Chocolate lava cakes
Six ingredients. Twenty-five minutes. Chocolate lava cakes from six ingredients: baked 12 to 14 minutes in a hot oven so the sides set and the middle stays molten.
Why it works: A short bake in a hot oven sets the sides while the middle stays molten.
Ingredients
- 6 ounces (170 g) high-quality semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (baking bars, not chips)
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter (8 Tbsp)
- ¼ cup (31 g) all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- ½ cup (60 g) confectioners' sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- for the ramekins: nonstick cooking spray and cocoa powder
- optional toppings: ice cream, berries and/or chocolate syrup
Method
- Heat your oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray four 6-ounce ramekins and dust the insides with cocoa powder. (Or spray 6 cups of a 12-cup muffin pan; that makes 6 cakes.)
- Chop the 6 ounces chocolate roughly. Put the ½ cup butter in a heat-proof bowl, the chocolate on top, and microwave on high 10 seconds at a time, stirring between each, until it's completely smooth.
- In one small bowl, whisk the ¼ cup flour, ½ cup confectioners' sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt. In another, whisk the 2 eggs with the 2 yolks.
- Add both bowls to the melted chocolate and stir slowly with a spatula or wooden spoon until it's smooth. Expect the batter to be a little thick.
- Share the batter evenly between the ramekins and stand them on a baking sheet.
- Bake 12 to 14 minutes. The sides should look set and firm while the tops are still soft-looking. (A muffin pan needs about 8 to 10 minutes.)
- Let them stand for 1 minute. With an oven mitt on, put a plate upside down over each one and flip. Add toppings if you like and serve right away.
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June's tip: Use chocolate baking bars, not chips: chips give much less lava. Spray and cocoa-dust the ramekins so the cakes slide out.
Good to know: Use baking-bar chocolate, not chips, and pull them when the sides are firm but the tops still look soft.
Storage: the batter (through step 4), covered, up to 2 days in the fridge; bring it back to room temperature before baking. Baked cakes freeze up to 3 months; reheat in the microwave.
Adapted from Chocolate Lava Cakes, Sally's Baking Addiction. Amounts, temperatures and times follow the source; the steps are in our own words, and metric and °C conversions are ours. We check every amount against the source line by line. How we make our recipes.
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