Chocolate Molten Cake
The epitome of decadence and pure yum, chocolate lava cakes are my go-to dessert to impress (and bonus – they’re insanely easy!)
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Molten Lava Cake will be a new family favorite!
You’re going to ‘lava’ this chocolate lava cake! With an ooey-gooey melted chocolate interior and moist exterior cake, this dessert is simply DIVINE. We started making this as our Valentine’s Day dessert a few years ago and we’ve never looked back. Here’s the deal – lava cakes have the appearance of being super technical and involved, but the recipe is actually super simple. If you’re looking for a fun family activity or just want a dessert to impress the heck out of your loved one, this is it. This recipe for chocolate lava cake will yield 6 mini cakes, or you can half the recipe and make 3 – one for you, your significant other, and one to split because you won’t want to stop at just one!!
Lava Cake Recipe ingredients
- Dark chocolate – You’ll want to use either high quality chips or high quality chocolate bars broken into small pieces.
- Salted butter, cut into small pieces – I always use salted butter, but unsalted with an extra pinch of salt would work too.
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Egg yolks
- Vanilla extract
- Cornstarch
- All-purpose flour
How to make Lava Cakes
- Preheat the oven to 425° F. Spray your ramekins with non-stick spray, arrange on a cookie sheet and then set aside.
- In a microwave safe bowl, add the broken chocolate and cut butter. Microwave for 30 seconds and then stir. Repeat until the chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer, combine the granulated sugar, eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, cornstarch and flour until pale yellow and fluffy. This will take a few minutes at mixing on a high speed.
- Pour the melted butter and chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and fold together by hand until completely combined.
- Divide the batter among the greased ramekins.
- Bake at 425° F for 12-15 minutes or until the temperature of the lava inside of the cake reads 160° F.
- Immediately after removing from the oven, flip the molten lava cake upside down onto your serving plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with ice cream and enjoy!
How to serve this Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe
I am an a la mode girlie through and through, but this molten lava cake is great by itself, topped with powdered sugar or paired with assorted berries.
How to store Chocolate Molten Cake
Chocolate lava cake is best served immediately. But if you have leftovers, you can store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days – just make sure to reheat before serving!
Does molten lava cake need to be refrigerated?
Nope! Molten lava cake is best served straight from the oven.
Can you reheat lava cakes?
Yes, you can, but they’re better when they’re fresh. If you need to reheat, I recommend popping it in the microwave until the interior is warm and liquidy again.
Molten Lava Cake Recipe FAQs
Yep! Surprise of the century, I know. The middle of the runny lava cake is actually just batter that hasn’t cooked to the point of it being actual cake yet. But here’s the good news: the batter is completely safe to eat as long as it has been baked to 160°F.
When the exterior of the cake is light and fluffy and the interior is nice and gooey + heated to at least 160°F.
You likely overbaked your lava cake! Next time, try baking for a shorter amount of time and see if that fixes the problem.
Lava cakes are pretty easy to make, but if you’re having problems with it collapsing or being dry in the middle, you haven’t quite nailed the cooking time. If your molten lava cake collapses, bake it for a little longer next time. If it doesn’t have the liquid chocolate in the center, shorten your baking time.
Other Romantic Recipes
Molten Lava Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 7 oz dark chocolate, broken into pieces
- 1/2 cup salted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425° F. Spray your ramekins with non stick spray, arrange on a cookie sheet and then set aside.
- In a microwave safe bowl, add the broken chocolate and cut butter. Microwave for 30 seconds and then stir. Repeat until the chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer, combine the granulated sugar, eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, cornstarch and flour until pale yellow and fluffy. This will take a few minutes at mixing on a high speed.
- Pour the melted butter and chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and fold together by hand until completely combined.
- Divide the batter among the greased ramekins.
- Bake at 425° F for 12-15 minutes or until the temperature of the lava inside of the cake reads 160° F.
- Immediately after removing from the oven, flip the molten lava cake upside down onto your serving plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with ice cream and enjoy!
