Chocolate Cake with Amaretti

This Italian-inspired chocolate cake has no flour at all. Crushed amaretti cookies replace it, adding a delicate almond flavor and a crumbly texture that melts into the rich cocoa and cream base as it bakes. The result is somewhere between a dense cake and a baked custard.

The water bath (bain-marie) is what gives this cake its silky, almost mousse-like interior. Baking the loaf pan inside a larger pan of hot water surrounds it with gentle, even heat, preventing the outside from overcooking while the center sets slowly. Without it, you’d get a dry crust and a raw middle.

Creaming the butter with egg yolks until pale traps air that lightens what would otherwise be a very heavy batter. The beaten egg whites folded in at the end add even more lift, giving the finished cake a texture that’s dense but not leaden.

Chef Tips

• Crush the amaretti finely. Coarse pieces won’t integrate smoothly and leave gritty patches in the batter.
• Fold the egg whites in gently with a spatula, not a whisk. You want to keep as much air as possible for a lighter crumb.
• The water in the bain-marie should come about halfway up the sides of the loaf pan. Too little water and the steam bath won’t work. Too much risks water splashing into the batter.
• Cool the cake completely in the pan before turning out. It’s very fragile when warm and will crack or crumble if handled too early.

Variations

• Amaretto glaze: Drizzle a thin icing made with powdered sugar and amaretto liqueur over the cooled cake for a double-almond hit.
• Dark chocolate version: Replace cocoa powder with melted dark chocolate folded in after the cream for an even richer, more intense flavor.