Craving a dense, fudgy chocolate cake? I’ve got just the recipe for you. This is made with no flour, sugar, or butter. Instead it is made with ground up whole foods like dates and almonds. A glance at the ingredient list doesn’t scream, “I am a chocolate cake!”, but it definitely is. It might even be one of my favorite recipes on my site right now.
It is very dense, so it doesn’t really need any frosting in my opinion. I love topping it with homemade coconut whipped cream, or chopped fresh fruit. Whatever fruit is in season works, but I really like blueberries and strawberries to top with this time of year. It also tastes great plain and/or chilled. It’s so healthy and delicious that I’ll eat the leftovers for breakfast! (Shhhh….don’t tell anyone!).
~This flourless chocolate cake is dense, fudgy, and rich! It is gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, paleo, soy-free, corn-free, and sugar-free.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup packed almond meal*
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt
- 1 1/2 cup packed pitted dates**
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 eggs
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325*.
- Mix together all dry ingredients (almond meal, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt) in a bowl and set aside.
- Place the dates and water in a food processor or strong blender and blend until it forms a smooth paste.
- Mix the date paste with the wet ingredients (eggs, coconut oil, vanilla), and mix until smooth.
- Add the wet to the dry and stir until smooth.
- Grease an 8" round cake pan, and pour in batter.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for at least 10-15 minutes before serving so that it has time to set.
- Serve plain or with fresh fruit and/or coconut whipped cream. May also be served chilled from fridge.
Notes
*Make your own almond meal by processing raw almonds until no large chunks remain. Don't over process because it will turn into almond butter. **You may soak the dates for a few hours or overnight to make them softer and easier to blend.
Health Benefits:
- Almonds: Almonds are a major superfood, and they are full of monounsaturated, good-for-you fats. It contains many nutrients that benefit the brain, and regulate cholesterol. The monounsaturated fats and vitamin E reduce the risk of heart disease.
- Chocolate: Click Here for a post I wrote about the benefits of chocolate.
- Dates: A laxative food with a high-fiber content, so it can help those suffering from constipation. They are digested quite easily and are great for when you need quick energy. Also, regular consumption of dates has been found to help the growth of friendly bacteria in the intestines.
- Coconut Oil: Coconut is widely misunderstood because of it’s high fat content; however, coconut’s saturated fat is made up of medium-chain fatty acids. These medium-chains are easy to absorb and digest, and are converted quickly into energy. This means that the body is less likely to store the medium-chain as fat. It is also great for healthy skin and hair.
Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:
What are you topping your chocolate cake with?
P.S. try this Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting, too! It’s made with coconut flour.
This sounds great! Think I’ll make it to take along to my daughters this week. Thank you!
Lovely. absolutely lovely. indulgent, without being bad!
NB: i didn’t have any coconut oil, so i added about 1 dessertspoon of rice bran oil and extra water, and it is lovely. I’m sure the coconut oil would be a nice additional flavour, but I’m on an extremely low fat diet – so i thought i’d share!
🙂
This was amazing! Even my husband who eats sugar thought it was good. I don’t feel like I am left out anymore (of the crowd that eats treats.) Thank you so much! I shared it with everyone in my neighborhood that is trying to cut back on sugar. Everyone liked it. I loooooved it!
So glad everyone loved it, Tandi! enjoy
For a Vegan, what do you suggest I substitute the eggs with?
Ally,
I’m not sure that this recipe can be made with an egg substitute, sorry. If you do want to try it, maybe use a chia gel mix? I’m really not sure if it would work, though.
Ally, I just made it with 1 c. unsweetened applesauce instead of the eggs and it came out BEAUTIFULLY! So good!
I have just made this, it smells and looks Devine ( and just like your picture above)
Will eat it tomorrow…with cream and some defrosted frozen berries.
Bring it on!
Looks like a French torte.
Thanks for sharing.
Enjoy! Hope you like it.
It was divine!
I made this last week and it is AMAZING!! I’m making it right now for my son’s 1st birthday party tomorrow and I’m wondering if I should put it in the fridge or if I can leave it out? Thoughts?
absolutely delicious!! just as good as any chocolate cake… so moist and dense… everyone loved it, i even think that if i didn’t tell people it was sugar free etc. they wouldn’t of known. definitely keeping this recipe, thanks!!!
Hi,all. I just made this cake. It is AMAZING! The only thing I changed, was I used 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce instead of the 3 eggs, so now it is amazing AND vegan. 🙂 You can’t taste the apple – the chocolate taste is too strong, but it rose as it should, baked as it should, etc. It looks exactly like the picture, texture is as described, etc. I’m going to take this to a retirement potluck we are having at work on Monday. Thanks, Alex, for this recipe! I’m 28 days sugar free so always looking for good things, esp. to share with doubting friends/family who think it can’t be done without losing all the yummy tastes.
Awesome – thanks. Just had some with creme fraiche – delicious.
Looks delicious. Lucky I have some eggs I need to use up and.. well I might as well make them into a cake instead of just boiling them!!!
i made this the other day! it was so yum! i accidentally used a cake tin that was way too big and it ended up a bit flat. I ended up cutting it in half and layering it! i also layered it with a avocado-cacao chocolate frosting and strawberries. it was soooooo good.
This looks great what cups are they? USA? I m trying to convert to uk measurements. Can you help
Thanks very much indeed
Hilary
HI Hilary,
Sorry for the delay in response, your comment was lost in my spam folder. Yes, they are US measurements, though. Enjoy!
Can stevia be used instead of dates?
Hi Stacey,
Sorry for the delay in response, your comment was lost in my spam folder. I’ve tried substituting half of the dates for stevia and it worked well, but I have never tried all stevia. If you try it out let me know how it works!
oops….see my reply below.
This looks soooo delicious, I am going to make it tomorrow!
How long (if it does last that long) can the cake be kept for? Does it freeze? Do you know the calories per serving?
Thank you for this amazing website. Going sugar free next year (in a few days time) and I’m so excited 🙂
Hi Jessica,
The kept can be kept for 2 days room temp, a week in the fridge, and a month or more frozen. They’re about 150 calories per slice.
Made this and it was a hit…hot or cold its so yummy! Do you know how many calories per piece by any chance?
Shelly,
It is about 150 cal per slice. SO glad you enjoyed it!
Yum! Thanks for sharing this! My mum was feeling sick today and in need of some comfort food so I made this for her!
Beth xx
Beth,
So glad she enjoyed it! Hope she feels better soon!
I tried it with all stevia because dates are too sweet for me (I have candida). I put coconut cream on top and it was great! Thanks for the recipe:)
So glad it worked out for you Stacey!
Oh my gosh, cannot get over how AMAZING this cake is! Was a little skeptical after seeing what ingredients went on, but the resultant beauty tastes divine and not at all like you would expect a ‘healthy’ cake to taste.I made mine vegan with 1 cup of applesauce instead of eggs, but it still turned out great!
Thank you!
Hi Melissa,
Good to know about the applesauce, glad you enjoyed it!
I made this cake at Christmas (along with a really healthy meal!), and it was a hit! I didn’t miss the overwhelming taste of sugar and the dates gave it a nice richness. Topped with some homemade whipped cream, and it was divine!
Made this and LOVED it, so so good. Will definitely be making it again. Just like one of those chocolate tortes/lava cakes (without the lava, of course!) Too bad Almond flour/meal is triple the price of other flours….
So glad you enjoyed it, Rose! You can also try grinding raw almonds until powder in a blender. Buying almonds in bulk tends to be cheaper than buying the flour.
Good idea!
I also tried adding frozen raspberries to the batter the last time I made this cake (I’ve made it three times now :P), and oh my, so so good. Best recipe ever, thanks again.
So glad you like it, Rose! I love the raspberry idea, will have to try.
Hi I made the cake it is very well balanced however it was well cooked on the outside and soft in the inside. I had it on 150 degrees Celsius in forced fan oven for 30min but preheated oven. Is yours fairly firm in the inside? Did you preheat your oven?
Katherine,
Yes, I did preheat my oven and it was firm on the inside. Not sure what the difference was between my cakes and yours, maybe just try cooking it a bit longer.
Yes after the cake cooled and the coconut solidified it became harder inside. Also tastes much better in the fridge after 2 days. Thanks for the recipe I’ll definately try it again.
Utterly delicious! I must admit I was a bit sceptical, but it has turned out super spongy and very very chocolaty. A keeper!
Thanks for your amazing website!
So glad you enjoyed it!!
Love this recipe and have made it many times. The only thing I add is a few walnuts to make more like a brownie. My question is have you ever tried to make this with prunes? or even figs? just wondering what other fruit could be used instead of dates.
I’ve tried using a mixture of prunes and raisins before, which worked pretty well. The figs might be a bit too seedy, but it would still make a good chocolate-fig bar I’m sure.
It is good with 1 cup of prunes and 1/2 cup of apricots. My husband and I love it!
this looks absolutely delicious! can you tell a substitute for coconut oil please? it’s not available easily where i live. can i use olive oil? thanks! 🙂
I just made this cake yesterday and OMG it is sooo good. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you liked it! It’s one of my favorites, too 🙂
I think next time I’ll make it myself and see if it turns out better. I got my daughter to make it today for my birthday and it has turned me off cake……could be a good thing
I made this tonight for my friend. Amazing! I didn’t expect it to be as good as it came out. I didn’t have enough dates, but I made it up with some dried blueberries that I had and that worked. Thank you! Will definitely be making this again and recommending it to my friends.
Just made this however since I didn’t have dates I replaced them with 1/2 cup of agave nectar. Served with a straberry sauce and it was simply delicious!!! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Made this as a birthday cake for my 25 year old daughter who is on a diet. The whole family loved it and could not believe that it was so everything-bad-free! As it was a birthday cake I iced it with home-made sugar-free chocolate and hazelnut spread and served strawberries and blueberries on the side. Thank you so much for such a great recipe Alex!
So glad everyone enjoyed it Moira!
Wow! This cake turned out beyond expectations! It’s better than any ordinary choc cake I’ve made and it’s healthy too!….what a bonus! Can’t wait to share it with my friends if it lasts that long. Thank you for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed! It’s definitely my favorite, too(:
Best chocolate cake I have made in a long time!!!! Yum!!!
Everyone loved it after dinner!
Thankyou!
great receipe thanks – substituted half the dates for sweet potato and it came out really well
Aj,
Yum, that sounds good, too! Glad you liked them!
I love your website and recipes. So great to see more and more sugar free options. Thank you.
This is absolutely amazing! tastes like real chocolate fudge cake to me and my family! Thanks so much as it’s the first chocolate cake I’ve been able to enjoy for years! x
Hi Alex, I have just made the decision to go sugar free and am dying to try this recipe. I am I the UK, so for clarity when you say vanilla, do you mean vanilla essence? Many thanks, Jill.
Hi Jill,
That’s great! In the United States it is called vanilla extract which is basically vanilla beans soaked in alcohol. Good luck!
I was going to ask about the vanilla too! What vanilla extract do you use? All the extracts at my local grocery store have sugar and I don’t know where I can find sugar free vanilla extract! Thanks. This recipe looks great, can’t wait to try it!
Adriana,
I use pure vanilla extract. If I’m not mistaken I believe Trader Joe’s and Penzey’s Spices may have some?
Hi just made this mine is too very sweet my friend made it her was wonderful
I used Vanilla essence
Ang feedback please
sorry I mean not sweet
I have now shared this recipe with 4 other people because as the comments suggest, it is SO yum! I was surprised that the texture was so fudgy and indulgent. Just the right amount of sweetness too and leaves you feeling nice, not yuck! I might add some coconut next time I make it. Great recipe, thank you!
I make this all the time!! It’s so yummy, my kids love it and I don’t feel guilty about giving it to them as a treat.
I have read that there are several kinds of cocoa powder: natural, alkalized and super-alkalized. Which one is the appropriate one for this recipe?
Also, is there a post where you explain with pictures the difference between almond meal, almond flour and almond butter?
Hi Misty,
I use regular, non-alkalized cocoa powder because aklalized powder actually destroys some of the antioxidants!
I don’t have a post about the almonds, but almond flour is all white and like flour, almond meal is like a flour but has brown in it, and almond butter looks like peanut butter.
tsp baking soda/powder for whipped egg whites 🙂 I recently did this for pancakes. I’m obsessed now! made fluffiest pancakes!
Does this recipe use dried dates or fresh? I used dried and the mixture was so dry it wouldn’t hold together. I added lots of coconut milk to hold it together and its turned out really nice but much bigger than the picture. It may have been the conversion from US cups to UK measurements too. Will def have another try though.
Anna,
Dried dates! More liquid may be needed. Good luck!
Sounds delicious and natural, but certainly not sugar free. Dates are very high in sugar. Deliciously so, I use them in salad dressing and other recipes for a delicious sweetener. All sources of sugar, whether fruit or honey or agave, are still sugar. Some have slightly lower glycemic impact due to fiber content (dates are high in fiber), but are still sugar. It is like serving whole fruit juice and think you are giving a healthy beverage. You *are*, but still have to count the sugars
1.5 cups of fresh dates contains 140 g of sugar. Assuming 8 servings for the 8″ pan, that is 18 g of sugar per serving. 18 is fairly acceptable and you might find you like the texture of the fresh dates better.
1.5 cups of DRIED dates (so, concentrated sugar) is 228 g of sugar, or 28.5 g per serving.
I just think it is valuable to acknowledge the difference be sugar free, and natural sugar content.
Jeannette,
All my recipes are “added sugar free” not fruit sugar free. Sorry for the confusion.
What could I use instead of the coconut oil? Thanks!
Hi Sherry,
I have never tried replacing coconut oil, but I am sure butter or a light-flavored oil would work just fine.
My daughter made this for her son’s 2nd birthday. He’s had very little sugar and they are really trying to keep things healthy. What a delicious and healthy find! Now I am making it for her birthday. I soaked the dates overnight and need to know if I still need to add water. For this afternoon!
Thank you, Alex!!
I tried this recipe. While the cake turned out to be dense, I didn’t think it turn out fudgy. What can I do or add in order to make it (more) fudgy?
I love this cake and make it regularly. However usuallt put normal cream with it. The cream you picture it with is coconut whipped cream? I’d like to try this but I can’t find your recipe (have clicked on the link but it takes me to cinnamon cream). How do you make this cream? Thanks
Joanne,
Use the recipe just like the cinnamon whipped cream and omit the cinnamon. I use just stevia and vanilla. Enjoy!
Hi this looks amazing and will definitely try this! I am sugar free too but use honey to sweeten my recipes. Is that still considered sugar free?
How do you make the coconut whip cream please? do you sweeten it with anything? add starch?
I made this cake today and it is delicious. My friends liked it,my daughter and my nephiew eat it and they are just 2 and a half year old. They all wanted another piece.. Thank you for this recipe, I put it on my ‘best cakes list’ so I will definitely make it again and again. It is healthy and so good, one can’t believe it is so easy to make.
This cake is amazing. I have gestational diabetes so I haven’t been able to indulge in any sweets for the past couple of weeks.. but then I found this! And it was so divine that I decided to share it on my blog as well 🙂 Thank you for the recipe!!
So glad you enjoyed it! I have a vanilla cake recipe coming soon, so stay tuned!
Just made this for Easter for our little niece who recently due to serious health conditions has to cut out sugar. It was a hit with her & I am elated! Thank you thank you!
So glad she enjoyed it, Ivana!