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!
PrintChocolate 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):Â 6-Ounce Ramekins or 12-count Muffin Pan |Â 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.
Made these for my husband’s birthday last night! Perfect!
I love this recipe! I used a muffin tin and was a little hesitant to take them out after only 8 minutes since the top looked a bit liquid, but they ended up SO perfect. Love love love. Adding this to my list of go-to’s when I need a quick pick-me-up 🙂
I’ve always wanted to make lava cakes, but never did thinking it would be too difficult. These, however, were easy and delicious! Served with vanilla ice cream and made a quick raspberry sauce to drizzle on top. Thanks for another fantastic recipe, Sally!
We made this for dessert for our 44th wedding anniversary stay-at-home celebration. Wow!! Unbelievably luscious, rich, decadent. The perfect little dessert for our special day.
This recipe was perfect in terms of presentation and the molten lava-ness of the whole thing. However, it was little too bitter for me. I would’ve preferred it to be a little sweeter. I think next time I will either add more sugar or sub in milk chocolate or white chocolate. Any suggestions?
I’ve tried this recipe substituting the chocolate with white chocolate (and added 1 tsp vanilla extract) and it worked very well!
Superb and easy to make
These were perfect! I followed the recipe exactly and they were an excellent addition to our cruise-from-home formal night! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Sally, thank you so much for this recipe! As a chocohalic, chocolate lava cakes are one of my favourite desserts, so I was very happy to successfully make these myself. It was actually much easier than I thought it would be. My whole family absolutely loved them!
My boyfriend is more devoted to white chocolate so I wanted to try to make a white chocolate version of this lava cake. I’m happy to let you (and other readers) know that this recipe worked excellently with white chocolate as well. I simply replaced the chocolate with white chocolate and added 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Also topped it with chocolate covered strawberries and some salted caramel ice cream on the side – I actually ended up preferring it to the chocolate version!
Thank you once again, I look forward to continue trying more of your recipes as I’ve never been disappointed 🙂
So yummy!! I just made these for my birthday today and it was just me so I’m looking to freeze the rest. Would you recommend freezing them individually? Would a freezer bag work?
Also, should I thaw before reheating in the microwave or can I do that from frozen?
I love all of your recipes and was so happy with these lava cakes!
Hi Katie! I usually individually wrap each and place into a freezer-friendly container. Reheat in the microwave until warm.
Hello! I tried your recipe yesterday and it was INCREDIBLE. Although i think i might have missed the correct baking temperature. I preheated the oven to 425F but when baking i lowered it to 350F. Should i bake the cakes at 425F next time?
I’m so happy you enjoyed them, Catherine. Next time, yes, keep the oven at 425.
I love this recipe but I have one problem. I’m not sure if it’s me or my dry ingredients but there has been a few times where my cakes didn’t rise and they were grainy and collapsed when I flipped them over even with allowing them to cool
I’ve tried hundreds of lava cakes recipes and failed every single time, but this recipe changed my life. They come out PERFECT every single time. So satisfying! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
Easy and delicious! Making it for a second time right now and bookmarked this page. Thank you!
Hi Sally, would a Hershey chocolate bar work for the chocolate?
Hi Andrea! No, you need pure baking chocolate such as Bakers or Ghirardelli brand. They’re sold in 4 ounce bars in the baking aisle.
I love all the recipes from here but this one just didn’t really turn out. I bake this for my family and it ended up to be dry. It kind of tasted like a brownie but with out any flavor. Also the cake didn’t gush out any chocolate and I was very disappointed. I love all the recipes from here but this one is the exception.
Hi Miranda! If the lava cakes taste dry, they are likely over-baked. If you ever decide to try the recipe again, bake for a few minutes less.
This is now my go to dessert for dinner guests. I make them in a muffin tray. I typically cut the sugar by half but serve with a bit of freshly whipped cream and a dusting of icing sugar. Rave reviews every single time. Thanks for another winner, Sally.
Hi sally, just made these lava cakes today for an afternoon treat with my 2 best friends. They were soooo delicious. Very easy to make and never thought I could make desserts like these. You are my kitchen angel. Thank you so much for empowering me to take a chance.
Ditto to all reviews….. made me like a seasoned baker! and very easy (just my speed). Keep those great recipes coming!
I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, and these turned out great!
It was the best thing I have made and I am only ten.
Hey Sally, just wanted to say that I’ve never really been that big of a baker. I discovered your site a while ago and decided to try some of your recipes because they were so fun and seemed so delicious! I now bake 2-3 of your recipes every weekend and regularly check your site for new ideas! My partner also approves, as he’s always my test subject! Thank you for all you do!
PS – will also be trying this lava cake recipe tonight! SO excited!
The first time I made chocolate lava cakes was last year from a different recipe. It was good but not as much chocolate inside. I lost that recipe and couldn’t find it again. Since I pretty much learned how to bake using your recipes I decided to try your recipe today. It was absolute perfection. My friend that doesn’t really care for sweets was scraping the chocolate from her plate lol I’m very grateful now that I lost that other recipe. Thank you so much.
I make SO many recipes that I get from online, however, for some reason I never leave reviews. Shame on me! BUT… I could not NOT leave a review for these lava cakes. OH. MY. WORD.!!! I made them for my mom’s birthday/Valentine’s day and they were absolutely to die for. I followed the recipe to a T and even did a few with the peanut butter in the middle, which I highly recommend! I tested them using the muffin pan and made them for real using ramekins and both ways worked perfectly. Muffin pan took 10 minutes and ramekins took 13 minutes. Served with a little vanilla ice cream and some strawberries… amazing recipe, Sally (per usual!) Thank you!!!
Another winning recipe from Sally. Made exactly as written. So simple and so delicious.
Can you use this recipe to make one large on in a baking dish instead or ramkins or muffin tins?
No, this particular recipe needs to be in small serving sizes to get the desired texture. You can make my Triple Chocolate Cake in a 9×13 inch pan (see recipe notes) or if you want something even fudgier see my new recipe for Flourless Chocolate Cake.
Loved these! Turned out great. I used muffin tins instead of ramekins and that was more than enough for dessert. Very rich and chocolaty. I’ll have to try the peanut butter lava cakes next time.
Hello! I’m planning to make this recipe but I’m wondering what will happen with the cakes if they sit one day? Could they dry out or something? (I would like to make them for my parents but they live a bit far, so I have to make the cakes the night before I’m traveling home)
Thank you!
Hi Nora, I do not recommend letting these sit at room temperature. You can prepare the batter in advance or freeze the baked cakes – see recipe notes!
Hi Sally,
Thanks for putting up this amazing recipe. My family and I enjoyed it so much! I am new to this blog but I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
This recipe did not work for me. The cakes were dry and had way too much chocolate. We took a few bites and through them away.
My son requested chocolate lava cupcakes for his 16th birthday (New Year’s Eve). I made them at his request for a previous birthday, but couldn’t remember which recipe I had used. I chose yours this time around because it had simple steps and few ingredients. It was so quick and easy to put together, and they taste great even warmed up! This will be our recipe from now on. Maybe he’ll make them for my birthday. 😉