Molten Chocolate Cake Recipe (2024)

Published: Apr 12, 2019 · Modified: Mar 30, 2021 by Kadee

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Rich, fudgy chocolate cake baked to perfection with a hot, ooey, gooey center. This Molten Chocolate Cake Recipe will put any restaurant's version to shame. Made in under an hour from start to finish, this dessert will knock your socks off.

What Do I Need To Make Chocolate Lava Cakes?

You'll need:

eggs
heavy whipping cream
butter
flour
sugar
vanilla
semi sweet chocolate chips

How Do I Make The Lava Filling?

Some lava cakes are just undercooked cake. Which kind of grosses me out. While its more of a brownie batter, than a cake batter - I still prefer to fully cook my cake and use a ganache like filling for the "lava".

The gooey lava center is the shining star of this dessert. To Make this you will need to heat heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan. When it simmers, remove from heat. Add butter and semisweet chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes.
Whisk until smooth and shiny. Let cool slightly, and then transfer to the freezer while you prepare cake.

Let's Talk About The Cake!

The cake of this dessert is dense and fudge. Delicious. Here's the rundown:

In a small saucepan combine butter and chocolate chips. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly.
When shiny and smooth, remove from heat and allow to slightly cool.
Separate Eggs - you'll need 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks.
Using a hand or stand mixer, combine eggs, egg yolks, and sugar. Beat for 5 minutes. Mixture will be pale.
Mix in flour, vanilla, and chocolate/butter mixture.
Batter will be a medium brown.

PRO TIP – HOW TO SEPARATE EGGS: AFTER CRACKING YOUR EGG, OPEN THE EGG OVER A BOWL. LET THE YOLK SETTLE IN ONE HALF OF THE SHELL, CAREFULLY POUR THE YOLK BACK AND FORTH INTO THE OTHER HALF OF THE SHELL, LETTING THE WHITE DRIP INTO YOUR BOWL. REPEAT THIS UNTIL ALL OF THE WHITE IS REMOVED FROM THE SHELL. POUR THE YOLK INTO A SEPARATE BOWL.

Now Put It All Together

Generously butter 4 ramekins.
Spoon enough batter into each ramekin so that it measures about an inch deep.
Remove filling from freezer. It should be a fudgy consistency. Divide into 4, and wish clean hands, roll quickly into balls.
Place on top of batter.
Spoon remaining batter over top of the filling balls.
Bake for 20-22 minutes until edges and top are firm, but center can still be jiggled. Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes.
Run a knife around the edges of cake to release from ramekin. Invert cakes onto serving plates. Top with ice cream, chocolate sauce, or other desired toppings.

Can Lava Cake Be Made Ahead?

Yes! One of the best parts of chocolate lava cake is that you can make the cakes ahead of time (before a dinner party) and chill until you're ready to bake and serve. Add a minute or so to the baking time and you'll be pulling out an amazing dessert for your guests!

You can freeze completely baked lava cakes. Just make sure you let them cool completely before freezing. They'll keep for 3 months. After you remove them from the freezer, re-heat in the microwave.

How long do lava cakes last?

When stored in an airtight container, freshly baked molten lava cake will last 1-2 days at room temperature.

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