These rich, delicious Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes are a cross between a soufflé and a flourless chocolate cake, except much easier. They have a deep chocolate flavor with a molten, liquid inside that oozes out once you cut into each individually plated cake.
When it comes to decadent, rich desserts, I don’t think anything quite fits the bill like these chocolatey, warm chocolate molten lava cakes. The outside edges of the cake cook into a perfectly tender chocolate cake while the inside stays gooey soft and starts to ooze out once you cut into each cake. They take hardly any time at all to whip up and then they bake really fast in the hot oven. It’s practically instant chocolate gratification.
These chocolate lava cakes work because you cook them in a very hot oven (much hotter than the temperature you normally use for cakes or cupcakes) so that the outside cooks faster than the inside, creating that amazing lava effect. No need to worry about the insides being undercooked: by baking these in a 425°F oven the eggs in the batter will definitely be over 160°F, even in the gooey center, which is safe to eat.
If you love rich, chocolatey desserts, here are a couple more you might like as well: Best Fudgy Chewy Chocolate Brownie Cookies and Triple Chocolate Cheesecake!
What You’ll Need
Be sure to scroll to the printable recipe card below for the amounts and full instructions.
- High quality semisweet chocolate – high quality chocolate will melt better than just regular chocolate chips.
- Salted butter – gives the cake a rich depth of flavor.
- Flour – helps give the cake some structure.
- Powdered sugar – adds sweetness to the cake.
- Eggs – the egg helps with leavening of the cake.
- Egg yolks– The yolk will add to the richness and create a nice smooth texture.
How to Make Chocolate Lava Cakes
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray four 6-ounce ramekins with cooking spray and then dust a little bit of cocoa powder so the lava cakes will not stick. The cocoa powder works better than flour because you won’t be able to see it when you turn the cakes out onto a plate.
- Melt the butter and chocolate: Chop the chocolate and add it to a large microwave-safe bowl along with the butter. Heat in 10-20 second intervals, stirring between each burst of heat, until completely melted.
- Mix batter: Whisk the flour and powdered sugar together in a separate bowl and then add it to the bowl with the melted chocolate. Stir just until combined. Whisk the eggs and egg yolks together in the same bowl you used for the flour (no need to dirty another bowl!) and add that to the chocolate as well. Gently whisk or stir all of the ingredients together with a rubber spatula, spoon, or whisk, but don’t overmix the batter.
- Bake: Divide the batter evenly between the prepared ramekins. Place the filled ramekins on a baking sheet and bake at 425°F for 12-14 minutes until the sides appear to be set. It may not look done and the top of the cake may still look soft but you don’t want to overbake these cakes or you will loose the lava consistency in the middle. The top of the cakes don’t have to look completely set before you remove these from the oven.
- Plate the lava cakes: Remove the cakes from oven and let them sit for a minute or two before carefully inverting each ramekin over a serving plate. If the cakes don’t release after a moment or two, try running a sharp knife around the inside edge of each cake and invert again. If you sprayed with cooking spray and dusted with cocoa powder, they should come right out.
- Serve: Serve immediately with sliced strawberries or raspberries and vanilla ice cream.
Substitutions and Additions
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Lava Cake: Add half of the batter to each ramekin, then add 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter before topping with the rest of the batter for a chocolate peanut butter lava cake.
- Biscoff Chocolate Lava Cake: Add half of the batter to each ramekin, then add 1-2 tablespoons of Biscoff cookie butter before topping with the rest of the batter for a Biscoff chocolate lava cake.
- Mint Chocolate Lava Cake: Try adding ½ teaspoon mint extract for a mint chocolate lava cake. Bonus points for sprinkling some chopped Andes mint pieces in the middle of the batter.
Recipe Tips
- Spray your ramekins with cooking spray and dust with cocoa powder. It’s so sad when you go to invert these cakes and they stick to the ramekins. I have found that the best way to avoid this is by both spraying each ramekin with cooking spray and then dusting them with a little cocoa powder, shaking it around the bottom and side and then tapping out any excess over the sink.
- Use high quality chocolate. Get a couple of bars of Ghiradelli or Baker’s and chop them up for this recipe. I have tried using chocolate chips instead and the cakes never turn out quite as well. It’s because chocolate chips are designed not to melt and when you use them in this recipe they don’t create as much of the lava effect that you are going for.
- Don’t overbake. The top of the cakes don’t have to look completely set before you remove these from the oven. The very centers should still look a little soft actually. Just keep telling yourself that this is a MOLTEN LAVA cake and it is supposed to look that way.
How to store this Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe
If you do have leftovers (how could that happen?!), you can store them in airtight containers for three days. Just reheat in the microwave until warmed through.
Molten Lave Cake Recipe FAQs
It is just a gooey, chocolate middle. The outside of the cake sets quicker than the middle because of the higher oven temperatures. But it is still completely safe to eat and is not raw cake batter in the middle.
Of course eat it hot! Nothing beats that gooey chocolate center oozing out onto your plate running into your freshly scooped ice cream.
I know they may sound similar and use a lot of the same ingredients, but they are actually quite different. Molten lava cake is exactly how it sounds. It has a runny, liquid chocolate center. A soufflé has egg whites in it which makes it puff up and creates a more pillowy cake-like texture throughout. No melty, oozy center.
More Chocolate Dessert Recipes For Chocolate Lovers
- Raspberry Chocolate Tart
- Best Fudgy Chewy Chocolate Brownie Cookies
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Burnt Almond Fudge Ice Cream
- Chocolate Cream Pie
- One-Bowl Chocolate Cake Recipe
- Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Easy Homemade Chocolate Crepes
- Southern Biscuits and Chocolate Gravy
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Molten Lava Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup salted butter cut into chunks (1 stick)
- 1/4 cup (35g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 egg yolks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray 4 ramekins with cooking spray and dust them with a little bit of cocoa powder so your cakes won't stick. Flour would work as well, but you might see it when the cakes are inverted and it will mar the effect of a perfect chocolate molten lava cake.
- Place the chopped chocolate and butter into a large microwave-safe bowl and melt on high in the microwave in 10 second increments, stirring with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon between each increment, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. On my microwave, that is almost always between 70 and 90 seconds, but make sure you break up that cooking time with the increments so as not to burn the chocolate or have it seize during the melting process.6 ounces semisweet chocolate, ½ cup salted butter
- Whisk the flour and powdered sugar together and dump into the melted chocolate. Whisk the eggs and egg yolks together in the same bowl you used for the flour (why dirty a third bowl?) and add that to the chocolate as well, then gently stir all of the ingredients together with your rubber spatula or wooden spoon. If your batter is lumpy, use the whisk to gently get rid of them, but you don't want to go crazy whisking the batter if you can help it.¼ cup (35g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup powdered sugar, 2 large eggs, 2 egg yolks
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared ramekins, then place them on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes until the sides appear to be set even if the top center of each cake still looks soft.
- Remove from oven and let the cakes sit in the ramekins for 1 minute before carefully inverting each ramekin over a serving plate. Be sure to use oven mitts because the ramekins will be super hot. If the cakes don't release after a moment or two, try running a sharp paring knife around the inside edge of each cake and inverting again, but if you remembered to dust the ramekins with cocoa powder, they should just slide out.
- Serve immediately with strawberries or raspberries, vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.
Notes
- Chocolate: Semisweet chocolate chips can be used in a pinch, but chopping a bar of chocolate gives better results when it is available.
OMG these look absolutely perfect. And actually pretty easy to make! I’m inspired.
Lava cakes are one of my favorite desserts and this looks like it has the perfect lava flow! Can’t wait to make these for Valentine’s Day!
Oh man, these look just perfect! Love that oozy chocolate xoxox
What size ramekins do you use for the lava cakes? 4 or 6 oz.
I use the 6 oz ramekin.
Could I use a muffin pan as a ramekin?
Yes you can! You will probably make 6 lava cakes instead of 4 since the muffin pan will be a bit smaller. Spray with cooking spray and dust the muffin pan with cocoa powder so they don’t stick.
Bake at the same temperature (425°F ) for 8-10 minutes. Use a spoon to release the cakes. Enjoy!
Yummy!!
Thank you!
If I have 4 oz ramekins, should I bake for 8-10 minutes?
Yes, start with 8 but you would probably be fine going closer to 10 minutes.