Skip to content
Search My table 0 Subscribe
0

Chocolate Lava Cake for Two

Chocolate lava cake for two makes two small chocolate cakes with a runny middle, baked in ramekins. Just chocolate, butter, eggs, sugar and a spoon of flour, and about 18 minutes from start to finish.

Written by Xhulio · Updated
Jump to the recipe
A chocolate lava cake turned out on a cream speckled plate, with a wedge cut from the front and the glossy molten chocolate center running out

This chocolate lava cake for two makes two small cakes, one ramekin each. It takes about 18 minutes, 10 to get everything ready and 8 in the oven.

Let’s start making lava cake, or if you like videos better, here is my video.

Is lava cake just undercooked cake?

Pretty much, and on purpose. The oven is at 450°F (230°C), 100°F hotter than for my chocolate cake with strawberry and cream cheese. The outside sets fast, and the cakes come out before the middle has time to cook.

A baked lava cake in a white ramekin, with a spoon lifting out the soft, runny middle

That’s also how Jean-Georges Vongerichten says he came up with it, in New York in 1987. He pulled a chocolate sponge cake out of the oven before it was done, and liked the warm, runny center. By the 1990s it was a fixture on high-end restaurant dessert menus in the US.

In France, Michel Bras says he made his in 1981, but his has a frozen ganache center. This recipe is the Vongerichten kind, a plain batter baked for a few minutes in a very hot oven.

With ice cream

Lava cake is usually served with a scoop of ice cream, some fresh fruit and a dusting of powdered sugar. Here it’s vanilla ice cream, with a few raspberries or strawberries if you have them.

More desserts

If you like desserts you turn out of a ramekin, try my crème caramel, a vanilla custard baked over caramel. My flourless chocolate souffle is also made for two, but it’s light and puffy instead of runny.

Dessert FrenchAmerican

Chocolate Lava Cake for Two

Chocolate lava cake for two makes two small chocolate cakes with a runny middle, baked in ramekins. Just chocolate, butter, eggs, sugar and a spoon of flour, and about 18 minutes from start to finish.

Written by Xhulio Tested in my own kitchen
Prep time
10 min
Cook time
8 min
Total time
18 min
Servings
2 people
Calories
535 kcal
Course
Dessert
Cuisine
French, American
Cooking for
2 people
Units

As written.

Ingredients

0 of 10 ticked

You'll need

  • Ramekins (2, or a muffin tin)
  • Heatproof bowl and a saucepan (for the double boiler, or use the microwave)
  • Mixing bowl
  • Whisk (or a hand mixer)
  • Spatula
  • Baking sheet
  • Small sieve (optional, for the powdered sugar)

Instructions

  1. Preheat and prepare

    • Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C).
    • Butter the ramekins generously, then dust lightly with flour or cocoa powder.
    • This prevents the cakes from sticking when inverted.
    • Turn them over and tap out the extra.

  2. Melt the chocolate and butter

    • Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl.
    • Melt them together using a double boiler or the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth and glossy.
    Pieces of chocolate and soft butter in a glass bowl set over a steel pot, before they melt

    A double boiler is a heatproof bowl set over a pot of hot water. That’s how I melt them in the video.

    • You need
    • 3 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
    • 4 tbsp unsalted butter

  3. Whip the eggs and sugar

    • In another bowl, whisk the egg, yolk, sugar, and a pinch of salt until thick and pale yellow.
    • This adds air and lightness to the cake.
    • Then whisk in the flour until just combined.
    • You need
    • 1 large egg
    • 1 large egg yolk
    • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
    • salt
    • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour

    New to this? How to Separate Egg Yolks from Egg Whites

  4. Combine the mixtures

    • Gently fold the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.
    • Be careful not to overmix.
    • If you’re using the vanilla or espresso powder, stir it in now.
    • You need
    • vanilla extract or a dash of espresso powder

  5. Fill and bake

    • Divide the batter between the two ramekins and place them on a baking sheet.
    • Bake for 6–8 minutes, until the edges are firm but the center is still jiggly.
    • Don’t overbake them. That’s the key to the molten center.

    Pull them while the middle still jiggles.

  6. Invert and serve

    • Cool for 1 minute.
    • Run a knife around the edges, place a plate on top of the ramekin, and flip.
    • Wait 10 seconds before lifting off the ramekin.
    • Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you like.
    • You need
    • powdered sugar
    • vanilla ice cream

Notes

Start checking them at 6 minutes. Once they’re out, don’t let them sit in the ramekins longer than the minute in step 6, because the middle keeps cooking.

Nutrition per serving

Calories
535 kcal
Protein
7 g
Fat
40 g
Carbs
43 g
Fiber
3 g
Sugar
36 g
Sodium
50 mg

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central, without salt (a pinch), vanilla extract or a dash of espresso powder (optional), vanilla ice cream (optional topping), powdered sugar (for dusting, optional).

Ju bëftë mirë!

Watch the video Save on Pinterest

Video

Rather watch me do it?

The whole recipe, start to finish, is on my channel. Subscribe and the next one finds you.

Subscribe on YouTube Or follow on Instagram

Questions

Questions about chocolate lava cake for two

What is chocolate lava cake made of?

Chocolate, butter, eggs, sugar and a little flour. Those five are the classic ingredients. This one also has a pinch of salt, and a splash of vanilla if you want it.

Is lava cake safe to eat?

The runny middle isn’t fully cooked, so neither is the egg in it. For dishes with undercooked eggs, the FDA’s advice is to use pasteurized eggs. That matters most for children, older adults, pregnant women and anyone with a weak immune system.

What is another name for lava cake?

Molten cake, molten chocolate cake, chocolate fondant or volcano cake. In French it’s also called chocolat coulant, which means flowing chocolate.

How long do you bake a chocolate lava cake?

For this recipe, 6 to 8 minutes at 450°F (230°C). The edges will look set and slightly puffed, while the center should still jiggle when gently shaken.

Can you make lava cake batter ahead of time?

Yes. Fill the ramekins, cover them and keep them in the fridge for a few hours, or freeze them for a few days. Let them sit out while the oven heats up. Cold batter can need a few more minutes in the oven.

Can you make lava cake without ramekins?

Yes, in a muffin tin. Grease each muffin cup well and dust with cocoa powder or flour. The cups are smaller than ramekins, so they bake faster and you need to keep an eye on them. Use a thin spatula to gently loosen the cakes and invert them.

How do you store and reheat lava cake?

They’re best right out of the oven, while the middle is still runny. Leftovers go in the fridge and keep 3 to 4 days. Microwave them in short bursts, just until warm, or the middle bakes all the way through.

Is this like the Domino’s choco lava cake?

It’s the same idea, a chocolate cake with a warm, runny middle. Domino’s added Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes to its US menu in 2009, and Domino’s India sells a Choco Lava Cake. This one you make at home, from scratch.

Goes with

What else goes on the table

Your turn

Did you make it?

Your rating
Tap a diamond to rate it.

No comments yet. Be the first to tell me how it went.

Show me the inside

Take the photo and tag @xhuliocooks on Instagram so I can see how yours turned out.

Follow @xhuliocooks