”You have to taste a culture to understand it.”

– Deborah Cater

Chocolate lava cake

Step by step video tutorial

Chocolate lava cake, which is also called chocolate coulant, molten chocolate cake, volcano cake or simply lava cake can be made in minutes.

Serving Size:
Makes 2 lava cakes
Time:
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 7 min
Difficulty:
Medium

Ingredients

  • 115 g (4 oz) dark, bittersweet chocolate
  • 20 g (1.5 tbsp) unsalted butter
  • 20 g (1.6 tbsp) sugar
  • 2 eggs (room temperature)
  • 20 g (2.5 tbsp) all-purpose flour
  • a pinch of salt
  • plus a little bit of butter and powdered sugar to prepare the ramekins

Equipment

  • I am using two 240 ml (8 oz) ramekins 240 ml. You can use different size ramekins and adjust the baking time.

Directions

  1. Set the oven to heat to 220° C or 465° F.
  2. Grease the ramekins generously with butter and coat the bottom and sides with the powdered sugar.
  3. Melt chocolate and butter on the stove in a water bath. Once they have melted, put aside to cool a little.
  4. Separate egg yolks from egg whites in two different bowls.
  5. Add sugar to the egg yolks and beat them with an electric mixer or using a whisk till they are light and foamy.
  6. Sift flour in the bowl with the egg yolks and add a pinch of salt.
  7. Make sure the chocolate/butter mixture is not hot and gradually add it to the egg yolk mixture.
  8. Put the batter in the ramekins, filling about two thirds as the cake will grow while baking.
  9. Bake the lava cakes for about 7 minutes till the sides of the cake start to slightly separate from the ramekin and the top looks cooked. Depending on your oven and altitude, as well as the size of ramekins, you might need to bake the cakes a little more or less.
  10. After removing from the oven, let the lava cakes cool for a few minutes.
  11. Run a knife around the edges of the cake to make sue it does not stick to the ramekin, flip it on a plate and enjoy!

Notes

  • For best results, measure ingredients with a scale. All recipes are made with weighed ingredients using grams. Cup measurements are provided for your convenience.
  • The lava cake is very easy to make. The trickiest in the process is to get the baking time right as it depends on several factors. You can bake 1 cake and see if you need a bit less or more time to have the runny chocolate lava inside the cake. Once you get the timing right, you can have an amazing dessert ready within minutes.