White Chocolate

Squidgy White Chocolate Flourless Cake (Kladdkaka)

by:
March 26, 2018
4.8
8 Ratings
Squidgy White Chocolate Flourless Cake (Kladdkaka)
Photo by Posie Harwood
  • Makes one 9" cake
Author Notes

This Swedish cake is a thing of beauty, on the inside and out. It's a traditional recipe that you'll find all over Sweden, and every coffee shop or bakery will have their own version. Nearly flourless, it's fudgy and moist on the inside and crackly on the outside, like a really good brownie. It's usually made with dark chocolate, but my version uses white chocolate for a different twist. NOTE: As this is a Swedish recipe, I've put gram measurements first and highly recommend you use a scale to bake this cake. —Posie (Harwood) Brien

Test Kitchen Notes

For more info on how to riff on this cake, see the full article. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 150 grams (11 tablespoons) butter
  • 150 grams very good quality white chocolate (chopped or in chip form)
  • 2 eggs
  • 150 grams (3/4 cup) sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 150 grams (1 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • zest of one lemon, optional
Directions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment, grease it, and dust the inside with sugar, tapping out any excess.
  2. Melt the butter in a saucepan (or in a heatproof bowl in the microwave). Once melted, add the white chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Let cool slightly.
  3. Beat the eggs and sugar together until VERY light and fluffy, at least 7 minutes in a stand or electric mixer.
  4. Fold in the vanilla extract, then the melted butter/chocolate mixture.
  5. Add the flour and salt and lemon zest (if using) and fold very gently into the batter until just combined—do not overmix. You don't want to deflate the batter.
  6. Pour the batter into your pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes. The cake will look just barely set but take it out! You want it slightly underdone. Let the cake cool fully before slicing.
  7. Dust the top with confectioners' sugar if you like, and sprinkle with berries or pomegranate seeds.
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  • Fernanda Cruz
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23 Reviews

slwest16
slwest16 August 16, 2023
This is a superb cake. Moist and delicious. The lemon rind is essential. It cut the sweetness of the cake a little. Not sure why they call it flourless because it has 1 1/4 cups of flour. It is a 'keeper'
 
Susan J.
Susan J. August 14, 2023
This is not flourless
 
butterscotch
butterscotch April 12, 2022
I hate to a stick-in-the-mud, but I don't see how this cake can legitimately be described as "flourless" when it calls for 150 grams of all-purpose flour and there are no instructions provided for non-flour substitutions like almond flour.
 
SolKitchen
SolKitchen August 14, 2023
I agree. I was excited when I saw this to make for my sister who has celiac, but after reading the recipe I was disappointed that it is not flourless. I would have appreciated suggestions or substitutions to make it flourless.
 
K.V.
K.V. September 23, 2019
Very good. Made it last night with dark chocolate. Moist on the inside with a nice crunchy top, just as the recipe described.
 
Fernanda C.
Fernanda C. June 1, 2019
This recipe is amazing! Always a hit, just the right level of moisture, density, and sponginess. It is really not too sweet and pairs perfectly with fresh raspberries or raspberry sorbet. It's become a household favorite and I must have made it at least 6x in as many months. I use Green & Blacks white chocolate bars but have also used Whole Food white chocolate chips. Lemon zest is a must and should not be skipped.
 
Barrie T.
Barrie T. January 19, 2019
Wonderful, wonderful cake. I first made it last week when I had bought what I thought was a bar of white chocolate but turned out to be milk. I used half milk chocolate, half bittersweet in the end, and it was a lovely cake--TONS of flavor-- but a little dry. Tonight I had a bag of Callebaut white chocolate chips (the 28% cacao ones) and I went slightly short on the sugar as the chips were quite sweet. Also used 1.5 tsp vanilla and .5 tsp almond flavoring. This cake is truly "squidgy" and just perfect. I served with raspberries. My new potluck dish!
 
Lesley
Lesley December 22, 2018
Can this be made a couple of days in advance? If so, how would you store it.
 
Posie (.
Posie (. December 22, 2018
Yes definitely! You can either freeze it or store it at room temperature in an airtight container.
 
Binu
Binu December 18, 2018
Lovely cake. Replaced the flour with almond meal and finger millet flour. Added an extra egg. Baking time, close to 30 mins.
 
Stephanie B.
Stephanie B. December 17, 2018
I made this with a few changes, some of which worked and some didn't, but overall this was delicious. I used less sugar than the recipe since I think white chocolate is very sweet. I used whole wheat flour (for no reason other than whole grain baking is something I'm trying to get better at), and I think that interfered with the rise as my cake was just a little shorter than what's pictured, and also more solid since the whole wheat made the batter thicker. Since the cake pictured is already quite thin, this made my cake more like a skillet cookie lol. But the whole wheat gave the cake a great nutty flavor. It says in the description this cake is "nearly flourless" but 150g of flour for this cake is not nearly flourless in my book, and I'd try this again with whole wheat flour but use less flour and/or one more egg. My favorite tweak was to use caramelized white chocolate. The caramelized white chocolate + the nutty whole wheat + serving with espresso whipped cream gave this cake so much delicious warm, toasty flavor, butterscotchy flavor, I love it.
 
Kristin
Kristin December 11, 2018
I made this with Guittard milk chocolate and cut the sugar back to 1/2 cup. Most successful. :)
 
Mary B.
Mary B. September 23, 2018
Cool in pan on rack(how long)? Remove cake from pan when? Flip cake back onto another rack so top remains top?
 
Heidyval
Heidyval May 21, 2018
how many calories?
 
Windischgirl
Windischgirl April 6, 2018
This version was rich! I thought it was a bit sweet (my son thought it could be sweeter, LOL) but very tasty in thin slices and I liked the raspberry accents I added. I've been nibbling on the leftovers every night, and it's rather like a fudge cake at the moment (but that could be from storing it in the fridge).
My memories of kladdkaka are of a cake that is even more sticky and runny, like a mud pie, but my Kladdkaka baker--my daughter--is abroad at the moment, so I have no access to the recipe she's stored in her brain. Maybe when she returns we'll do some comparisons?
 
Windischgirl
Windischgirl April 1, 2018
Substitution Queen strikes again! I’m currently baking a dark chocolate version (65% Swiss chocolate). I subbed 1 tsp orange water for 1 tsp of vanilla, zest of 1/2 a tangerine for the lemon zest, and used WW pastry flour. Brushed my pan and parchment with Magic Pan Release and dusted with cocoa powder. It’s in the oven now. Going to serve it with raspberry purée, fresh raspberries, and whipped cream.
 
Madelyn S.
Madelyn S. April 5, 2018
Well. How did it turn out! Did the
Well how did it turn out? Where you glad you used pastry flour?

 
Teresa
Teresa April 6, 2018
Yummm I have to try this
 
Jennifer S.
Jennifer S. March 31, 2018
I have a rectangular tart pan with a removable bottom. Could I use that for this recipe? Or should it be a solid bottom because it's batter. (Probably a stupid question, lol.)
 
Windischgirl
Windischgirl April 1, 2018
Jennifer, you should be fine with the tart pan if it’s greased and lined with parchment. The batter is thick and spreadable (mine’s in the oven now).
 
Jennifer S.
Jennifer S. April 1, 2018
Thanks! I chickened out and used a pie pan instead. (And dark chocolate!) It smells divine, though! I'm bringing it to Easter dinner along with this: https://food52.com/blog/13595-creme-caramel-meets-rice-pudding-in-this-tuscan-dessert?utm_content=buffer0bf6b&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=Social
 
Steve
Steve March 28, 2018
You did not include instructions on when to incorporate the chocolate into the batter.
 
Posie (.
Posie (. March 28, 2018
Ha that would be helpful now wouldn’t it?! All fixed, thanks for pointing that out.