Molten Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe
This Molten Chocolate Lava Cake recipe is the perfect small batch dessert! Easy to make and ready in less than 30 minutes.
Do you ever have those moments when you want something sweet, but you don’t want to make a huge batch? Maybe it’s just you and one other person living in your home and you really don’t have a need for a lot of desserts.
That’s where small-batch desserts come in super handy. This chocolate lava cake recipe makes just two servings and is incredibly impressive, yet easy to make. It’s one of my favorite small batch recipes to date too (and that’s saying a lot given the number of times I’ve made my small batch chocolate chip cookies).
You can mix everything up for these lava cakes in one bowl and enjoy them in less than 30 minutes. They’re also a perfect treat for Valentine’s Day!
Recipe Ingredients
This simple dessert for two comes together with minimal ingredients. Here’s everything you’ll need to make these molten lava cakes:
- Unsalted butter: I recommend using unsalted butter since the amount of salt in salted butters can vary between different brands.
- Semi-sweet chocolate: I typically use either Bakers or Ghirardelli chocolate bars. I like to buy a 4-ounce bar of semi-sweet chocolate and save it for whenever I want to make these lava cakes. You’ll only need 2-ounces, so just cut it in half and save the other half for later.
- Powdered sugar: Be sure to use powdered sugar for this recipe and not granulated sugar. Granulated sugar won’t give you the same texture and the lava filling won’t be as smooth.
- Eggs: Note that this recipe calls for one whole egg and one egg yolk. You can save the egg white for breakfast the next morning or use it to make candied pecans or angel food cake.
- Vanilla extract: Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- All-purpose flour: Just 1/4 cup of flour is all you need in this recipe. Make sure that you measure your flour correctly with the spoon and level method. If you’re not sure what that means, I have a blog post on how to measure flour.
- Instant espresso powder: I prefer using Medaglia d’Oro or King Arthur espresso powder. The espresso powder just enhances the chocolate flavor in these cakes, it won’t make them taste like coffee. You may also replace it with instant coffee or omit it from the recipe.
How to Make Chocolate Lava Cakes
- Add the butter and semi-sweet chocolate to a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave until the mixture is completely melted and smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar and whisk or stir until just combined.
- Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until fully combined.
- Lastly, add the flour and espresso powder and mix again until just combined. Make sure not to over mix the batter at this point, otherwise they won’t turn out as soft.
- Evenly divide the batter between two greased 6-ounce ramekins and smooth it out.
- Bake at 425° (218°C) for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges are firm, but the center is still slightly soft. Remove them from the oven and allow to stand for one minute before inverting each lava cake onto a serving plate.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it’s not. You do remove the lava cakes from the oven before the center is fully “set”, but it’s baked long enough to fully cook the eggs and make them safe to eat.
Yes, you can use a muffin pan instead of ramekins for this recipe!
Simply grease four cavities of a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray and divide the batter between each one. Bake at 425°F for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are firm, but the centers are still soft. Allow to rest for one minute before you invert the lava cakes onto a serving plate.
Absolutely! After you fill the ramekins, cover them tightly with plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator for one to two days.
When you are ready to bake, place them on the counter and let them come to room temperature, then bake as directed.
Baking Tips
- Room temperature eggs are best for this recipe. If you need to bring your eggs to room temperature quickly, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Make sure not to over mix the batter. You only want to mix in each ingredient until just combined.
- I typically just spray my ramekins with nonstick cooking spray. However, if you’re worried about them sticking you can also lightly dust each ramekin with some cocoa powder.
- You can top these with anything that you prefer. I personally love to add some no-churn ice cream and hot fudge sauce, but salted caramel sauce is delicious too.
Molten Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (60 grams)
- 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chopped (57 grams)
- ½ cup powdered sugar (60 grams)
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour spooned & leveled (32 grams)
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray two 6-ounce ramekins well with nonstick cooking spray and place on a baking sheet. Set aside.
- Add the butter and semi-sweet chocolate to a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 20 to 30 second increments, making sure to stir well after each increment, until melted and smooth.
- Remove from the microwave and whisk in the powdered sugar until well combined, then add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until fully combined.
- Add the flour and espresso powder and mix until just combined, making sure not to over mix the batter. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared ramekins.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges are firm and the center is slightly soft. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 1 minute. Carefully invert each ramekin onto a small plate, serve, and enjoy!
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman
I will try this recipe but i was just wondering if I could use a microwave/grill/air fryer to bake this instead of the oven.
An air fryer would probably be the best option, but you may need to adjust the cooking time.
Amazing recipe! I always been afraid to make a lava cake and not coming out correctly, but this recipe was amazingly delicious and super easy to follow.
Made these step by step and definitely didn’t turn out as they should’ve. The cake itself was good but no ooze from the inside.
If the center wasn’t soft, they were probably over baked. Every oven is different, so it’s important to keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven before the center is fully set. If you use different sized ramekins that will also affect the baking time.
These look delicious! Going to try them Sunday, I question, how would I make the chocolate drizzle sauce shown in the picture over ice cream?
I don’t have a recipe for hot fudge sauce on my site right now, I just used a store-bought one for the pictures. I will add that to my list of recipes to work on though!
Can the lava cakes be frozen?
I haven’t tried freezing them, but I think it would be fine.
These were super easy and super delicious!
I made these for my Valentine.. he loved it.
Delicious! Could these be frozen for future? Thank you!
I haven’t tried it, but I think it would be okay.
Oh my goodness. These are so delicious and easy. My college daughter was home and said she had been craving them so I whipped them up while she was doing homework and she was thrilled. I used instant coffee that I ground up into a powder, amazing. Thanks for a great recipe.
Great recipe!
Can I use brewed espresso instead of instant espresso powder?
Thanks!
I don’t recommend it for this recipe.
OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I made this for the first time last week. My husband, who could be a food critic, literally licked the plate. I served it with vanilla ice cream, strawberries and caramel sauce. I can’t believe how elegant this simple recipe turned out. “Outstanding” is the only word to use. Danielle, I discovered you and your website about a year ago and because of your tips, recipe descriptions, I have more confidence in my baking. I think I might have to make a folder just for your recipes so I can find them easier!!!
Thank you so much, Pat! So glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
This looks so delicious! Can I use use less sugar?
I don’t recommend reducing the sugar in this recipe.
My daughter & I made these for one of my sons birthdays. They turned out so good!! This is my favorite baking website. Everything I’ve made from here turns out perfect!! Thank you Danielle for all of your delicious recipes. You always make your directions easy to follow. Sooo yummy!!!
Thank you, Brenda! So happy to hear that!
SO GOOD! And super easy! Thanks for the recipe.
Made it for our anniversary. Turned out so good! I swapped all purpose flour to gluten free flour and expresso powder to instant coffee. I baked for 10 minutes and take out of the oven when I saw the outside was cooked. Perfectly melted and gooey inside. Thanks for the recipe.
Can this recipe be multiplied for an 8 or 10 inch round? And if so what would that be? Thank you so much in advance.
These were great! I happened to have half of a whole egg left over from another recipe, so I used that instead of the yolk (so basically 1.5 whole eggs). They came out totally fine that way!
The good: super fast and easy and it’s definitely a lava cake! Mostly ingredients that are easily on hand. One of these would be plenty for two people to share.
The setback: the cake didn’t have the deep dark chocolate richness of the restaurant lava cakes and at 600 calories, 60 carbs, and 37 fats (6 proteins) BEFORE adding any toppings, I would really need restaurant quality for this level of a splurge. Each mini cake has 1/8th a cup of butter…I have to think there is a way to cut this without sacrifice. I may try it with different butter substitutes and see if I can get more of a moist dark chocolate cake (and less fats). Decent recipe, just not good enough to justify the major splurge.
So good. I looked at several other recipes and decided to try yours. So glad I did.
Made this for Valentine’s Day dessert.
Since I didn’t have espresso, I used instant coffee. Worked like a charm and per your suggestion, baked for 13 minutes.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Can I use regular or decaf ground espresso instead of instant?
You can omit it from the recipe. It just enhances the flavor of the chocolate a little more, but they still taste fine without it!
I had these on the table for two of us in about 30 minutes. They were absolutely perfect. Topped them with fresh whipped heavy cream and baked for exactly 13 minutes. Thanks for such an easy, delicious two-person dessert. I will definitely make this again and will probably also scale up to make for dinner parties.
Hi! Do you know if this recipe would need to be adjusted for 4500 ft elevation? Thanks!
I’m not very familiar with high altitude baking, but King Arthur Flour has a great guide for how to adjust recipes for high altitude here.
hi can i use cocoa powder if i dont have semi chocalate how would that be ?
It wouldn’t work for this recipe. You do need the melted chocolate for it to turn out right.
I made these for the second time and they are delicious! I did find that they broke when I took them out of the ramekins and the outside was slightly crusty. Any suggestions?
Hi, Kathy! They may have just been slightly over baked. Did you spray your ramekins too? You could try buttering them and dusting with cocoa powder next time and see if that helps.
I’m going to try these. There is just my husband and I and extra desserts are dangerous to have around. I don’t have espresso powder but I always add coffee to my chocolate cake. Do you think instant coffee would work?
Yes, you can replace the espresso powder with instant coffee.
These were SOOOO good!!! This is my first time ever trying (and making) this dessert, and I couldn’t be happier with how the cakes turned out. Will be saving this recipe 🙂
Any chance this recipe could be made with granulated sugar instead of powered? I don’t have any and wondered if I could make a swap because this recipe looks amazing and I want to try it so badly!
I honestly haven’t tried it, so I’m not quite sure.
I was out of powdered sugar and wanted to make these again. I put some regular sugar in my high powered blender and it got close to powdered sugar consistancy. It worked but highly recommend sticking with powdered sugar for a smooth center. These are excellent!
Take regular granulated sugar & if you have a coffee grinder or a powerful blender add the sugar & blend till powdered!