Get ready for this easy 25 minute, gluten-free chocolate lava cake recipe, because it will blow your mind! Cut into it, and let the people you’re about to impress drool over the chocolate molten oozing out. An amazing recipe for family, friends, date nights and Valentines Day!
If you have never made chocolate lava cake, then you’re in for a treat. Once you cut into that cake and you see that molten inside, trust me, it’s an amazing feeling knowing that you produced that beauty! And I want you to experience the joy of being able to nurture people with this amazing dessert that you may be placing on such a high pedestal, so let’s get into it!
Is chocolate lava cake easy to make?
Have you ever made a cake, cupcake, muffin, or anything else that requires batter to be prepared and cooked? Well, guess what, you can absolutely cook this lava cake, and once you do, you’ll realise that it was never a dessert that “only fancy chefs make”. It really is as simple as, preparing the batter, and cooking it for the right amount of time so that you get the desired effect/result just like any baked dessert you’ve ever made.
So don’t overestimate or overcomplicate this dessert, just follow the steps, have a sense of care and attention of each step of the process and you will be absolutely fine.
Making sure they don’t stick
This was the only challenge I ran into and I actually had to make the recipe again because of this problem. Now, you could grease your ramekins or muffins tins with butter, then coat the butter with cocoa powder and dust off the excess, and then you’ll have your non-stick surface. However, even with this technique, I got a few lava cakes sticking a little bit, and because these lava cakes are delicate, I wanted to ensure that they won’t stick at all.
So you can use that method if you wish, however, with a bit of added love and care, you can make 100% sure that the cakes won’t stick by using baking paper. You just need to grease your ramekins with butter.
Then you use a pencil to trace around the bottom of the ramekin over the baking paper, cut out the circle stick it to the bottom of the greased ramekin.
You then cut out a rectangle that will fit snugly around the sides.
And before you add the batter, spray the baking paper with cooking spray.
I love this method because you’re 100% guaranteed that the lava cakes will turn out beautifully and they will not stick at all.
Can chocolate lava cakes be made in advance?
Yes, the batter can actually be made ahead of time. Feel free to make the batter and fill your prepared ramekins the day before if you want.
This can make your life much easier when trying to serve these lava cakes, especially if you have other savoury food to prepare as well.
Microwave Chocolate Lava Mug Cake!
So if you’re feeling lazy and you’d rather make a nice, super quick version of a chocolate mug cake. Then you can check out a recipe developed by Steph from A Grand Life. Here’s the link to her recipe: Microwave Chocolate Lava Mug Cake
I tried here recipe and this is the result I ended up with.
As you can see, the recipe worked beautifully! And it took no longer than 5 minutes to make.
So if you want the cheats alternative, this is the recipe I recommend. However, if you’d like to stick with the propper method, use my recipe.
Thank you so much for reading through my post, here is a list of other recipes similar to this one.
Valentines Strawberry Madeleine
Mint Chocolate Mousse with Booze Soaked Cherries
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I hope you all have an incredible day!

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake
Treat your guests, date, valentine etc. with this amazing lava cake. Soft and spongy on the outside with a beautiful gooey suprise on the inside.
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 110 g of dark chocolate chips
- 110 g of butter plus a bit extra for greasing your moulds
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ¼ cup of caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon of plain flour (gluten free flour if you're gluten free)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
Instructions
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Pre-heat your oven to 225 degrees Celsius. (435 degrees F)
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Grease your small ramekins moulds with the EXTRA butter.
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Trace a circle around your ramekin on some baking paper, cut out the circle and stick it to the bottom of the greased ramekin. Then cut a rectangle out of the baking paper as wide as the height of the ramekin and long enough to cover whole surface area of the sides (if you're confused, watch the video in the post). Then stick that rectangle of baking paper around the sides of the ramekin. Continue doing this with the rest of the ramekins.
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Once the ramekins are greased and lined, use the cooking spray to spray the baking paper. This will ensure the cake doesn't stick once baked.
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Put the chocolate chips and butter in a large bowl, then heat in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds at a time stirring on each occasion. Do this until the chocolate melts (don't just blast it in the microwave, because if chocolate gets too hot, it won't melt).
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Use an electric beater to beat the eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar together in a large bowl. Beat for a good 6-7 minutes until the mixture goes light, foamy and triples in size.
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From there, add your chocolate and butter mixture in 3-4 intervals, stirring through on each occasion.
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One the batter has been mixed well, add the cocoa powder, flour and your vanilla, then stir through one last time.
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Ladle your batter into the moulds and fill about 3 quarters of the way up. If you have made any mess around the edges of the moulds, quickly clean it up with kitchen paper. If you are using ramekins, put them on a baking tray first. Otherwise get your cakes in the oven on a rack in the middle (not too heigh, not too low) and cook for about 8-9 minutes.
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Once they are done. Carefully flip them out of the ramekins onto a plate, then peel the paper away.
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You can put a scoop of ice-cream on top if you wish, then serve straight away while hot.
Recipe Notes
- Make sure those lava cakes don't stick in the moulds, and this recipe should be a no-brainer. Make sure you spray the inside of the ramekins once greased and lined.
- If you don't have small ramekins, you can use a muffin tray instead.
- If you want to prepare these lava cakes in advance, then you can fill your ramekins with the batter, leave them in the fridge and cook them when you're ready to.
- Make sure you beat the eggs and sugar together until foamy and tripled in size.
- When you place your cakes in the oven to cook, make sure they are on a rack in the middle of the oven. Don't place them too height or too low.
- If you're looking for an even quicker, cheats version of lava cake. Then you should try the recipe made by Steph from "A Grande Life" I linked in the post.
The PERFECT dessert for valentines day! simple ingredients and easy to make, great recipe Nicolas
Thanks so much for the awesome comment Albert! Keep up the awesome work you are doing (:
Hi Nicolas
Your non-stick baking paper suggestion is really a life-saver. I have struggled with the flipping and cleaning way too many times now, though I have now started to do it right haha! And we have all thought about adding the oh so good Peanut butter to almost anything. You are not alone here mate!
Can’t wait to bake it.
Thanks Corrie, really appreciate the comment. If you do make these lava cakes let me know how it goes. I hope it works out well for you (:
It looks delicious! I’m sure it was worth the frustration 🙂
Thanks Eva! They most certainly were (:
These look amazing, and I’d rather have a chocolate centre than a peanut butter one anyway. I use baking paper all the time, it’s saved so many recipes! Thanks for sharing this
My pleasure! thank you for the lovely comment (:
Haven’t seen you post for a while! Glad you’re back!
These lava cakes look amazing, and what a gorgeous shot of that mug cake. On my list to try one day! Baking paper is such a lifesaver 🙂
These look amazing!
Thank you so much!
Sorry for not posting in a while, I am posting consistently again. I was caught up in other stuff. Thanks for the lovely comment and will be posting wontons this saturday.
You’re welcome!