven and often exceeds the height of the cake tin before dropping back down as it cools. A larger cake tin will have more surface area and cook differently, which means you might overcook it.
- A springform tin is necessary because the cake is fragile. You will not be able to lift it out of the cake tin with ease without burning it to a crisp to make it stable enough to do so.
- Anecdotally, I felt that dark chocolate with a lower cocoa percentage took longer to cook than the 70% dark chocolate. Keep this in mind when baking your cake.
- How long to bake this cake for depends on whether your oven runs hot or cold, as well as when you intend to eat it.
- To bake and eat the cake on the same day, I recommend baking it a little longer (ie up to 40 minutes). This ensures the centre isn’t too fudgy to slice.
- To bake the cake a day ahead, you can bake it for less time (30-35 minutes or so). Because the cake is going to fully cool, it has time to set and will be easier to slice regardless of fudginess.
- Flourless chocolate cakes can easily overbake and become dry. If in doubt, take it out.
- With that said, I find that chilling the cake in the fridge overnight and serving it with macerated berries will solve many overbaking issues. So, don’t panic too much if you overbake it (another reason to make it a day ahead!).
- If it is your first time making a flourless chocolate cake, I would suggest making it a day ahead. This helps address both under and over-baking (both of which are easy to do with this style of cake). It can also be trickier to slice and handle fresh out of the oven which might be stressful if you are not confident.
- See the notes in the body of the post regarding other ingredient notes, substitutions and dietary notes.
My husband, who is a chef of 30+ years was skeptical of this recipe working but wow, it’s an absolute winner. We only had a 20cmD tin so can report it did swell right to top, thankfully the layers of foil around the tin held it in place, but it didn’t topple over. I ended up cooking it for 50 minutes in this size tin but it was probably ever so slightly overcooked – I’ll try 40-45 minutes next time. Regardless, it was still delicious. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
I am selecting this, the first comment section I come to, in order to contact you! The email service I tried to reply to is probably not monitored…
I ordered your Bread ebook last Saturday 20/3/26 (?) (at the weekend anyway) It has still not appeared, nor has any receipt. The payment has been earmarked in my account (with you as the payee) although it has not yet gone through. Could you please forgive my unorthodox approach and check out this issue? Thank you!
Hi Karen! Sorry to hear it hasn’t come through. I do monitor all emails but I haven’t received one from you? Is the email you have shared the one you used to email me?
I will resend the receipt now but just to confirm, have you checked your junk email? My new email might also end up there if the first one did.
Let me know if you get the resent receipt and if not we can workshop from there 🙂