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These Chocolate Lava Cakes are decadent, gooey and will melt in your mouth! Served with a scoop of ice cream, they are an easy treat to whip up!
What is Chocolate Lava Cake?
A chocolate lava cake is one that has a gooey center when you break it open. It’s not under baked, but isn’t fully set either. You can think of it like a custard or curd. They are still soft, but fully cooked. If it’s something you’re concerned about with these, you can always use already pasteurized eggs.
Some people like to place chocolate ganache in the center of the cakes rather than worry about undercooked cake or overcooked cake that doesn’t “lava”. I actually tried those too and found them to have the same issues of not really oozing that well if over baked.
What Ingredients are Used to Make Lava Cake?
- Butter: No need to bring it to room temperature, cold is fine.
- Chocolate: You’ll need 6 ounces. I use semi-sweet chocolate.
- Eggs: You’ll need 2 large whole eggs and 3 large egg yolks. The combination gives the right amount of structure versus gooey center.
- Vanilla Extract: For flavor.
- Salt: For flavor.
- Sugar: For sweetness.
- All Purpose Flour: To give the cakes some structure.
How to Make Molten Lava Cake
- Prep: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and grease and flour 6 ramekins.
- Make Chocolate Mixture: Melt the butter and chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave. Whisk until combined and smooth. Set aside.
- Whip Egg Mixture: In a large mixer bowl, beat the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, salt and sugar at high speed with the whisk attachment until the volume triples, is light in color and it drops from the whisk in a smooth, thick stream, about 5 minutes.
- Combine Everything and Fold Together: Add egg mixture to chocolate and butter mixture, then sprinkle flour top and gently fold everything together.
- Bake: Divide the batter evenly between the ramekins. Bake the cakes for 7-10 minutes, or until cakes have puffed up, have a thin crust on top and jiggle slightly at the center when shaken very gently. The time can vary by oven.
- Serve: Cool for 1 minute, then invert onto plate and lift off the ramekins. Dust with powdered sugar, serve immediately with fresh strawberries or raspberries, if desired.
How to Serve Chocolate Lava Cake?
Chocolate Lava Cake should be served within a few minutes of coming out of the oven. As they sit, the centers will begin to firm up. There are lots of great options for serving.
- Ice Cream
- Fresh Berries
- Whipped Cream
- Raspberry Sauce
- Hot Fudge Sauce
- Caramel Sauce
Can You Reheat Chocolate Lava Cake?
You can, but the molten center will likely firm up at that point. Pop it in a 350 degree F oven for about 10 minutes or microwave it for about 30 seconds.
Chocolate Lava Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Chocolate Lava Cakes are decadent, gooey and will melt in your mouth! Served with a scoop of ice cream, they are an easy treat to whip up!
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp (84g) unsalted butter, sliced
- 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (104g) sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp (12g) all purpose flour
- Powdered sugar, for serving
- Strawberries or raspberries, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and grease and flour six 6 oz ramekins.
- Melt the butter and chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave. Whisk until combined and smooth. Set aside.
-
In a large mixer bowl, beat the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, salt and sugar at high speed with the whisk attachment until the volume triples, is light in color and it drops from the whisk in a smooth, thick stream, about 5 minutes.
- Add egg mixture to chocolate and butter mixture, then sprinkle flour top and gently fold everything together.
- Divide the batter evenly between the ramekins.
- Bake the cakes for 7-10 minutes, or until cakes have puffed up, have a thin crust on top and jiggle slightly at the center when shaken very gently. The time can vary by oven.
- Cool for 1 minute, then invert onto plate and lift off the ramekins.
- Dust with powdered sugar, serve immediately with fresh strawberries or raspberries, if desired.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cake
- Calories: 368
- Sugar: 33 g
- Sodium: 126.5 mg
- Fat: 23.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 36.9 g
- Protein: 5.8 g
- Cholesterol: 184.8 mg
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Is there any way to reheat leftover cakes? Our family of 4 won’t eat them all at once.
You can gently reheat them in the microwave or oven, but they may cook through at that point.
Do you know what the internal temp of these should be when you pull them from the oven?
Do you think you could make the cakes up until the baking process and then put them in the oven right before you wanted to have dessert? I’m thinking of putting it into the remains then baking them after dinner, so maybe half an hour to an hour prior to baking.
You can definitely refrigerate them prior to baking for up to 8 hours. It’s best to let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes prior to baking.
Do you think they’d be alright non-refrigerated for a short period of time, like 45 minutes though? I’m trying to put together a class and just want them to pop them in the oven before the dessert portion.
I haven’t tried it so it’s hard to say for sure. I think they probably be fine.
But I don’t have any remekins, could these be made in small in 4 in springform pans instead
can I make them in small
4 inch springform pans will probably be too large. You could try using a cupcake pan, you just might need to make them a little smaller and cook them a little less time.
Looks fabulous! What size ramekins did you use?
They are 6 oz ramekins