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
This will be a repeater for us! I doubled the recipe to serve 4 and served with vanilla ice cream. It was delicious! I may add some chopped walnuts next time.
Is there any nutritional information … interested in how many calories, since we are trying to watch it.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! I’m not sure about the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator to get an estimate.
Hi, really love this recipe and want to give it a try. Currently I don’t have semi sweet chocolate so can I substitute that with chocolate syrup? If yes then how much should I add?
I wouldn’t recommend it for this recipe, you do need actual melted chocolate for them to set up correctly.
Easy, delicious, perfect! Thank you for sharing.
Hello! This looks delicious but I wanna ask, can I use milk chocolate instead? Couldn’t find semi sweet choc ;(
I think that would be fine, just keep in mind that they will be sweeter. It may help to reduce the sugar slightly.
The perfect treat for 2 when your taste buds are craving a chocolatey, decadent after dinner dessert. I will make this over and over. Hubby also loved it. Thank you for sharing.
I had a quick question… I was wondering if you could make this recipe using a convection style toaster oven? Do you think the results would be the same? I don’t necessarily want to heat up an entire oven just for 13 minutes for two ramekins. Have you tried this recipe using a toaster oven? Thoughts?
You probably could, I’m just not sure if you would need to adjust the baking time.
Thoughts on using an all-purpose gluten free flour?
I haven’t tried it, but if it measures 1:1 for all-purpose and you’ve had success using it in other recipes it may be okay.
I was just coming here to comment on how much we loved these. My husband is gluten sensitive so I tried it with King Arthur 1:1 baking gluten free flour and it came out fabulous!!
Do they have to be served right away?
It’s best to serve them right away otherwise the center will start to firm up. You can prepare them ahead of time and refrigerate them until you’re ready to bake them.
Sorry but I didn’t love these. Really wanted to. They needed salt and they didn’t have a rich even chocolate flavor. Maybe a dark would have been better
Sorry you didn’t like the lava cakes, Kelly. You could certainly add a pinch of salt to the batter. Did you use the espresso powder? It helps to enhance the chocolate flavor too.
I made this for my husbands birthday (he loves these from Chilis), the recipe was super easy most ingredients I already had, It was delicious!! I cooked it for 13 minutes, personally I would have left mine in for another minute but my husband was in hog heaven! It was definitely every bit of lava cake. I did omit the coffee part.
Can I add more espresso to this? I’m hoping for a stronger coffee taste
You could add some espresso powder, maybe 1/4-1/2 teaspoon.
Made them yesterday and again today! So easy to whip up and they turned out amazing ???
Delicious! What a treat. This was my first try at chocolate lava cakes and they came out beautifully. 12 minutes was perfect. So good we didn’t even need ice cream. Loved them!
Fabulous! This recipe is wonderful because it’s easy to make, doesn’t require special ingredients, and is so quick to make. The dessert has a beautiful presentation and is absolutely delicious!
Heyy! I am soo thankful for this recipe! It is foolproof!! I multiplied and made around 16 lava cakes using this recipe for a Valentine’s day party at my place. Everyone loved it! ❤❤❤ so grateful. God bless you
I love this recipe. I’ve made it enough times I can make it from memory. I usually add two whole eggs (I can never find something to do with just one egg white) and tweak my baking time based off the oven I’m using (usually start prodding them around the 8 minute mark and wait for the last minute growth spurt when the eggs cook around the edges), and this recipe has never failed to produce perfect lava cakes!
Start a freezer bag of egg whites. Use a sharpie and put a tick mark or check when you add one. When you get 9 or 10 thaw and make angel food cake.
This is a great recipe for my chocolate craving
No topping, still luscious
Waah! I followed the instructions and kept it for 14 minutes but the center was well baked. No molten lava. I’m gonna try 12 minutes and see what happens. Wish me luck!
Sorry to hear that, Priya. I would keep an eye on them and take them out as soon as the edges are set and the center is still soft. You also don’t want to let them sit too long otherwise the center will firm up.
Such an amazing dessert to satisfy a chocolate craving, also it’s good that there’s not much of it because it’s not the healthiest haha. Thanks for this!!! So easy to follow and it was my first time making it.
Just made this. Topped with a blueberry and blackberry compote. Delicious and easy to make. I (accidentally) doubled the recipe and gave some to the neighbors. I would for sure repeat the recipe, but next time I would make sure to top with ice cream. Thanks for the recipe!
These are a quick and delicious dessert! I made them in a cupcake pan and think I over cooked a little but they were still very moist inside. HUGE thumbs up!!
The recipe calls for meltin the butter and chocolate and then stirring the sugar in after. Maybe try using a double boiler to melt the butter/chocolate until it’s smooth? I made this yesterday and it was amazing.
Hi! I really loved the taste of this recipe, but my cakes stuck to the sides of the ramekins. I greased them as directed and followed the recipe. 🙂 I baked them for 13 minutes and let them sit for one minute before flipping. I’d be grateful for any suggestions you can share for my next baking attempt. Thank you!
So sorry to hear that, Virginia! I would try spraying them really well with nonstick cooking spray or you can butter the ramekins then dust them with some cocoa powder and that should help too.
Perfect recipe. Comes out beautiful each time!
Made this for Valentine’s Day. Topped with strawberries and vanilla ice cream. Very good!!! Will make again. So easy!
Easy and delicious.
Can I make these in a muffin tin if I don’t have ramekins?
That should be fine. I’m not sure if it will affect baking time, but I would just check and remove them from the oven once the edges are firm and the center is still soft.
I just baked these in a large nonstick muffin pan for 12 minutes and they were perfect! Thanks for this recipe!
Hi. Want to make these for Valentines day. Can the batter be made ahead of time, kept in the fridge then taken out to get to room temp before baking?
Thanks.
That should be fine! I would just make sure they’re at room temperature before baking.
i tried these last night and oh my goodness – they were divine. I followed your advice and did not overmix the batter. And i left out the Espresso since i didn’t have any.
Thanks
So glad the lava cakes turned out great for you, Glenda!
Hi,
I want to try this recipe can you tell me what kind of espresso powder you use and where I can purchase it?
I really like Medaglia d’Oro or King Arthur espresso powder, I usually get them on Amazon. You can also use instant coffee granules or leave it out of the cakes.
Just go ahead triple this recipe. God blessed you thanks for sharing
Beautiful.. and even my 3 year old helps to bake it. So delicious and easy to follow. Thank you