Gluten-Free Fudge Cake

This dense, rich, fudge cake is not only gluten-free, the batter is mixed together in a blender.  When have you ever heard of such a thing?   This cake takes no time to make at all - the batter is literally ready in a matter of minutes.  You can serve this cake warm or at room temperature, but we like it chilled. 

Start by lining the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, then spray the rest of the pan with Baker's Joy to ensure perfect release.

In 30-second bursts the microwave, slowly melt butter and chocolate together, stirring between bursts.  When the chocolate is completely melted, stir well to make sure butter is completely incorporated.  Set aside until needed. Tip:  if your microwave is very powerful, decrease the power to 50%. 

Alternatively, you can melt the butter and chocolate together over a double boiler of simmering water, stirring frequently.

Bittersweet vs Semisweet Chocolate

There isn’t much difference between bittersweet and semisweet chocolate, and the sugar level for both varies from one manufacturer to another, so feel free to use which ever one tastes great to you!

Additional ingredients needed are almond meal (finely ground almonds), salt, baking soda, baking powder, espresso, and....

Whole eggs and sweetened condensed milk.

Now for the fun part - we mix all the ingredients together in a blender (this is the brand I love).  Start to combining the eggs and sweetened condensed milk on low speed until combined.

Add the chocolate/butter mixture, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and coffee.  Blend again on low speed until combined. 

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes in a preheated oven.

The cake will come out of the oven puffed up in the center.  

Allow the cake to cool for 1 hour before chilling for at least 2 additional hours.  The cake will fall in the center as it cools - this is normal so don't be alarmed.

Remove the sides of the springform pan and cut into 16 slices with a hot, sharp knife (long, thin, non-serrated blades work best - like this one).  This cake is very moist so if you want to sprinkle it with confectioner's sugar, use the non-melting variety.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• 9-inch springform pan https://amzn.to/3GH3IGZ

• parchment paper https://amzn.to/3ozM16b

• Baker's Joy https://amzn.to/3HCnCVd

• almond meal https://amzn.to/3CV7v40

• my favorite blender https://amzn.to/3uzhtoO

• Moser-Roth 85% chocolate https://amzn.to/3gBj7hH

• high quality espresso powder https://amzn.to/3Ln25lF

• non-melting confectioner's sugar https://amzn.to/46oEETr

• thin, sharp knife https://amzn.to/3suJqeK

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Gluten-Free Fudge Cake

makes 16 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 6 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate

• 4 large eggs

• 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk, plus 1/4 cup

• 1 1/2 cup finely ground almond flour (or meal), sifted

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 1/4 cup hot espresso (or see note below)

• Optional: non-melting confectioner's sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and place rack in center position.

2. Line bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and spray pan with Baker's Joy.

3. In 30-second bursts the microwave, slowly melt butter and chocolate together, stirring between bursts; set aside until needed. NOTE: if your microwave is very powerful, decrease power to 50%, or you can melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler over simmering water.

4. In the jar of a blender, combine eggs and sweetened condensed milk on low speed until combined.

5. Add chocolate/butter mixture; mix on low speed until combined.

6. Add almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso; mix on low until combined.

7. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake tests done (a few crumbs sticking to the toothpick are ok).

8. Cool cake in pan on a rack for 1 hour; cover with plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.

9. Remove sides of springform pan and slide cake off of parchment base.

10. Use a hot knife to cut cake into 16 slices. Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Note

• To make espresso, combine 1/4 cup boiling water with 1/2 teaspoon high quality espresso powder.

recipe adapted from Pati Jinich

Kitchen Tip: What's The Best Surface for Baking Cookies?

Silpat vs Parchment - which is better?

What’s the Best Baking Surface for Cookies?

Tip

When I bake a new cookie recipe for the first time, I like to test various baking surfaces to see which one produces the best results.  

Example

Here's an example of two cookies that were made from the same recipe and baked side-by-side, on the same sheet pan, at the same temperature, for the same length of time.  One was baked on parchment paper and the other on a Silpat liner.

In some cases, the finished cookies bake nearly identically, but in this particular case, the cookie baked on the silpat was the clear winner.  Actually, cookies baked on silpat liners almost always win.

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Another Example

And here's another example - the differences are more subtle here than with the chocolate cookies above, but there are differences.  I'll post larger photos so you can see them better. 

Cookie tops - the ones baked on a Silpat have a much nicer appearance.   The ones baked on parchment are lumpy and seem to have developed a few air holes that broke through the surface.

Cookie bottoms - again, the ones baked on a Silpat look so much better.  The ones baked on parchment have wrinkled and unevenly browned bottoms, and you can see where those air holes started - weird.

Last Example

And here's a different cookie recipe with more dramatic results - as you can see, the cookie baked on parchment stuck so badly that it broke when I tried to pull it from the paper, but the cookie that was baked on a sipat liner released perfectly. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, most of the time I prefer the results cookies baked on silpat liners. With that said, I love parchment paper for all kinds of reasons and I always keep an ample supply on hand. Happy baking!