Molten Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe

Deep chocolate cake with a molten lava chocolate center. For the chocolate lovers out there!

makes 6 mini cakes or 4 regular size onestotal time: 45 minutes

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Is there anything better than molten chocolate lava cake? It has the reputation of being basic, but if basic tastes like rich chocolate cake with a liquid, melty center, well, call me basic! I don’t really know why people hate on lava cake so much. Yeah, it’s a little over played, but I love desserts that combine hot and cold and a warm from the oven lava cake with creamy cold ice cream is my idea of awesome.

I made these for our friends at Collectively to celebrate their birthday and new site. Mike and I collaborate with the Collectively girls from time to time and they are super fun to work with.

This was my first time making lava cake and I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it came together. I used a best of Bon Appetit recipe. Most lava cakes get the lava by under baking, but I chose this recipe because the lava is actually melty ganache. You make a ganache, chill it, then pop it into the middle of your cakes. When you bake, the center gets molten and bonus, you’re not eating under baked cake! The only thing I wish I did differently was making sure I had enough ganache in each cake. Initially I thought I would get 9 mini cakes out of the recipe (the original calls for 4 six ounce ramekins) but when I was portioning out, I realized that I would only have enough batter for 6. But, in my haste for warm chocolate cake, I under portioned the ganache.

Sad face because these weren’t as molten as I wanted, but in the end I was pretty happy about these guys.

So, cheers Collectively! Here’s to a bright year ahead!

xoxo steph

PS – This post isn’t sponsored, lol.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake Recipemakes 6 mini cakes or 4 regular size onesprep time: 30 minutesbake time: 10-15 minutestotal time: 45 minutes

• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces, divided
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for ramekins
• demerara or raw sugar (for sprinkling)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

via Bon Appetit

In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat until it just comes to a simmer. Place 2 ounces of chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour the cream over, stirring until smooth and chocolate is completely melted. Place in the fridge for 1 hour, to firm up.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. You can either make 4 six ounce ramekins or 9 three and a half ounce ramekins. Lightly butter the ramekins and sprinkle with demerara sugar to create a light coating.

In a heatproof bowl, combine the remaining 5 ounces of chocolate along with the 6 tablespoons of butter. Set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, being careful not to let the water touch the underside of the bowl. Stir constantly until completely melted.

In a stand mixer, beat together the eggs and brown sugar until light, fluffy, and tripled in volume, about 4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and then gently fold in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the flour and salt until smooth.

Divide the half of the batter among the ramekins. About 1/3 cup for the 4 ounce ramekins, and 2 tablespoons for the 3.5 ounce ramekins. Place a tablespoon of chilled ganache into the center of each half-filled ramekin and top with the remaining batter.

Bake until the tops are firm, but the cakes are still wobbly when jiggled, 13-15 minutes for the 4 ounce and 9-12 for the small. Let cool for 30 seconds before tipping onto plates and serving immediately. Enjoy!