Gluten-Free Black Forest cake (flourless)

by Olesia Guts
Flourless Black Forest Cake

Although I’ve worked as a pastry chef for many years I never really liked cake. 

Cookies, brownies, croissants – yes. But cakes never found their way into my heart.

This flourless Black forest cake, however, is one of those exceptions. When I take a bite, my heart is melting, because it is just SO GOOD. 

It is also not a regular Black forest cake. It’s lighter, more chocolatey and anyone with gluten intolerance can eat it, too! I don’t use any flour substitute in my gluten-free Black Forest cake layers and just completely forgo the flour instead. This yields the fudgiest, most decadent, and ultra-chocolatey cake. Kind of brownie-like (but better). 

It’s also just as easy to make as long as you follow important steps:

  1. ALWAYS brush your cake pan with oil, put a circle of parchment on the bottom and brush again. Otherwise it will be very hard to get that cake out of the pan. 
  2. An 8 inch cake pan is ideal for this recipe. If you only have a 9 inch one – you might want to reduce the baking time by 5 minutes or so. 
  3. Espresso powder is that one magic ingredient that will make your black forest cake ultra chocolatey. Don’t skip it!
  4. You’ll need a very sharp bread knife to cut each sponge in half. If you don’t have one, I recommend baking your batter divided into 4 separate layers (300 grams each). The baking time in this case will be 10-15 minutes per layer. 

Garnish:

I don’t use fresh cherries in my black forest cake for multiple reasons. First, I have no patience whatsoever for depitting them. Second, good-quality frozen cherries often taste richer than fresh ones. Third, frozen ones are available year-round. 

However, if you just happen to have an electrical de-pitter and some real good cherries – knock yourself out!;)

Cocoa powder – Dutch or regular?

In this gluten-free Black Forest cake recipe, it all comes down to your personal taste. I prefer Dutch (or “alkalized”) darker cocoa. In my opinion, it gives the cake a deeper and even moooore chocolatey flavor. 

Regular (= natural) cocoa such as Hersheys gives it a lighter, more familiar and slightly acidic taste. Both, however, turn out delicious!

Chocolate that works best for my Flourless Black Forest Cake:

In my humble opinion, 220 grams semi-sweet + 110 grams dark (at least 70%) chocolate yields the most balanced flavor. However, you could use all semi-sweet if you like your cake on the sweeter side!

Storage:

Whipped cream has a very short shelf-life which makes this cake not so easy to store. You can make cake layers 1 day in advance and store them at room temperature tightly wrapped in plastic. Assembled cake, however, should be stored covered for no more than 2 days.

Find more delicious decadent desserts here:

Knowing that you use my recipes makes me so happy! If you end up making this Flourless Black Forest Cake or any other recipes, please tag me @olesia.guts so I can see your creations!

Flourless Black Forest Cake

Flourless Black Forest Cake (Gluten Free)

Serves: 10-12 Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat
Rating: 5.0/5
( 2 voted )

Ingredients

 Chocolate cake:

  • 7 eggs
  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp (230 gr) sugar
  • 1 cup (200 gr) butter
  • 330 gr chocolate (see notes)
  • ½ cup (50 gr) cocoa powder
  • 4 tsp espresso powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp salt

Garnish:

  • 2 cups frozen pitted cherries, thawed, drained and quartered (reserve the juice for assembly)
  • A handful of fresh or Maraschino cherries, for decorating 

Cream Chantilly (aka whipped cream):

  • 2 ½ cups (550 gr) heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp + 1 tsp (40 gr) confectioners sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Instructions

 Chocolate cake:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Brush 2 cake pans with neutral oil, line the bottoms with a circle of parchment paper and lightly brush it with oil too.*
  2. Whip eggs with sugar over medium speed of a hand/stand mixer until they turn pale-yellow and double in volume. It should take you about 5 minutes. In the meantime, sift cocoa powder with baking powder. 
  3. Cut butter and chocolate into small pieces and place in a heat-proof bowl. Keep over a bain-marie stirring occasionally until both are fully melted. Alternatively, you can microwave them stopping every 30 seconds to stir your chocolate so it doesn't burn.
  4. Add espresso powder, vanilla and salt into chocolate-butter mixture. 
  5. Carefully fold sifted cocoa and baking powder into whipped eggs until incorporated. Fold in melted chocolate mixture in 2 additions caring not to deflate the eggs too much. 
  6. Let the batter rest in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. This will help avoid “doming” during baking. In the meantime, set a large pan/dish with hot boiling water on the bottom of your oven and set the middle rack ready for the cake.
  7. Divide the batter between two pans (~600 grams each). 
  8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few slightly wet crumbs on it (but not smothered in batter). Let rest for 15 minutes, then slide an offset spatula around to release the sides of the cake and transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely

Cream:

  1. Whip COLD heavy cream with vanilla and sifted confectioners sugar until stiff peaks form. Store in the fridge until ready to use (no more than 1-2 hours).

Assembly:

  1. Cut each cake layer in half horizontally.
  2. Place the first cake layer on the serving dish/plate. Lightly brush with cherry syrup.**
  3. Spread about 1 cup of whipped cream evenly over the first layer. Top with ⅓ of all cherries. Repeat with remaining layers. 
  4. Frost the top and outside of the cake to your liking. You can leave your cake “naked”or cover the sides with a thicker layer of cream as shown on the photos. Enjoy!

Notes

Chocolate: 220 grams semi-sweet + 110 grams dark (at least 70%) chocolate in my opinion yields the most balanced flavor. However, you could use all semi-sweet if you like your cake on the sweeter side! *If you only have 1 cake pan it’s ok too! It will just take you a little longer to bake multiple sponges. **The flourless cake layers are denser than regular ones so they will not soak in much syrup.

Did You Make This Recipe?
If you tried it please tag me on Instagram @olesia.guts. , I will be so happy to see your creations!

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