Chocolate Lava Cake

4.80 from 5 votes

Easy molten lava cake with a decadent molten chocolate center is an delicious chocolate dessert!

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Cool Time1

Total Time21

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: lava cakes

Calories: 554kcal

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spray the inside of 4 - 6 ounce ramekins and lightly coat with cocoa powder. Turn the ramekin over and beat any excess cocoa powder. Set them aside.
Cut your butter into ½ inch cubes and break up your chocolate. In a large microwavable bowl, place your butter and chocolate inside and microwave it in 30 second intervals. Stir after each interval till it is all melted.
In a small bowl, whisk to combine the flour, confectioners sugar and salt.
In another small bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla.
Incorporate the flour into the chocolate. Then add your eggs and stir until it is smooth and there are no clumps remaining.
Evenly spoon the mixture into each ramekin up to the line before the rim.
Place filled ramekins on a baking sheet and cook for 8-10 minutes till the sides are firm. The top will still be soft. Do not overbake.
Remove from the oven and cool for 1 minute. Place a plate over the top of the ramekin and quickly flip it over. Top with any desired toppings and serve immediately.

I prefer the 60% Cacao. It is important that it is high quality, and the dark chocolate gives the rich indulgent flavor you can find in a restaurant. You can use semi-sweet chocolate or milk chocolate but you would have to play with the ratio of confectioners sugar so it is not too sweet.
The extra egg yolks give it the fluffy texture. The confectioners sugar also helps with this, which is why that is the sugar used, instead of granulated.
I melt my chocolate first and then add the flour mixture. I do the eggs last to give the chocolate time to cool so the eggs do not in any way cook.
When preparing your ramekin, you can use the cooking spray, and the coco powder or regular flour, but this is important to ensure that the cake does not stick and it comes out perfectly every time.