Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

Rich and decadent molten chocolate lava cake is possibly the perfect dessert for a special occasion. They look impressive and taste amazing, but they're extremely quick and simple to make.

What is lava cake?

Renowned New York City chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is credited with popularizing the dessert after under baking chocolate sponge cake in his restaurant in 1987. These individual sized cakes, with a warm gooey chocolate center, have become a staple of dessert menus at restaurants around the country since then. They only take a few simple ingredients and about 20 minutes to make start to finish.

Ingredients for Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

• Chocolate - You don’t need much so get the good stuff here! You’ll need 1 4 ounce bar for this recipe. I like the flavor of semi-sweet best, but you can go with bittersweet if you like a darker chocolate flavor. Make sure to use bar chocolate and not chocolate chips to get the proper texture.
• Butter - You will need 1 stick of unsalted butter. Again get the good stuff. There are only a few ingredients in this dish, so use high quality for the best results.
• Powdered Sugar - The original recipe uses granulated sugar whipped with eggs then folded into the chocolate mixture. This recipe uses powdered sugar to simplify the process.
• Eggs - You will need 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks.
• Flour - Just 6 tablespoons of all purpose flour is all you need here.
• Salt - A pinch of salt to help boost the flavor.
• Cocoa Powder - I add a tablespoon of cocoa powder into the mix for a deeper chocolate flavor. You’ll also need a little extra for prepping the ramekins for baking.
• Ramekins - You'll need 4, 6 ounce ramekins for this recipe. You can use smaller or larger but will need to adjust the cooking time a bit based on the size. If you don't have ramekins a muffin tin will work too. Standard muffins are 4 ounces, so adjust the cooking time down by a minute or two.
  

How to make Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

• Start by preheating your oven to 425ºF, then prepare the ramekins or muffin tin. Spray them with cooking spray then dust with cocoa powder.
• Next melt the butter and chopped chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave until the butter is melted, around 1 minute. Then stir until smooth and set aside.
• Next add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, flour, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
• In another bowl whisk together the eggs and egg yolks.
• Combine the chocolate mixture with the dry ingredients, then mix in the eggs and stir until smooth, but do not over mix.

Baking your cakes

Spoon the batter evenly into your prepared ramekins. As you can see in the pictures above, they don't rise a whole lot, about a half inch from the top should be good.

You'll bake them for approximately 9 minutes until the top is set but still soft. Watch them closely after 7 minutes or so. Remember, you want to keep the center unbaked so it's better to under bake than over bake them. The cakes will continue to cook a bit whole cooling too. Don't worry if you do happen to over bake them! They're still delicious, you just won't get the effect of the liquid chocolate center.

After baking let them cool for about 1 to 2 minutes in the ramekins. Run a knife around the edge of the cakes to help them release. Then, holding the ramekin with a towel or oven mitt, flip them onto a plate upside down. They should release easily.

What to serve with lava cake

The cakes are really rich and decadent but if you want to take it up a notch here are a few suggestions.

• Dusting with powdered sugar and fresh berries looks beautiful.
• A scoop of cold ice cream is awesome with the warm gooey chocolate center.
• A drizzle of caramel sauce or hot chocolate sauce (or both!) is another great choice!
• Chopped nuts such as walnuts a great addition too for a texture contrast.
• Of course you can mix and match from all of the above too!

Make ahead directions

If you want to prepare the cakes more than a few hours ahead you can cut circles of parchment paper to line the bottom to help avoid sticking. Then spoon in the batter and refrigerate.

Alternatively, you can just cover and refrigerate the mixed batter. Then when you're ready you can proceed with preparing the dish and baking.

You may need an additional minute or so if making ahead since the batter will be cold or you can let the batter sit out for 20 minutes or so before baking to allow it to come up to room temperature.

You can freeze the baked cakes as well. To freeze allow the cakes to cool completely then wrap them individually in plastic wrap and put them into a freezer bag for up to 2 months. To serve allow them to thaw in the refrigerator then microwave for around 45 seconds before serving.

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