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 (113g; 1 stick) 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 rubber 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 Muffin Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | 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.
Keywords: chocolate lava cakes
These were FANTASTIC! My wife and I loved them for Valentine’s Day I swapped 1:1 gluten free flour and they turned out amazing, beautiful crust on the outside and molten chocolate on the inside. Thank you once again for another amazing recipe!
★★★★★
Can you use silicone molds for the cakes?
Hi Cara, we haven’t tested these lava cakes in silicone molds but don’t see why it would be an issue.
I made your Lava Cake for dinner guests this evening, I served it dusted with icing sugar, ice cream and sliced strawberries. It looked amazing and tasted even better.
★★★★★
I made two batches of this tonight— one batch prepared as written and the other using gluten-free flour. Both came out of the cups easily and were exactly what I’d wanted. To serve, I sifted powdered sugar over them and topped with a few raspberries. Thanks for the recipe and great instructions!
★★★★★
I am planning to make these for Christmas Eve. I have 6 oz custard cups – do you think they will work like a standard ramekin would? If not, I will use my oversized muffin pans. Love your recipes and thanks in advance for your reply!
Hi Ginny, that should be fine!
Hi I just made this recipe and the “lava” was partially set. I presume this means I over cooked them? Really hoping to get the runny insides! Any advice?
Hi Tanya! Yes, a minute or two less in the oven should help for next time.
so good and my go to recipe for chocolate lava cake! just wondering, do you happen to have the macros for this recipe? i like to track my calories but i couldn’t find any info on the site. thanks again for this delicious recipe 😀
★★★★★
Hi egg, we don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Do you have cooking instructions for a convection oven? I would love to make these at work for my coworkers! This is a favorite in our house for special occasions
Hi Melissa, we bake with a conventional oven but if baking with a convection oven, we recommend you lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake. Hope they’re a hit with your coworkers!
I tried just now. They came amazing I used my muffin tray and the whole family lived it.. asking for the second batch..hehehe thank you for your recipe.
★★★★★
Hey Sally!
I really love this recipe and I’ve made it twice!
It’s just that the second time, the chocolate seized 🙁 Do you have any tips to recover the lava cakes?
Thank you so much!
Hi Naomi, I’m sorry to hear that your chocolate seized! This is a really helpful post about why it happens and how to save it: https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-fix-overheated-or-burnt-chocolate-521579 I hope your next try works out better!
I have no unsalted butter, so if I use salted butter can I exclude the salt added for the same effect?
Hi Euphrosyne, sure can!
How would you recommend adapting this for white chocolate? I have made these and loved them but but have some family members who prefer white chocolate. I know white chocolate has different milk content in it and melting considerations so appreciate any advice on how to adapt/experiment.
Hi Caroline, I haven’t tested this recipe with white chocolate before. However 1 reader commented the following: I’ve tried this recipe substituting the chocolate with white chocolate (and added 1 tsp vanilla extract) and it worked very well!
Can I use regular granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar for this recipe?
Hi Mena, we recommend sticking with powdered sugar for a light, fluffy cake.
I love this recipe and have one question, with the muffin pan, is there a shorter bake time and do you follow the same instructions of preparing it?
Muffin pan instructions are included in the recipe!
Made for my overseas guests by tripling the recipe and I was so worried that I wouldn’t get the lava center in each center. Mostly because I only was able to get 9 servings instead of 12 as I must have a generous scooping when I portioned each dish, and came up short. They took a few minutes longer, the first time I got pure liquid, and the second time when I tipped over the dish, it was perfect. Local homemade ice cream to go with it and it was a success. Everyone got lava. I never fail when I use your recipes. Thank you Sally!
★★★★★
I tried this recipe in the cupcake pan and it was phenomenal!!!
★★★★★
Very nice recipe. Could I use granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar.? I thought the. cake part was a bit dry and not as moist because of the cornstarch in the confectioners sugar. I did not overbake and
I just wanted the cake part a bit moister.
★★★★
Hi JR, we recommend sticking with powdered sugar for a light, fluffy cake. It’s easy to over bake these, so just try a minute less in the oven next time. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Have you ever made this recipe in the hadi-foil (aluminum foil) pans? I’m assuming grease really well (even better than a cupcake tin), right? My students are using this recipe as a final and I’m trying to minimize dishes needing to be cleaned.
Hi Mary, we haven’t tried it ourselves, but we imagine that should work as you suggest. Let us know how it goes!
This recipe changed my life
This recipe is no fail and delicious. One lazy day I used my mixer instead of a whisk and discovered to my pleasure that I can get enough batter to fill a muffin tin because the eggs get so airy and beaten.
I love reading the comments and seeing other peoples takes and ideas, I can’t wait to try the orange chocolate!
Thank you Sally!!
★★★★★
Hi Hilary, did you beat the eggs first then add the melted chocolate & butter mix then hand fold the dry ingredients? Thanks
This recipe is AMAZING! I am planning to make it again this weekend and wondering if I can double the recipe with success? Thanks Sally, I just love your recipes!
★★★★★
Can I do a mint one Want itv for my st pats dinner thanks
Hi Jan! We haven’t tested a mint version of these chocolate lava cakes yet – you could try adding 1/4-1/2 tsp peppermint extract (it’s white strong so add to taste) to the batter. Let us know what you try!
This is a keeper folks!! I tried quit a few lava cake recipes and they all left me very disappointed, but not this one. Super easy, super quick and the absolute best. Not too sweet, but with a very rich flavor.
★★★★★
I just got done eating these lava cakes, and I need a nap . Talk about indulgent! I used a bar each of lindt 90% and 85% dark chocolate, and added 5 Tbsp of granulated sugar to the melted chocolate to make up for the lack of sugar. I also added 1/2 tsp of espresso powder to the dry ingredients. They came out perfect in texture, albeit a tad bitter, but that’s my fault for using the chocolate that I used. I’ll definitely be making these again with semi-sweet chocolate. Great recipe!
★★★★★
This recipe was amazingly easy and amazingly delicious. I made the batter ahead and then kept it in the fridge until I was ready to bake. I made 1.5 batch and made 9 in a muffin pan. They came out perfectly. Everyone loved them! I will make these again!
★★★★★
Hi Sally, may I ask how do you make the lava cakes less dense and more light? I used confectioners sugar and I haven’t over mixed it, but it was a bit dense Also I love your recipes!
★★★★★
Hi Nicole, The powdered sugar should create a light, fluffy cake. It’s easy to over bake these, so just try a minute less in the oven next time. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
This recipe was amazing! Everyone loved it. I served with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.
★★★★★
Hi, I have a jumbo muffin tin that I suspect would work well as a substitute for the ramekins. If I want six of these instead of the standard sized muffins, I should increase every ingredient by 50%? Thanks!
Hi Abi, we haven’t tested it but other bakers have reported using a jumbo muffin tin with success – they should be about the same size (and bake time) as the 6 oz ramekins, though you can measure yours to make sure (will yield 4 lava cakes). You can make 1.5x the recipe for 6 cakes. Enjoy!
Thanks so much! I made this almost exactly as instructed, except for substituting 1/3 of the confectioners sugar with Swerve. Everyone loved them and the jumbo muffin tin worked perfectly to get 6 cakes! The one thing about the muffin tin is that it is tricky to deposit them onto plates for serving without potentially losing some of the “lava”. I think I will invest in ramekins for next time as they are useful for other things too. Thanks again for the excellent recipe, and for all the excellent recipes I’ve gotten from your website over the years!
★★★★★
I’m about to try this recipe, but in response to the comment by Abi about using muffin tins, I thought maybe to use a cooking tray on top of the muffin tray then flip over to release the cakes. I’m going to try that and see how it goes.
Hi! Love this recipe! I have made it three times and always a success. The frozen cakes – should I let them come to room temperature before heating it in the microwave or can I reheat it straight from the freezer?
Hi Dora, you don’t need to bring to room temperature first. You can simply reheat these in the microwave until warm.
What if you wanted to make them orange flavored? Would you just add in a bit of orange juice and zest or would you need to substitute some of the liquid out?
Hi Dina! We’ve never tested an orange version of this recipe – sounds delicious. Adding orange zest is a great idea, but adding orange juice would throw off the consistency of the batter. You could always try some extract as well. Let us know what you try!
I cheated and used really good orange infused chocolate. 🙂 Worked perfectly!
These are easy and amazing. Would they come out the same with milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet? Or at least partially milk chocolate?
★★★★★
That shouldn’t be a problem!
I don’t have a microwave – how else can I melt the chocolate
Hi Ritika, you can melt the chocolate on the stovetop!