passover week 2026 - flourless chocolate bundt cake

passover week 2026 - flourless chocolate bundt cake

• 23 Mar 2026

Welcome to Passover Week 2026, where I challenge myself to produce beautiful cakes and pastries using only Passover friendly ingredients. I do not use any artificial rising agents such as bicarb soda or baking powder, even though they are permitted. My Grandma Sonie would be rolling over in her grave if I did such a thing. 

Every year I try to make one dairy free recipe for Passover week and this year's recipe is a flourless chocolate bundt cake, adapted from a recipe for flourless chocolate teacakes from Sweet by Ottolenghi and Helen Goh. 

I needed to make a few adjustments to the recipe to make it both dairy free and kosher for Passover. I swapped oil for the butter in the cake and used another water ganache recipe which didn't contain either corn syrup or butter. Apparently kosher for Passover amaretto exists but I don't have any in my cupboard so I just added more coffee to the mixture.

The original recipe makes 6 small bundt cakes but I only have 4 small bundt tins so I decided to make one larger bundt cake instead and adjusted the recipe accordingly. If you'd like to make 6 small bundt cakes please refer to the linked recipe.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a small bundt cake. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C. 

Flourless chocolate bundt cake
105g vegetable oil
160g dark chocolate (70% cocoa content, roughly chopped)
130g caster sugar
1-tsp instant coffee granules (dissolved in 2 tbs of boiling hot water)
10mls amaretto/coffee 
130g almond meal
4 eggs, yolks and whites separated
½ tsp sea salt

Method
Brush the base and sides of a small bundt tin with cocoa pan release – equal quantities of butter or margarine, oil and cocoa powder - and place in the fridge until needed.

Place the oil and chocolate and in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Whisk the mixture and, when melted, remove the bowl from heat. And half of the sugar, along with the dissolved coffee granules, the amaretto or coffee, almond meal and egg yolks. Stir to combine and then set aside.

Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment in place. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute, until soft peaks form. Slowly add the remaining sugar and continue to beat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is light and dry. 

Spoon one dollop of the egg whites into the chocolate and fold to combine before gently folding the remainder. Set aside at room temperature for an hour to rest. 

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C conventional. Once the cake batter has rested spoon the batter into the prepared tin. Place the bundt tin on a baking sheet in the centre of the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, rotating halfway through, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs attached (not wet batter). Remove from the oven, let the cake sit for 10 minutes before inverting it onto a wire cooling rack. Set aside until completely cooled and then gently tap out the cake.

Water ganache
75g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
30ml boiling water
15 mls maple syrup
1/2 tsp Passover vanilla extract

Water ganache
Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour over the boiling water. Either microwave for 20 seconds on high, or place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water for 1-2 minutes, to melt the chocolate. Gently stir together with a whisk until combined and smooth then stir in the maple syrup and vanilla. 

Set aside at room temperature for 20-30 minutes until ganache thickens to a spreadable consistency then spread ganache over the top of the cake and let it drizzle down the sides. Allow the ganache to set before serving.

As you can see, the cake came out gloriously squidgy, just what you want in a flourless chocolate cake. If you can, bake the cake the day before serving because I think cakes made with nut meal taste better as they mature.

See you all again tomorrow with another bake for Passover Week 2026.

Bye for now,

Jillian