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A chocolate dessert in a pan with a slice cut out on a blue countertop
You almost certainly already have all these ingredients in your pantry
Nico Schinco

A Stress-Free, Last-Minute, Minimal-Ingredient Dessert for New Year’s!

Who says chocolate cake has to take hours in the kitchen? Not us!

Jessie Sheehan is a three-time cookbook author, contributor to the Washington Post and FoodNetwork.com, and more.

December 27, 2023 3:31 pm

Know what everyone loves? A decadent chocolate cake…that, bonus, requires almost zero preparation to make. (And hey, on NYE, literally every minute counts. It IS a time-based holiday.) Today, we’ve got author, baker and content creator Jessie Sheehan, whose food writing has appeared in The Washington Post, on Food Network’s website and many other places. -NPH

This is a perfect last-minute party cake because there is no other that is as simple and as elegant. The cake is assembled in 5 minutes and baked in 30, and calls only for items already in your pantry. The cake’s texture is almost like a rich, dense pudding and is DEEELISH with a dollop of crème fraiche. Oh, and frozen slivers are 100% yum, too.

Last-Minute Chocolate Flourless NYE Cake

Servings: 8 servings

Copy Ingredients

Ingredients
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 ⅓ cups packed light brown sugar
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • ¾ tsp. kosher salt
  • 6 large eggs, room temperature
  • Crème fraiche, for serving
Directions

Copy Directions

    1. Heat the oven to 375°F.

    2. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan with cooking spray or softened butter. Line the bottom with parchment paper.

    3. Microwave the butter and chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl on high, in 30-second bursts, stirring after each with a flexible spatula, until melted and smooth.

    4. Off the heat, whisk in the sugar, extract and salt, and then the eggs, very gently and one at a time. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway point. The cake is ready when its top is crackly, its edges are puffed and the center wobbles just a bit.

    5. Let cool for about 10 minutes; the cake will collapse a little. Then carefully run a butter knife around its edges and invert the cake onto a cooling rack, right side up.

    6. Let cool to room temperature before serving slices with a dollop of crème fraiche.

    7. Keep the cake wrapped on the counter for up to three days. It will last for up to a month frozen — and frozen slivers + TV indulging = fire (and fire is a good thing, in case you do not have teenagers and so do not know).