Mini Lava Cakes

Closeup on a molten lava cake with a red raspberry on top.

5 from 8 votes

These Mini Lava Cakes are rich, indulgent, and perfectly portioned, with warm molten centers that flow with every bite. This small batch recipe is incredibly simple to make and makes the best dessert for small dinner parties or date night!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate lava cakes, mini lava cakes, molten lava cake

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 11

Total Time 26

Servings servings

Calories 575kcal

Author Zach Ringsdorf & Kirsten Hahn

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate - rouchly chopped
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
raspberries, vanilla ice cream, and magic shell - to serve (optional)

Instructions

Prep for baking. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease your ramekins with butter. Be sure to spread butter into the corner of the ramekins to ensure a clean removal.
Melt chocolate and butter. Using a small pan or double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring almost constantly. Remove from heat.
1/2 cup unsalted butter, 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
Prep remaining ingredients. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and salt together until pale.
2 large eggs, 2 large egg yolks, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 pinch salt
Add in chocolate and flour. Use a spatula to gently fold in the melted chocolate and flour. Make sure the flour is fully absorbed in order to avoid clumping.
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
Bake. Pour batter evenly into prepared ramekins. Bake for about 11 minutes or until your liking (depending on your particular oven). The edges should look set and slightly puffed, while the centers still appear soft and slightly jiggly.
Rest Cakes. Rest cakes for just one minute. Then carefully run a knife around the edges (if needed), invert onto small plates, and lift off the ramekins. Use a towel to handle ramekins as they will still be hot!
Serve. Serve with fresh raspberries or strawberries and enjoy!
OPTIONAL: Instead of adding fresh berries as a garnish, you could add a scoop of ice cream followed by a chocolate shell, or just a dusting of powdered sugar. Try our Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Raspberry Ice Cream, or Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe!
raspberries, vanilla ice cream, and magic shell

Notes

These mini Lava Cakes are meant to be gooey. When baking, it's preferable to err on the side of undercooking rather than overcooking it. We want the cake to be melty and goopy. This is a cake that comes out of the oven, onto a plate, and into your mouth.
Oven temperature is KEY. When testing this recipe, I made sure I added extra oven thermometers to make sure the temperature was close to 450 degrees F. For me, the right baking time was 11 minutes but that might be slightly different for you, depending on your oven. I recommend testing this before serving it to guests.

Nutrition