Chocolate lava cakes with their deliciously rich molten chocolate center come together with 6 simple ingredients. Ready in just 25 minutes, this surprisingly easy and quick dessert always impresses. If you don’t have ramekins, follow my instructions for using a muffin pan instead.
One reader, CB, commented: “Absolutely perfect! I made these for my family tonight and they were amazing. I included some raspberries, strawberries, and vanilla ice cream on the side. Perfect Valentine’s Day dessert! ★★★★★“
Today we’re making straight-up chocolate lava cakes. Even though peanut butter chocolate lava cakes are truly magical, I’ve received a lot of requests for a plain chocolate version.
Molten cakes are always a crowd favorite, and they’re infinitely better when made fresh at home. I included this recipe over on my Valentine’s Day dessert recipes page, but they’re just as rich and tasty without a holiday on the calendar. 🙂
Tell Me About These Chocolate Lava Cakes
- Flavor: There’s no doubt about it: rich chocolate is front and center in this lava cake recipe. They’re even more chocolatey than this reader-favorite chocolate cake!
- Texture: This lava cake pairs moist chocolate cake with an ooey-gooey molten center. Be careful not to over-bake these.
- Ease: The secret for making chocolate lava cakes? There is no secret. These lava cakes require zero complicated steps or special tools.
- Time: The best part about this recipe is that it whips up fast: Make a quick cake batter and bake in ramekins or a muffin pan. Then, serve immediately with your favorite toppings like ice cream, homemade whipped cream, or a drizzle of salted caramel. Dreamy!
If you prefer a gluten-free option, consider making this rich and fudge-like flourless chocolate cake.
In Short:
- Warm, rich chocolate cake
- Thick, gooey molten chocolate in the middle
- Quick and easy to make
- Only 6 ingredients
- No mixer required
- No cooling time!
Overview: How to Make Chocolate Lava Cakes
The full printable recipe is below, but let’s walk through it so you can see how easy these are to make.
Prepare four 6-ounce ramekins. Grease each ramekin with a little nonstick spray and a dusting of cocoa powder before filling with batter. This preparation helps the baked lava cake release seamlessly from the ramekin onto the plate for serving.
Make the chocolate cake batter.
Spoon the batter evenly into each ramekin, and bake. The high oven temperature cooks the outside of the mini cakes but leaves the center gooey. The tops may look somewhat soft.
Invert the ramekins. Carefully flip the freshly baked lava cakes upside down onto plates, and dig in while warm!
If 4 or 6 lava cakes are simply too many, try this 2-serving recipe for chocolate fudge cakes instead!
You Can Make These in a Muffin Pan Instead
I highly recommend using 6-ounce ramekins for these lava cakes—they’re the perfect size to make 4 of these single-serving portions. Plus, you can use the same ramekins for most custard recipes, chocolate fudge cakes for 2, chocolate soufflé, peanut butter chocolate lava cakes, and lemon pudding cakes.
If you don’t have ramekins, you can use a standard muffin pan. Grease 6 muffin pan cups and dust with cocoa powder to prevent the lava cakes from sticking. Because your lava cakes will be slightly smaller, you’ll get 6 lava cakes instead of 4. Bake at 425°F (218°C) for 8–10 minutes. Use a spoon to release the cakes from the pan and place each upside down on plates.
Optional Toppings
Once the warm lava cakes are inverted onto plates, the fun really begins! So many toppings pair wonderfully with these chocolate lava cakes. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Ice cream and/or whipped cream
- Raspberry dessert sauce or strawberry sauce
- Melted peanut butter or Nutella
- Salted caramel
- Mocha whipped cream from this flourless chocolate cake recipe
- Fresh berries
All of Your Chocolate Lava Cakes
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge!
Chocolate Lava Cakes
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 or 6 cakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Chocolate lava cakes with their deliciously rich molten chocolate center come together with 6 simple ingredients. Ready in just 25 minutes, this surprisingly easy and quick dessert always impresses. If you don’t have ramekins, follow my instructions for using a muffin pan instead.
Ingredients
- 6 ounces (170g) high-quality semi-sweet chocolate*
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (31g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks*
- optional for topping: ice cream, berries, and/or chocolate syrup
Instructions
- Spray four 6-ounce ramekins with nonstick cooking spray and dust with cocoa powder. This ensures the cakes will seamlessly come out of the ramekins when inverted onto a plate in step 7. Or spray half of a 12-count muffin pan and dust with cocoa powder. If baking in a muffin pan, the recipe will yield 6 cakes.
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Coarsely chop the chocolate. Place butter in a medium heat-proof bowl, then add chopped chocolate on top. Microwave on high in 10-second increments, stirring after each until completely smooth. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt together in a small bowl. Whisk the eggs and egg yolks together until combined in another small bowl. Pour the flour mixture and eggs into the bowl of chocolate. Slowly stir everything together using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. If there are any lumps, gently use your whisk to rid them. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Spoon chocolate batter evenly into each prepared ramekin or muffin cup.
- Place ramekins onto a baking sheet and bake for 12–14 minutes until the sides appear solid and firm; the tops will still look soft. *If baking in a muffin pan, the cakes only take about 8–10 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted plate and turn over. Use an oven mitt because those ramekins are hot! The cakes should release easily from the ramekin. *If you used a muffin pan, use a spoon to release the cakes from the pan and place each upside down on plates.
- Add toppings. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can prepare the batter through step 4. Cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Allow to come to room temperature (takes a couple hours) before continuing with step 5. You can freeze the baked lava cakes for up to 3 months. Allow them to cool completely before freezing. Reheat in the microwave.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 6-Ounce Ramekins or 12-count Muffin Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Baking Sheet
- Chocolate: Make sure to use high-quality chocolate, not chocolate chips. You won’t have much “lava” with chocolate chips. I always use pure chocolate baking bars (found in the grocery store baking aisle), such as Baker’s, Ghirardelli, or Lindt. They’re typically sold in 4-ounce bars, so you will need 1 and 1/2 bars total.
- Eggs: For this recipe, you need 2 whole eggs plus an additional 2 egg yolks. (Use the 2 extra egg whites in an omelet or in any of these recipes with egg whites.) After 10–14 minutes in an oven this hot, the eggs should be cooked to 160°F, which is considered safe to eat. If you’re concerned, you can take the temperature with an instant read thermometer to be sure.
Can I make one big 8” ramekin with this recipe? How long would I bake it?
Hi Mel, this particular recipe needs to be in small serving sizes to get the desired texture. You may enjoy our flourless chocolate cake recipe instead for a deliciously fudgy cake.
Is there anyway to go straight from the fridge with these instead of leaving out for a couple hours first? Trying to time out an event.
Hi Danielle, it’s best to let the batter come back to room temperature after storing in the refrigerator. You can also use the freezing option in the recipe notes if that works better for you. Hope they’re a hit!
Would it be ok to use the Ghirardelli melting wafers?
Hi Jamie, we don’t recommend using melting wafers in place of chopped chocolate bars here.
Hello, can you please advise why you have an asterisk at the end of two eggs: 2 large egg yolks*
To me it suggests thatyou had more to say about this in a note but I failed to find a note. I would love to use this for a dinner I am having in two days time. Thank you and thanks for your super recipes.
Hi Barbara, the asterisk indicates a corresponding recipe note, which comes in the section immediately after the written recipe. In this case, the note is: “Eggs: For this recipe, you need 2 whole eggs plus an additional 2 egg yolks. (Use the 2 extra egg whites in an omelet or in any of these recipes with egg whites.) After 10–14 minutes in an oven this hot, the eggs should be cooked to 160°F, which is considered safe to eat. If you’re concerned, you can take the temperature with an instant read thermometer to be sure.” Hope this helps!
Hi! I only have two 14oz ramekin dishes. Will these work for this recipe? If so, do I need to change the measurement of ingredients or baking time as they are larger in size?
Hi Kiki, It may be better to follow the instructions for using a muffin pan instead.
Hi is it possible to make these like mini cupcake size ?thank you
Hi Asheema, we haven’t tested it in mini muffin pans, but that should work. Bake time will be shorter than following the standard muffin pans. Let us know if you give it a try!
Perfect recipe. Included this dessert on the menu for my new restaurant in Siquijor and was looking for a quick and easy recipe. Works perfectly, not too sweet, perfect texture on the outside and the “lava” is awesome with melted vanilla ice cream. Keeping it traditional in terms of presentation, fits with our menu perfectly.
These are delicious, easy to make and doesn’t take long to and cook! Great for a quick dessert!
My kids were begging for lava cakes so we made our own. They turned out great, though I would have cooked them 1 more minute( baaed on my oven). They are super chocolatey, almost too chocolatey (and I love chocolate more than anything) but that’s just my opinion. If you have chocolate lover, they will not be disappointed by these rich, fudge, gooey, warm lava cakes. Thanks Sally – you are always our “go-to” for recipes.
Hey, the recipe was really good and the cakes came out really moist and fudgy! However, the chocolate did not use out when I cut them open. I think I may have done something wrong, perhaps I overcooked them?
Hi Lara, you’re correct, over baking sounds like the culprit here! For next time, you can try reducing the bake time by just a minute or two. Be sure that you’re using high quality chocolate, too—chocolate chips or candy bars won’t give you as much lava, since they contain stabilizers that prevent them from melting properly.
tried to make it and they came out super buttery/oily and not molten not sure where i went wrong but as i was mixing the chocolate with the flour the butter seemed to separate?
Hi Lisa, were the eggs completely whisked in with the chocolate mixture and flour mixture in step 4? You’ll want to slowly whisk until completely combined—if they start to separate, keep mixing until they come together. Or did you make any ingredient changes by chance? It shouldn’t bake in two separate layers, but rather come out as one small cake.
Super easy with magnificent results.
I deferred a tiny bit, I used 1/2 high quality dark chocolate and half nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips. The result was delicious. Thank you. Definitely on the “regular” list for me.
I love this recipe because it’s so quick and easy but produces something so fancy and delicious. It has really saved me when we have guests out of nowhere and I need something quick!
Perfect results! They look and taste a step above any ordinary dessert. Made these for my dear friend’s birthday, as it’s her favorite dessert and couldn’t have been more pleased. Because I have made other Sally recipes, I had the confidence to try this one. It doesn’t disappoint. Thanks!
Can I cut the recipe in half and make 2 instead of 4 cakes?
Hi Julie, it shouldn’t be a problem to halve this recipe. Or, you might enjoy these chocolate fudge cakes which make just two servings.
Hi, does this recipe really work if you make it in advance through step 4?
It worked perfectly for me: I made the batter in the morning, refrigerated it until 2-1/2 hours before baking time, to let it come to room temperature, as Sally states in the notes, and had perfect results.
This was so good! I had a celiac guest and I swapped the flour for cornstarch (same grams as flour) everyone raved about it. Will definitely make again
I made this recipe for friends last night and panicked about 30 seconds into heating up the chocolate when it said don’t use chocolate chips! Cooked for exactly 12 minutes and used nestle tollhouse chips and they turned out PERFECT! If you are like me and don’t read the recipe all the way don’t panic! It will still be wonderful. Thank you for this recipe!!
Would it be possible to make this recipe as a cupcake recipe instead?
Hi Bridget, Yes, there are instructions included for baking these chocolate lava cakes in a cupcake/muffin pan in the written recipe above. Hope you love them!
Been requested to make this for Mother’s day specifically with milk chocolate. Wondering if you’ve tested anything with this, if it should change the sugar content or cook time at all? I will definitely be buying quality baking bars and not chips, but I know I can’t get past the higher sugar/butter ratio in milk vs semi/bittersweet or dark. Thanks in advance!
Hi Tyler, using milk chocolate here shouldn’t be an issue, they will be sweeter.
I have made this recipe several times. They have turned out perfectly every time and my guests were very impressed. Thanks for your wonderful recipes.
Hello!
Can you use cocoa powder instead?
Hi Sahar, we haven’t tested a version of these using cocoa powder instead of the baking chocolate bars. We recommend sticking with the recipe as written for best results.
If I freeze these, should they be removed from the ramekins before freezing or leave them in the ramekin? I plan to reheat in a steam oven.
When freezing the baked lava cakes, either way will work.
Made these for a dinner party today. Doubled the recipe for 8 cakes and the recipe filled each ramekin with 4 oz of batter. Flavor was great and the lava flowed. I had confidence in Sally’s recipes and made this for dinner guests without a practice bake! I dusted the cakes and plates with confectioner’s sugar, topped with whipped cream, then a light dust of black cocoa. Of course the whipped cream started melting instantly, but was still wonderful.
Do you have any chocolate chip lava cookie recipes? All your recipes I’ve ever tried are amazing
Hi Savanna, We don’t but let us know if you find a good one!
I’ve made these four times in the last couple months. Every time with the Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips. It’s turned out great every time.
Oh! This cake was so rich and moist. It was delicious.
I made two batches yesterday. The first was a test batch and all 8 were gone within minutes. The second batch was delivered to a friend who was craving lava cake. She loved them and ate one for lunch today. I used a muffin tin and each batch made 8 cakes when batter was almost to the top of each muffin space. 7 minutes to bake worked perfectly for me but my oven runs a bit hot. Do not try to turn a muffin pan upside down to get the cakes out. They’ll come out but the middles will also start to ooze. Just gently lift with a spoon as the recipe says and flip them over right before serving. Excellent recipe and one I’ll revisit again and again.
Is this recipe easy to double?
Hi Cathy, Yes, the chocolate cake batter recipe can be doubled. Enjoy!
This recipe is AMAZING!! I absolutely loved it. It was moist and full of molten chocolate. Topped with vanilla ice cream, it was simply the BEST.