Individual Flourless Chocolate Cakes
By America's Test Kitchen KidsPublished on January 4, 2023
Time
1 hour, plus 2½ hours cooling and chilling time
Yield
Serves 6
WHAT KIDS ARE SAYING
“This cake is easy and fun to make. It is also gluten-free, so I can make it for people who can’t have wheat.” —Chloe, recipe tester, age 10
Ingredients
Vegetable oil spray 1 cup (6 ounces/170 grams) chocolate chips 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces½ cup (3½ ounces/99 grams) sugar 1½ teaspoons cornstarch 3 large eggs ¼ cup (2 ounces) water 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon table salt
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Spray inside bottoms and sides of six 4-ounce ramekins with vegetable oil spray. Place ramekins on rimmed baking sheet.
- In large microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and butter. Heat in microwave at 50 percent power for 2 minutes. Stop microwave and stir mixture with rubber spatula to combine. Return to microwave and heat at 50 percent power until melted, about 2 minutes.
- Using oven mitts, remove bowl from microwave. Use rubber spatula to stir until well combined and shiny, about 30 seconds. Let chocolate mixture cool for 5 minutes.
- In medium bowl, whisk sugar and cornstarch until combined. Add eggs, water, vanilla, and salt and whisk until combined.
- Add sugar mixture to cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth. Use rubber spatula to transfer batter to large liquid measuring cup (make sure to scrape out all the batter!).
- Pour batter evenly into greased ramekins (ramekins will be about three-quarters of the way full).
- Place baking sheet in oven. Bake cakes until edges are set but centers still look wet, 20 to 24 minutes.
- Use oven mitts to gently shake baking sheet (ask an adult for help). If centers of cakes look very liquidy and jiggle a lot, bake cakes for 1 to 2 more minutes. When centers of cakes jiggle slightly, remove baking sheet from oven and place on cooling rack (ask an adult for help). Let cakes cool on baking sheet for 30 minutes.
- Cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and use fork to poke small holes in top of plastic. Refrigerate until cakes are cold and firm, at least 1½ hours. (Cakes can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
- Remove cakes from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Add toppings to cakes, if desired (such as whipped cream, berries, or dust with confectioners’ sugar following photos, “Step-by-Step: Dusting Confectioner’s Sugar on Desserts,” below). Serve.
Time
1 hour, plus 2½ hours cooling and chilling timeYield
Serves 6WHAT KIDS ARE SAYING
“This cake is easy and fun to make. It is also gluten-free, so I can make it for people who can’t have wheat.” —Chloe, recipe tester, age 10Ingredients
Vegetable oil spray
1 cup (6 ounces/170 grams) chocolate chips
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
½ cup (3½ ounces/99 grams) sugar
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
3 large eggs
¼ cup (2 ounces) water
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon table salt
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Vegetable oil spray
1 cup (6 ounces/170 grams) chocolate chips
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
½ cup (3½ ounces/99 grams) sugar
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
3 large eggs
¼ cup (2 ounces) water
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon table salt
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Vegetable oil spray
1 cup (6 ounces/170 grams) chocolate chips
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
½ cup (3½ ounces/99 grams) sugar
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
3 large eggs
¼ cup (2 ounces) water
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon table salt
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
No need to share! Everyone in the family can enjoy their own decadent chocolate dessert with this simple, stir-together recipe that’s naturally gluten-free. Without any flour, baking powder, or baking soda, much of the structure and height in these fudgy cakes comes from the eggs in the batter. Eggs are liquid when raw and solid when cooked (think about what happens when you make scrambled eggs!). Eggs also contain a lot of water, which turns into steam in the oven. Some of that steam gets trapped as the liquid batter becomes a solid cake, kind of like teeny tiny balloons, helping the cakes rise and expand as they bake. As kids dig into their finished cakes, ask them what words they’d use to describe their texture? Are they dense or light? Smooth or chunky? Creamy or crumbly? How would kids describe the texture of a flour-based cake? Which do they like better? (Conversations like this help build kids’ vocabulary, plus its fodder for a fun family discussion!)
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Spray inside bottoms and sides of six 4-ounce ramekins with vegetable oil spray. Place ramekins on rimmed baking sheet.
- In large microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and butter. Heat in microwave at 50 percent power for 2 minutes. Stop microwave and stir mixture with rubber spatula to combine. Return to microwave and heat at 50 percent power until melted, about 2 minutes.
- Using oven mitts, remove bowl from microwave. Use rubber spatula to stir until well combined and shiny, about 30 seconds. Let chocolate mixture cool for 5 minutes.
- In medium bowl, whisk sugar and cornstarch until combined. Add eggs, water, vanilla, and salt and whisk until combined.
- Add sugar mixture to cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth. Use rubber spatula to transfer batter to large liquid measuring cup (make sure to scrape out all the batter!).
- Pour batter evenly into greased ramekins (ramekins will be about three-quarters of the way full).
- Place baking sheet in oven. Bake cakes until edges are set but centers still look wet, 20 to 24 minutes.
- Use oven mitts to gently shake baking sheet (ask an adult for help). If centers of cakes look very liquidy and jiggle a lot, bake cakes for 1 to 2 more minutes. When centers of cakes jiggle slightly, remove baking sheet from oven and place on cooling rack (ask an adult for help). Let cakes cool on baking sheet for 30 minutes.
- Cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and use fork to poke small holes in top of plastic. Refrigerate until cakes are cold and firm, at least 1½ hours. (Cakes can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
- Remove cakes from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Add toppings to cakes, if desired (such as whipped cream, berries, or dust with confectioners’ sugar following photos, “Step-by-Step: Dusting Confectioner’s Sugar on Desserts,” below). Serve.
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