Chocolate Lava Cakes with a Molten Centre

Break through the thin crust with a spoon and warm chocolate flows from the middle. These little chocolate cakes need just a few ingredients – and a timer for the final minutes.

Recipe video

Chocolate soufflé or lava cake?

The molten centre makes this dessert closer to a lava cake than a classic soufflé. There are no separately whipped egg whites: the whole egg is mixed with the other ingredients. A short bake keeps the centre soft.

Chocolate and moulds

Use dark chocolate with 70% cocoa for a rich chocolate flavour. Thoroughly butter two ovenproof moulds about 9 cm in diameter. I once tried a silicone mould and the cakes fell apart when I turned them out, so I stick with firm moulds here.

How long should lava cakes bake?

Fully preheat the oven to 210 °C fan. In my previous bakes, about 8 minutes left a very runny centre, 10 minutes left a smaller molten middle, and around 12 minutes gave a soft, moist centre. These are guides: the mould size and material and your oven affect the result. The edges should be set while the centre still looks soft.

Serve warm

Carefully loosen the edges with a knife and turn the cakes onto plates. You can also eat them straight from their moulds. I like fresh raspberries and a little icing sugar alongside.

Kitchen tip

If you have not used these moulds and this oven for the recipe before, bake one cake as a test. Just one extra minute can make the centre noticeably firmer.

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Easy recipe

Chocolate Lava Cakes with a Molten Centre

Chocolate lava cakes for two with 70% dark chocolate. Includes a video and baking-time tips for a molten centre, ready in 30 minutes.

Prep time

20 min

Cook time

10 min

Yield

2 servings

★ 4.6 · 8 ratings

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Ingredients

− 2 +

• 30 gbutter
• 50 gdark chocolate, 70% cocoa
• 30 gflour
• 30 gsugar
• 1egg
• 8 gvanilla sugar, 1 sachet
• 1 pinchbaking soda
• butter for greasing

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Instructions

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1. Fully preheat the oven to 210 °C fan. Thoroughly grease two ovenproof moulds about 9 cm in diameter with a little extra butter.
2. Melt 30 g butter and 50 g 70% dark chocolate over a hot but not boiling water bath. Stir until smooth and let cool slightly.
3. Mix the egg with the sugar and 8 g vanilla sugar. Briefly mix in the flour and baking soda, then stir in the lukewarm chocolate mixture.
4. Divide the batter equally between the moulds. Bake on the middle shelf for about 8–10 minutes, until the edges are set but the centre is still soft. At around 12 minutes the centre is usually barely molten. The exact timing depends on the oven and moulds.
5. Carefully loosen the edges and turn the cakes onto plates, or serve directly in the hot moulds. Decorate with raspberries and icing sugar if you like. Enjoy warm.

Nutrition per serving

Calories

421 kcal

Protein

6.8 g

Carbohydrates

42.1 g

Sugar

25.2 g

Fat

25.3 g

Saturated fat

14.5 g

Fibre

3.1 g

Salt

0.3 g

Data source: USDA SR28

Recipe: Corinna · kitchensplace