This easy Chocolate Lava Cake is the perfect dessert for two! Plus, check out my secret for an extra chocolatey center!
Chocolate Lava Cake
A few years ago, long before I met the husband, I went to Europe with my best friend.
Over the course of three sleep-deprived and fabulous weeks, we shopped in Paris, talked one another into buying ridiculous shoes, got lost in Dublin, missed trains, argued over boys, took “scary” flashlight-lit selfies in the catacombs next to ancient skulls, met wonderful people, and of course– devoured amazing food.
Most of the mouth-watering delicacies we ate did NOT, in fact, come from the French restaurants that our tiny budgets couldn’t afford, but instead from the very sweet and generous couple we stayed with in Paris.
On our last night in Paris, our host Celine whipped out miniature lava cakes, or moelleux au chocolat. This recipe is hers, with small adaptations that the husband and I have made over the years as we’ve baked this sweet and decadent treat for two.
How to Make Chocolate Lava Cake with Extra “Lava”
Over the years, I’ve compared this cake recipe to other lava cake recipes, and it’s a little different. Typically, you simply remove the cake from the oven before the center of the cake sets.
This recipe is different– you actually add extra chocolate to the middle of your cake batter! It melts into a thick, lava-like center with a light, fluffy cake on the outside!
Can I Make This Cake Ahead of Time?
Partially. If you’re serving it for date night or a dinner party, go ahead and mix up your batter and put everything in the ramekins before dinner.
These only take 10 minutes to cook, and should be served hot, so you’ll want to pop them in the oven shortly before it’s time to serve dessert.
Once they’re finished baking, take them out of the ramekins (or serve them in the ramekins– it’s up to you!), and add a little fruit or a scoop of ice cream. Cut the cake open, and watch the lava flow!
Chocolate Lava Cake
Want more CHOCOLATE recipe ideas? Try these:
Want more DATE NIGHT recipe ideas? Try these:
Chocolate Lava Cake
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Ingredients
- 2/3 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips, divided
- 2 TB butter OR coconut oil, plus more oil or oil spray to brush ramekins
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Toppings: berries, whipped cream, ice cream, and/or powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven: 475ºF
- Spray or brush oil into two 4oz ramekins or custard cups (coat them really well to ensure that they'll pop out later).
- Melt 1/3 cup chocolate and butter (or coconut oil) in a double boiler or in the microwave (about 40 seconds depending on your microwave- stop before the chocolate is completely melted, and then stir it and let the hot oil melt the chocolate).
- Add eggs, vanilla, and flour. Whisk until smooth.
- Divide half the mixture between the two ramekins. Divide remaining chocolate chips on top in the center of the batter. Top with remaining batter.
- Bake 9-10 minutes, then allow to cool 2-3 minutes.
- Take a butter knife and run along the edges of the cakes, and turn upside down to pop cakes out onto plates. (Or skip this step and serve the cakes in the ramekins).
- Add toppings and serve while still hot.
So amazingly awesome!! Had a major chocolate craving tonight and remembered this recipe…and 20 minutes later I was eating a deliciously rich treat. Would definitely make again, super easy and was the perfect amount of sweetness ?
yay!! I’m so glad you liked it! (It’s embarrassing how often I eat this haha)
I cannot wait to make this. You make it sound so easy and simple! At restaurants this is always the default dessert so I’m excited to make it at home. Though TBH I think there will be about 5 seconds where I will hold my breath waiting for the lava to ooze out 🙂
It really is easy!!! It’s my favorite date night dessert- I actually just made it for the hubs and myself last night!!
Wow, I’ve made lava cakes before, but never with that extra chocolate in the center! Sounds totally indulgent – and therefore just right ????
Haha exactly!!!
I’ve never made a lava cake and always wondered if the cake just wasn’t baked all the way through or if there was actually chocolate in the middle. I think I would definitely like a center of molten chocolate the best! And that sounds like an amazing trip. I would love to stay with a host family rather than in hotels and hostels.
Yup it can be made either way- but I prefer my way with extra chocolate 😀 And yessss it was an amazing trip!!
Mmmmm, so good. I usually add just a little extra flour to get more rise out of them. And a heaping measure of chocolate. I love to watch as they rise right out of the ramekin.
Yay! I’m so glad you liked them!
So I made this last night, but my chocolate chips didn’t melt into a lava 🙁 should I melt them down a bit beforehand? They sunk to the bottom and just didn’t work. What type of chocolate chips do you use?
Oh no! I’m so sorry that happened! I use either the bittersweet Ghirardelli chocolate chips, or the semi-sweet ones from Aldi.
Without being in your kitchen, it’s hard to know for sure, but my best guesses would be:
1. Your oven temperature might be off. If the temperature was too hot, it would cook the outside too fast, and the inside wouldn’t cook correctly. Oven thermometers are pretty inexpensive, so if you wanted to check, I’d recommend that.
2. Or if moisture got into the chocolate chips at some point, they might seize up instead of melting. (Usually the chips would have a white tint if that’s happened.) In that case, I’d replace the chips.
3. OR- high-end chocolate with a higher percentage of cacao can be harder to melt. So if you’re using an especially nice chocolate, this might not be the place to use it!
Let me know if I can help more!!