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Molten Lava Cakes
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Indulge in a decadent dessert with this easy and delicious molten lava cakes recipe. These warm, gooey cakes are made with a rich chocolate center that flows out as you cut into them. Serve with a scoop of ice cream or a dusting of powdered sugar for an extra touch of indulgence.
Molten Lava Cakes
The only thing better than chocolate cake is an individual chocolate cake with a molten chocolate center. Duh. These warm, gooey molten lava cakes are made with a rich chocolate interior that flows out as you cut into them. A perfect balance of sweet and bitter, they are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dusting of powdered sugar to really push them over the edge!
What ingredients do you need to make molten lava cakes?
You’ll need just 9 simple ingredients to whip up these decadent molten chocolate lava cakes. Don’t be fooled though these 9 ingredients come together to form the most rich, chocolatey, indulgent lava cake:
- Unsalted Butter: Like most rich desserts, you’ll need butter to make these lava cakes buttery and moist. If you don’t have unsalted butter on hand, you can always use salted butter and omit the salt in the recipe!
- Light Brown Sugar: Light brown sugar provides sweetness and moisture which will perfectly complement the flavor the chocolate and keep your lava cakes soft and moist.
- Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar will provide the perfect sweetness to your lava cakes!
- Chocolate Chips: Of course molten chocolate lava cakes need, well, chocolate! We like using chocolate chips because it’s way easier than having to chop up chocolate bars. Make sure you’re using a high quality chocolate chip like Ghiarardelli or Guittard for best results!
- Eggs: You’ll need both eggs and egg yolks to make these decadent molten lava cakes! Eggs will give them the perfect rise and structure, while the egg yolks keep your lava cakes supremely soft and gooey.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla extract will deepen the flavor of your lava cakes and make them taste seriously gourmet.
- Cocoa Powder: Most lava cake recipes use flour, but we like to use a combination of cocoa powder and flour to make them uber chocolatey!
- All Purpose Flour: You’ll need just a little bit of all purpose flour to give your lava cakes a tender crumb. If you’re gluten free you can swap it out for gluten free flour or more cocoa powder!
- Salt: A little salt will balance out all that sweetness and rich chocolate!
What vessel should you cook your molten lava cakes in?
We like to make our lava cakes in ramekins (specifically these 6-ounce ramekins that are also perfect for homemade crème brûlée or a soufflé if you’re feeling fancy), but if you’re in a pinch you can also use a muffin pan! Of course you can eat your lava cakes right out of the ramekin, but it’s so much more fun to to turn them out and serve them up real pretty like a fancy restaurant. In order to guarantee your lava cakes don’t stick to your ramekins, we recommend generously buttering them and then coating them lightly in cocoa powder. I’ve tried using cooking spray too, and it gets the job done, but not as well as buttering and cocoa-in your ramekins! This will create the perfect barrier between your molten lava cakes and ceramic so that when you invert the cakes they release easily!
How to serve your molten chocolate lava cakes
Molten lava cakes should always be served hot and fresh out of the oven to keep their centers at prime gooeyness. As soon as they come out of the oven, run a butter knife around the edges for an easy release. Let the lava cakes cool for a few minutes until the ramekins are cool enough to touch to turn the cakes out. Once the cakes are out, I like to serve them with one (or all!) of the following:
- Vanilla Ice Cream
- Powdered Sugar
- Fresh Berries (I love raspberries or strawberries!)
- Whipped Cream
- Homemade Caramel Sauce
- More chocolate sauce
Happy baking, my friends!
XXX
Print
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 lava cakes
- Category: dessert
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: american
Molten Lava Cakes
Indulge in a decadent dessert with this easy and delicious molten lava cakes recipe. These warm, gooey cakes are made with a rich chocolate center that flows out as you cut into them. Serve with a scoop of ice cream or a dusting of powdered sugar for an extra touch of indulgence.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 lava cakes
- Category: dessert
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: american
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and generously butter 6 6-ounce ramekins on all sides for smaller lava cakes or 4 6-ounce ramekins for larger lava cakes! Lightly dust the inside with cocoa powder and set aside.
- Combine the butter and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each, until fully melted.
- In a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment, beat together the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and sugars until frothy, and pale in color, about 2 minutes.
- Add the chocolate mixture to the eggs and mix to combine.
- Add the cocoa powder, flour, and salt and fold until fully incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.
- Divide the batter evenly between your prepared ramekins and bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are fully set but the centers are still very gooey.
- Allow the lava cakes to cool for a few minutes before running a butter knife along the edges and inverting the cakes onto serving plates. Serve right away with vanilla ice cream or a dusting of powdered sugar!
Notes
- If you would like to make 2 lava cakes you can halve this recipe and make it in 2 ramekins!
I’ve been looking for the best molten lava cake that is perfect and I think I’ve found it. I went through many recipes and eventually tried this recipe mainly because of all the good reviews. I can say the reviews were right on point and that the author did a fantastic job. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe for all of us to use
These look AMAZING. Can you substitute the ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate bars for the semi-sweet chocolate chips?
Hi Pritha! Yes you can! It will be ever so slightly sweeter, but still delicious!
My fiance and I have been trying to find the perfect lava cake recipe for months. He tried 2-3 other recipes that were really disappointing (mostly too bitter) before I decided to try this recipe. This is hands down the best lava cake recipe we’ve ever tried and will be a staple in our house from now on.