La Bete Noire AKA The Black Beast
This sublime French flourless chocolate cake, also known as La Bete Noire or Black Beast, is dark, decadent and out of this world delicious.
This easily could be the Best Chocolate Cake Recipe in my repertoire. I’ve been making it for nearly 2 decades and it’s never failed to get rave reviews and recipe requests. When you need the ultimate chocolate dessert guaranteed to impress, THIS Flourless Chocolate Cake is it!!!
Why You Should Make this Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe
- This is my absolute favorite flourless chocolate cake recipe. There are 18 ounces of semisweet chocolate in the cake and glaze!!!
- It’s my go-to dessert recipe for special company!
- When friends ask for a tried and true dessert for entertaining, this is the recipe I share.
- Chocoholics will love the double dose of chocolate: the cake and the ganache topping.
Unlike the others (and, yes, I’ve shared a lot of flourless chocolate cakes), this one starts with a hot simple syrup which is incorporated into the melted butter and sugar before the eggs are added. La Bete Noire is truly exquisite, smooth, creamy, and perfect for any chocoholic.
Decadent Chocolate Desserts are the ultimate way to end a dinner party, celebrate Valentine’s Day, or any special holiday! Serve a wedge of this la bete noire with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream, chocolate shavings, berries or all three. Bookmark or pin THIS rich and dreamy flourless chocolate cake for your next, impossible to ignore, chocolate craving!
Frequently Asked Questions
I served this at a bridal shower I helped host last month. A chocolate dessert was a must! The bride-to-be wasn’t shy about sharing her life goals when she was in elementary school. Her dreams were to be a chocolate taste tester or the president of the United States. Turns out she’s neither, yet, but a talented, gracious young woman establishing her career as an attorney.
With her affection for chocolate in mind, I turned to my absolute favorite flourless chocolate cake or la bete noire for our brunch grand finale. It’s definitely perfect for a special occasion dessert!
It gives the cake a wonderful custard-type texture.
The steam that a water bath produces in the oven keeps the cake extra moist. It also helps stabilize the baking temperature and allows for gentle baking.
It should chill for at least 4 hours so the cake is well set before serving time. But it needs to come out of the refrigerator about 2 hours before serving to enhance its silkiness.
Serve a slice of any super-rich dessert with a dollop of whipped cream and berries. The light, creaminess of the cream is a nice contrast to the dense chocolate cake.
For a clean slice, use a hot knife. I like to dip my very sharp knife in very hot water, then dry it off to slice. Wipe it clean, and repeat dipping and drying as needed.
Yes, these two types of chocolate are almost always interchangeable. If you love dark chocolate desserts, try bittersweet chocolate in this recipe.
Tips for Making La Bete Noire
The name, la bete noire, is French for “the black beast,” but in 1844 this phrase meant an insufferable person, adversary, devil, or enemy, not a chocolate cake. Nowadays, you’ll see this phrase on dessert menus, referring to a rich, dense flourless chocolate cake. Beastly delicious, I’d say!
- Different from most other flourless chocolate cakes, this bete noire incorporates a simple sugar syrup as a sweetener. Sugar and water is simmered until the sugar dissolves; it’s as easy as that!
- PRO-Tip: If you’re careful, it’s super easy to use the microwave to gently melt the chocolate mixtures. It’s safest to decrease the power to 50% or just use 30, then 15-second intervals, stopping and stirring to avoid overheating the chocolate. Plus, it’s OK to stop when there are just a few teeny pieces of unmelted chocolate in the bowl. Let the residual heat finish the melting process instead of risking overcooking and ruining the chocolate.
- La bete noire, like most of my cheesecakes, is baked in a water bath. This helps the cake to bake at an even temperature and the added humidity keeps the cake moist. PRO-Tip: Make sure to wrap the exterior of the pan well with foil to prevent any water from seeping in from the water bath into the springform pan.
- Cool the cake completely before adding the ganache, then refrigerate 2 hours or longer before serving.
- Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and berries or use a vegetable peeler and a chocolate bar to make shavings. A little more chocolate never hurts, either! Bon appetit!
Ingredient Notes:
Check your pantry and refrigerator for these staples: Sugar, Butter, and Eggs. Plus you may need to purchase:
- Semisweet Chocolate – I prefer using bars of chocolate instead of chocolate chips. The quality is better. I keep a stash of Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate bars on hand.
- Heavy Cream – with 36-40% fat, it gives a delicious richness to desserts and is perfect when sweetened and whipped to garnish.
- Whipped Cream, Shaved Chocolate, and/or Berries to garnish
Helpful Tools:
More Amazing Chocolate Desserts:
- Baileys Chocolate Mousse from Recipe Girl
- Molten Chocolate Cake from Saving Room for Dessert
- Homemade Chocolate Cake with Mayonnaise
- Flourless Double Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Cookies
- More Homemade Chocolate Recipes
- More Best Desserts
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This post was first shared in July 2010. The text was updated in 2021.
La Bete Noire AKA The Black Beast Recipe
A dense, luscious flourless chocolate cake adapted from Bon Appetit.
Ingredients
For cake:
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) butter, diced
- 18 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 6 eggs
Ganache:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
Garnishes:
- Sweetened whipped cream, shaved chocolate and/or fresh berries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter 10-inch springform pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a parchment round; butter parchment. Wrap 3 layers of heavy-duty foil around the outside of the pan, bringing it up to the top of the rim.
- Combine 1 cup of water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Stir till sugar dissolves, then simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Gently melt the 9 tablespoons of butter and the 18 ounces of chocolate in the microwave. Whisk till smooth. Whisk sugar syrup into chocolate, and cool slightly.
- Add eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk till well blended. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Place the cake pan in a large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
- Bake cake until the center is just set about 50 minutes. Remove from water bath; transfer to rack. Cool completely in the pan.
For ganache:
- Heat cream in microwave till hot. Remove and add chocolate. Whisk until smooth. Pour over the top of the cake while still in the pan. Gently shake the pan to distribute ganache evenly over the top of the cake.
- Refrigerate cake in pan until ganache is set, about 2 hours.
- Carefully run a knife around the pan sides to loosen the cake; release the sides of the springform pan.
- Serve wedges with sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries or shaved chocolate.
Notes
For the best results use good quality chocolate, not chocolate chips.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 342Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 37mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 3gSugar: 36gProtein: 5g
90 Comments on “La Bete Noire AKA The Black Beast”
Must you use a 10″ springform pan for this recipe? I gave a 9″ size. Thank you!
I haven’t tested it with the smaller pan, but it should work. You’ll need to bake it a little longer since the cake will be thicker. Good luck!
This is one decadent and delicious cake! I made it when the post first aired and it was incredible! Thanks for the reminder, will make it again for JTs birthday in June!
You have some of the best desserts but this one really is a beauty,
Gotta love a cake called the Black Beast. It looks devine.
What an absolutely perfect dessert for any occasion all year round!! I love the name The Black Beast!!
This is so delicious and a masterpiece everyone raves about this and its so easy using your tips!
I can see why this is called the Black Beast!! YUM!! What a perfect Valentine’s Day dessert!
Liz,
This cake is truly to die for! I love Bon Appetit’s dessert recipes and know that if you’ve been making this for over 10 years with rave reviews, it is certainly a chocolate winner! The apple dessert that I served Kelly and you when you visited me in St. Louis was from Bon Appetit! So now I need some chocolate, and after I print this recipe and pin it, then I’m off to look for some chocolate stash tucked away!
Ciao,
Roz xo
This cake looks out of this world delicious! I am a notorious chocoholic!
HELP!! How can I make this sugar free? I’m not sure if I should use the regular stevia baking powder sugar, or the stevia liquid, or what? Every other time I’ve used that stevia powder stuff, it has a bad bitter after taste. Any help would be MOST APPRECIATED!! Thanks, Ladies!!
Oh, also, I’m going to use Lily’s Chocolate Chips – stevia sweetened.
Hi, Christy, I wish I could help with a personal experience, but I’ve never used any sugar substitutes in my baking. I have a keto blogger friend who uses Swerve granular in her cakes, so that would be my best guess. Good luck!
Thank you, Liz, for this amazing recipe! It turned out great!
To be very honest, I love Chocolates a lot. This recipe made me make this today itself. My husband loved this yummy chocolate dish as well.
Thanks for sharing <3
I’m so glad you enjoyed this dessert, Tisa! It’s my go to chocolate dessert recipe for company….and I hope you’ll make it again and again. Thanks for your kind words!
This is such an amazing dessert! I love how decadent and rich it looks!
This is totally irresistible!! My kind of decadent dessert!
Great recipe! Now I have to make it dairy free… Any advice on what to use instead of butter??? Thank you!
Oh, gosh, I always bake with butter, so don’t know of anything that would work as a perfect dairy free substitute. My best guess would be to try it with margarine. Another thought is coconut oil, but again, I’m not sure how it would work. If you end up experimenting, please report back!
I always thought a bête noir was a nightmare, but maybe it was just the particular nightmare that my French teacher was having. I’ll tell you about nightmares, though: I think I’ve entered a phase of my life where there is sometimes too much chocolate! And this looks so over the top to me that I’ll bet I could only eat half a slice! Now, that’s a nightmare! I want to eat the whole thing!
I wish I cold do the George Jetson and zoom on over for a quick slice of that Black Beast cake. Looks so deliciously tempting! 🙂
You know my partner loves the lava cake from Marthas and i have baked this for him today as his valentines gift and he loved it. Thank you , you are a life saver <3
I’m so glad, Nadia!! It’s a keeper!!!
Your chocolate curls are gorgeous. What an appropriate dessert for Valentine’s Day. I don’t think this looks beastly at all – just gorgeous xx
I made this recipe. To say that this cake is deliciously decadent is an understatement. It is definitely worth the effort, calories and cost. My guests raved about it. I was even asked for some to take away for later! Thanks Liz, awesome stuff.
I’m SO glad! It has never failed me…and has the bonus of being gluten free! Thanks for letting me know!!! xo