Name: Lava Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (make sure they are high quality); 1/4 cup heavy cream; 1 tablespoon butter; 10 tablespoons butter ((1 stick + 2 tablespoons)); 2 (4-ounce bars) bittersweet chocolate (8 ounces total*); 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt ((use 1/4 teaspoon table salt if that's all you have)); 1/4 cup all purpose flour (spooned, leveled, and sifted); 2 large eggs; 3 large egg yolks; 1/4 cup granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon soft butter (for greasing the ramekins); 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (for dusting the ramekins); powdered sugar (for dusting on cakes); raspberries; strawberries; vanilla ice cream; Whipped Cream; Hot Fudge Sauce; Salted Caramel Sauce

Chocolate Lava Cakes are featured on thousands of menus across the country for a good reason! An intense chocolate cake is slightly underbaked, revealing a surprise ganache center when you cut into it. There is something about molten chocolate that speaks to us, as humans. This is my favorite recipe for these 40 minute beauties! Easy, simple ingredients make it perfect for impressing guests or loved ones for Valentine’s Day!

A close-up of a chocolate lava cake with melted chocolate oozing out, topped with a fresh strawberry. The dessert is served on a plate with a spoon and raspberries nearby.

Charlotte, who is about to turn 15, out of nowhere: “Mom, sometimes I want to use corded earbuds… because they go with my outfit.”

Me: “I’m sorry what now??”

Charlotte: “Oh yeah. It’s a whole thing. Even if you aren’t listening to them, just having them hang out of your pocket is a statement.”

Sometimes I try to remember what life was like when I was 15. Did I know the equivalent fashion nuances of 2002?? I guarantee you, I did not. Do I now?? Questionable. I need a fashion fairy godmother guys. (Plot twist, I believe she has come to me in the form of a teenage daughter.)

But I don’t know if I can trust her, at least for my demographic. Just recently I was coworking at a coffee shop with my friend Jackie. We both had stuff to do so we had our computers out. I was listening to music with my CORDED EARBUDS. During a break, Jackie mentioned it. Suddenly the guy eavesdropping at the table next to us was like, yeah, I’ve been silently judging you about that. WHAT EVEN, GUYS

A twist of the knife for you: when I go running, I don’t use earbuds of any kind. I play music out loud on my phone, that innocent bystanders have to hear for 30 seconds as I run past them. I may as well bust out the 1980s boom box.

A rich chocolate lava cake with molten center, topped with whipped cream and fresh raspberries, sits on a white plate with a fork and scattered raspberries nearby.

I lava you, lava cake

Today we are talking Lava cakes! Who hasn’t ordered a lava cake from a chain restaurant?? Or even from a fancy restaurant? I heard a quote from a chef once, that there always has to be a chocolate option on a dessert menu, because people will riot if there’s not. (I know I do) Chocolate lava cakes check all the boxes.

✔️ They are not just chocolate, but
✔️ intense chocolate.
✔️ Gooey
✔️ Rich
✔️ Over the top
✔️ Leave you feeling happily maxed out

Close-up of a chocolate lava cake with a molten center, topped with fresh raspberries and a halved strawberry. A fork is breaking into the cake. In the background, there are more strawberries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

My favorite lava cakes have ganache

Traditionally, a lava cake is just an underbaked tiny cake. It’s baked at a really high temperature for a short period, so the outside is baked and the inside is nothing but raw batter.

I tried several recipes like this. Guys, I’m just not into it. The hot raw batter is too…eggy? Gooey but not chocolate-y enough? I felt like it was missing flavor. (I was not worried about egg contamination—the lava cake center is baked hot enough to make it safe to eat, even if it’s still liquidy.)

The solution? A ganache center. The flavor just can’t be beat. I promise it doesn’t take long, and the results are incredible. I still like to slightly under bake my cakes to get a little bit of uncooked center, that mixes with the melted ganache and creates Chocolate Lava Level 1000. It is SO good, so rich, and incredibly satisfying. I’m so excited for you to try them!

Lava cake success:

I made dozens of lava cakes trying to see what I liked. These tips below are what made the biggest difference in baking the BEST cake, not just an average one:

My recipe has a ganache center that is not traditional but has MUCH better flavor; don’t skip it!
Don’t over bake these cakes! Lots of details on this below! My biggest piece of advice is to test one cake by itself to see how your oven bakes, and to see how gooey YOU like your cake to be.
They’re ridiculously fast to make, you can have this done in 40 minutes.
My cakes are small: only 4.5 ounces. Any bigger and the cake is too overwhelming to finish!
Serve with garnishes, it makes a huge difference for not only presentation, but flavor! Ice cream, whipped cream, fruit, etc.

A close-up of a chocolate lava cake with melted chocolate oozing out, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a fresh strawberry, surrounded by more strawberries and raspberries on a plate.

Important ingredients

This is a pretty straight forward recipe, but there are a few key ingredients that are important to talk about:

high quality semi-sweet chocolate chips are the main ingredient in the ooey gooey ganache filling, which is of course the main event in these cakes! Get the good stuff, you can thank me later.
heavy cream is another essential part of the ganache. Don’t substitute any percentage of milk, and definitely don’t use coffee creamer! You need the thickness of the cream to get the right consistency.
bittersweet chocolate is not the same as semi-sweet and you need this super dark flavor for the cakes!! This type of chocolate is most commonly found in 4 oz bars rather than chips, and you’ll need two bars. Notes in the recipe if you want to use high quality bittersweet chocolate chips!

How to make lava cake

A variety of baking ingredients including flour, heavy cream, vanilla, brown sugar, chocolate chips, butter, eggs, and a bar of 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate arranged on a counter.

Here’s the lineup! Nothing crazy here, you don’t need fancy ingredients to make lava cakes. The one thing that’s important is to get high quality chocolate. Yes, Nestle counts as high quality! What I want you to avoid are store brand labels (Great Value, I’m lookin at you) that are made with chocolate liquor instead of real cocoa butter. Nope, nope, nope. Use the real stuff for this recipe.

Two images: The top shows a white bowl with chocolate chips in cream. The bottom shows the same bowl with a spatula and a pat of butter on top of the melted chocolate and cream mixture.

Add your chocolate chips to a cereal bowl and pour the cream over the top. Zap it in the microwave in 30 second increments, ONLY until you notice bubbles on the edge of the cream.

Two images: the top shows a white bowl with cream and chocolate partially mixed using a spatula. The bottom shows the same bowl with the mixture now blended into smooth, glossy chocolate ganache.

Take it out, add some butter, then whisk till smooth. Pop it in the freezer while you make the cake batter.

Now it’s time to get started on the batter. Add your high quality bittersweet chocolate and some butter to a bowl.

Two photos: The top shows chunks of dark chocolate and butter in a glass bowl. The bottom shows the mixture melted and smooth, being whisked with a metal whisk. Both bowls are on a marble countertop.

Back to the microwave. Do the 30 second increments again. Stop microwaving when there are still a few lumps of chocolate left. Then whisk until smooth. The chocolate will keep melting and eventually become smooth. If you heat it too much it could scorch, which would be tragic!! You can also do this process in a double boiler, but who has a double boiler? Not this girl.

Add some brown sugar, vanilla, and salt into the melted chocolate mixture. Whisk it up.

Two images show a hand adding ingredients to a bowl of melted chocolate with a whisk. The top image shows vanilla extract being added; the bottom image shows salt being sprinkled onto the mixture with brown sugar.

Then add in the flour. But there are RULES! Make sure you spoon and level the flour. That means, use a spoon to add flour to the 1/4 cup measuring cup, then level off the top with a knife. Then, add the flour to the batter through a strainer, so that it’s sifted. We don’t want any flour lumps in these cakes!

Two images: The top shows flour being sifted into a bowl of chocolate mixture; the bottom shows the mixture whisked into a smooth chocolate batter in a glass bowl.

Mix it up, then set the batter aside for a minute. We need to beat the eggs.

Add 3 yolks to a mixing bow.

Two images show a metal mixing bowl. The top image has four cracked eggs inside; the bottom image shows the same eggs with added sugar being poured in.

Then add two whole eggs and some sugar. Whisk it for a full 3 minutes, until it gets light and fluffy, like this.

A whisk lifts thick, pale batter from a metal bowl, and in the next image, the batter is being poured from the bowl into a glass bowl of chocolate mixture with a spatula on a marble surface.

Add the beaten up eggs into the chocolate and flour mixture.

Top image: A bowl of light and dark batters being swirled together with a spatula. Bottom image: The two batters fully mixed into a smooth chocolate mixture with a spatula resting inside the bowl.

And here she is! The final batter. It’s thiccc. Try not to eat it all. Toss it in the fridge for a couple minutes while we finish the ganache and prep the ramekins. We don’t want WARM cake batter going in the oven (room temp is fine. Just not hot.)

The ganache that we put in the freezer should be almost solid by now. Use a butter knife to score it into 6 sections.

Top: A white bowl filled with sliced, smooth chocolate ganache. Bottom: A hand holding a rolled chocolate truffle ball, with a green spoon and remaining chocolate mixture in the background.

Then use a small rubber spatula, a spoon, or your hands to scoop out 1/6 of the ganache and shape it into a ball. It should be about the size of a walnut. (Do you know how big a walnut is? I feel like this is a classic size-marker for small round things, but who sees whole walnuts on a regular basis?? We need a new thing)

Anyway. Make 6 of ’em. Throw them back in the freezer. We want the ganache hitting the oven when it’s as cold as possible!

Top: A white bowl with five chocolate dough balls and a spoon, smeared with chocolate. Bottom: A hand with red nail polish pressing plastic wrap over a small square of butter, beside three empty white ramekins.

Now it’s time prep the ramekins. You need a LOT of butter on these dishes!! Don’t skimp! You need these cakes to come out without breaking, so we need a thick layer of butterrrrr yum. Use a ziplock if you want, or just your bare hands to go au natural. It’s a great moisturizer, too. Kidding. maybe

Three small white ramekins greased with butter on a marble surface; in the second image, spices are being sifted into one ramekin while the others remain empty nearby.

Then, dust the ramekins with cocoa powder. You can do flour if you like, but cocoa is prettier and tastier on the final cakes!

A hand holds a small white ramekin coated with cocoa powder. Below, two more ramekins are similarly coated, sitting on a marble surface near a butter wrapper and a stick of butter.

Again, don’t skimp. You want it completely dusted.

A small white ramekin filled with chocolate cake batter sits on a digital kitchen scale, displaying a weight of 3.5 ounces; another ramekin is blurred in the background on a white surface.

Then, add in the batter. You can see here that I added about 3.5 ounces of batter (this is not including the weight of the ramekin.)

A chocolate soufflé in a white ramekin sits on a digital kitchen scale displaying 4.43 ounces, on a marble countertop. Another ramekin and a mixing bowl are partially visible in the background.

Then, add one ball of ganache to the center, which made it 4.3 ounces. (this is a 4 ounce ramekin)

Top image: A hand pressing into the center of a chocolate soufflé in a white ramekin. Bottom image: A spoon scooping out some of the rich chocolate soufflé. Both images are on a light-colored surface.

Press it down, then add another spoonful of batter on top to make sure it’s even and the ganache is covered. The final weight of the cake will be about 4.5 ounces.

Top: Four ramekins filled with chocolate soufflé batter on a white surface. Bottom: The soufflés baking in white ramekins in an oven, rising and forming a fluffy, golden-brown top.

Now, it’s time to bake! Guess what, I baked these in my air fryer!! We are renovating and I don’t have an oven right now. I also tested them in my neighbor Susie’s regular oven, so either one will work. Times were about the same. Look at how high they rise up! So fun.

Four baked chocolate soufflés in white ramekins cooling on a metal wire rack, seen from above. The soufflés have risen tops with a slightly cracked, rich brown surface.

I like to bake these until they are nearly matte across the top, meaning there is only a small shiny spot on the top of the cake. These cakes above were baked a couple minutes too long. (The ganache ball on that cake on the top right above didn’t get pushed down far enough, that’s why there is a hole)

A woman with blonde hair leans over a kitchen counter, smiling and looking at two chocolate soufflés in white ramekins on a baking tray. The kitchen has wooden cabinets and a refrigerator in the background.

Here’s another photo of me contemplating my baked cakes 🤣 Susie took this photo after I tested the cakes in her oven. You can see that these cakes still have a spot in the center that is shiny—not quite matte, and it’s indented a little. This is a perfectly acceptable time to take them out of the oven.

The truth is, the amount of time you bake these cakes is kind of up to you.

I prefer a mostly-baked cake with a rich melty ganache center, so, nearly matte top. But as I explained, a traditional lava cake is just an under-baked cake with raw batter in the center (and no ganache at all). So if you like a REALLY liquid-y center, all you have to do is underbake the cakes a little, and you will get all the ganache, some raw batter, and a cooked edge. I recommend taking notes on what times you prefer from your own oven!

Chocolate soufflés in white ramekins are cooling on a wire rack. In the second image, a hand is placing a plate over a ramekin to invert the soufflé.

Once you take the cakes out of the oven, set a timer for 3 minutes. Then, place a plate over a cake and flip it over with a kitchen towel (a thin towel works better than hot pads, for gripping) Count to 10, say a prayer, and lift off the ramekin.

A hand using a cloth to invert a white ramekin onto a plate, then removing the ramekin to reveal a chocolate lava cake. Other ramekins with cakes are on a cooling rack in the background.

Voila! Look at this beauty! Just wait till you cut inside…

A close-up of a molten chocolate lava cake with a gooey chocolate center, topped with vanilla ice cream and a strawberry, surrounded by fresh raspberries and a spoon scooping the dessert.

Garnishes are kind of everything for chocolate lava cakes, so don’t skimp. Ice cream or Whipped Cream are essential. Berries really help to cut the sweetness. And a dusting of cocoa or powdered sugar makes it so pretty. You can also serve these with even more Chocolate Sauce or Salted Caramel Sauce if you really want to go over the top!!

How to make lava cakes ahead of time

These lava cakes are an amazing make ahead dessert! It will work best to either refrigerate or freeze UNBAKED batter, then bake them right before serving. Since these cakes have a ganache center, they’re less likely to turn into “just cake” after a reheating, but there is more potential for the cake drying out. Freezing or refrigerating the batter in prepared ramekins allows you to bake the cakes and eat them fresh, with all their lava glory, when you want them.

Prepare the ramekins as outlined in the recipe card. (You can add a circle of parchment paper to the bottom before buttering/dusting with cocoa powder if you’re really worried about sticking). Cover each ramekin tightly in plastic wrap. If you plan to bake within 24 hours, store them in the refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrap, and bake per the original instructions.

Unbaked batter in ramekins can also frozen for 1-2 months. Add the wrapped ramekins to a freezer ziplock bag in one layer, using as many bags as needed to fit them all. Thaw the ramekins in the refrigerator for 12-18 hours, then follow the same baking instructions as above.

A rich chocolate lava cake with a gooey molten center is topped with fresh raspberries and a halved strawberry, served on a white plate with a spoon and more berries on the side.

How to store leftover cake

Storage is a piece of cake (ha!) Let the cakes cool completely, then put them in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator. They’ll last for a good 2-3 days there. If you need to store any for longer than that, follow the freezing instructions below in the next section. Reheat individual cakes in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes at 50% power until warm all the way through. To reheat several cakes at once, you can place them on a lined baking sheet and warm them in a 350 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes.

If you need to freeze leftover cakes, place them on a lined baking sheet, flash freeze for 30 minutes, and transfer to a ziplock freezer bag. You can thaw one at a time or all of them in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter for a few hours. Once thawed, reheating instructions are the same as above.

Let them eat cake

I am sooo picky about cake, you guys. It better be amazing if it’s going to be worth eating! You can trust that these are all the best tasting, and MOIST cakes. Check out some of my faves!