These rich chocolatey lava cakes only look intimidating but they’re very quick and easy to make. They can be made hours in advance, and refrigerated until ready to serve. If you want to impress your guests with a warm dessert, these are ready in a matter of minutes.
Ingredients:
7 (4 oz ramekins)
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 stick of butter
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup flour
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 410 degrees Fahrenheit. Over a double boiler, melt butter and chocolate chips . Keep stirring until it reaches a smooth silky consistency.
2. In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs and egg yolk. Then beat in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and melted chocolate. Sift the flour with a mesh strainer and whisk it into the chocolate mixture.
3. Spray each ramekin with nonstick spray and fill with the batter. Make sure not to fill each one all the way to the top. I used 4 oz ramekins.
4. Place each filled ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. If you refrigerate your lava cakes, bake them for about 10-12 minutes.
5. Once they’re done, flip them over onto a plate. Or you can always eat them straight out of the ramekin if you prefer not to flip them. Serve warm with berries or ice cream.
Tip: You can fill the ramekins, cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 6 to 8 hours before baking them.
Chocolate Lava Cake
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Dina Polyashov
Serves: 7 lava cakes
Ingredients
- 7 (4 oz ramekins)
- 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
- 1½ stick of butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ¾ cup flour
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 410 degrees Fahrenheit. Over a double boiler, melt butter and chocolate chips . Keep stirring until it reaches a smooth silky consistency.
- In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs and egg yolk. Then beat in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and melted chocolate. Sift the flour with a mesh strainer and whisk it into the chocolate mixture.
- Spray each ramekin with nonstick spray and fill with the batter. Make sure NOT to fill each one all the way to the top. I used 4 oz ramekins.
- Place each filled ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes.If you refrigerate your lava cakes, bake them for about 10-12 minutes.
- Once they're done, flip them over onto a plate. Or you can always eat them straight out of the ramekin if you prefer not to flip them. Serve warm with berries or ice cream.
your recipe states not to fill to the top, so how full should I fill it percentage wise? 80%? 90%? using 4 ounce ramikins
Fill each 4 oz ramekin to about 90%
I only have 4 ramekins and was wondering if I can pour the batter into the the ramekins and keep the rest in a bowl until my first batch is complete? Also if I was to make this ahead of time and refrigerated would it take longer to bake if the batter is cold? On your about me section you mention Bulgarian food. Are you Bulgarian?
Valentina, you can definitely make the first batch ahead of time and reserve the rest in a bowl. but you don’t want to keep it refrigerated for too long because the batter will get really thick. The cold batch will take a little longer to bake. And yes I am half Bulgarian. My mother is full Bulgarian. Her maiden name is actually Rusev 🙂 Where are you from?
Lol that’s too funny. I am a Rusev as well! I used to live in South Carolina but got married and now live in Everett. I have a ton of family in Tacoma that I haven’t met.. who knows you might be one of them! Lol I made this the other day and it turned out amazing! Thank you for the recipe!
I just asked my mom about you… your dad and my mom are cousins! And our moms were best friends. How awesome is that? I’m so happy you enjoyed the lava cake Valentina 🙂
Lol. Yes I asked my mamma about you guys and your parents were at my wedding. Small world 🙂
No kidding! That’s so awesome 🙂
This is one of my favourite dessert. I’m looking forward to making this recipe soon.
Simona, let me know how it turns out 🙂
If I refrigerate them, how long should I heat them up for?
Hi Grace, in step #4 I mentioned that you will need to bake it for 10-12 minutes if you refrigerate them before.
Can I make these in foil cupcake liners? How much would you reduce cooking time?
You can bake the lava cakes in the foil cupcake liners, but you would have to eat them right out of the liner. Otherwise if you try removing the lava cake from the liner, it will fall apart. Baking time should be the same. Hope that helps 🙂
If you make them in advance, do you pre-bake them and refrigerate, then bake again for 10-12 minutes when ready to serve? Or do you refrigerate the batter in the ramekins, then bake them?
Hi Trish, if you want to make them in advance, refrigerate the batter in the ramekins unbaked.
I promised a student I would bake these for them. I teach all day & there is no way I could bake them right before class. Could I bake the lava cakes & then refrigerate them? Maybe let them come to room temp or put them in the Mike just to get them warm?
Hi Rachel, since you are teaching all day, refrigerating and microwaving later would probably be your best option. I’ve never tried microwaving lava cakes before, so I can’t say they will taste just as good. But theoretically your method should work.
Just now made them. Omg they came out amazing and tasted amazing as well. Perfect quick luscious dessert.
Thank you for such a wonderful review Jamie!
Loved your recipe…very easy to try and I am sooo happy i could finally find an easy and exact recipe for lava cakes …kids loved them! Thank you!!
Thank you Sangeeta! Glad your kids loved the lava cakes 🙂
Hi
How many grams is 1 1/2 stick of butter
170 grams = 1 1/2 sticks butter
Can I use 3 oz ramikins? I have 8 that size. How will that change the cooking time?
Hi Karen, yes you can use 3 oz ramekins but they will bake faster. I’m not too sure how much faster though.
I plan to bake the cake for about 200 guests. My place where I plan to bake it is a distance to the events place where the guests will be. How do I go about this in order to keep it warm. If I may ask, must the cake be served warm? Also if possible can you give me the recipe for 100guests? Thank you
Hi Teju, these lava cakes are meant to be served warm. I’m not too sure how you would keep them warm when you have a distance to drive. If you multiply the recipe by 15 you should have about 100-105 lava cakes. Hope that helps 🙂