Rich, fudgy, and decadent molten cake fortified with and rum filled with a silky chocolatey filling. These impressive but easy to prepare cakes come together in less than 20 minutes and make the perfect Valentine’s Day dessert or when you need a quick-fix dessert.

If there are any drawbacks to making a molten lava cake, it would be all the crazy things I do to prevent myself from eating the whole thing. Yep!

I think I may have made false promises to myself to go vegan for a month and even instructed my girlfriends to call me stupid names to dissuade me from munching on these cakes. Crazy, huh? Well, that’s how much I love these cakes.

I cannot muster the willpower to stop at one. HELP, please!

But that doesn’t mean that I won’t be resharing this recipe with you. And this time, I’ve updated this post with much more drool-worthy photos (oh yesss!) and a video to get you into the mood before baking these.

I tell you, these cakes will get you weak in the knees.

What is Chocolate Molten Lava Cake?

My love for this cake began when I tried it at a favorite restaurant in Beverly Hills. I  remember thinking… “Mmmm, that is some dessert and you must be a chef to be able to make something so magical”.

Not long after this, I stumbled upon it again at Trader Joes in the frozen section. All I had to do was heat it up in the microwave and voila – molten chocolate cake at home.

Though delicious, the baker in me wanted more. After perusing through my cookbook and the internet, I came to the resolve that I would stop buying these cakes and start baking them so I can experiment with different ingredients.

This Chocolate Lava Cake recipe is all about the chocolate; so make sure you get the BEST because that is all you’re going to taste. In this version, I included rum in the cake to make it more exciting and intense. The chocolate I used is one of my favorite European chocolates.

How could anyone be tired of this warm, rich chocolate cake packed with a hot gooey, flowing chocolate interior? Plus, they’re super easy to make at home:

• no mixer required
• comes together in 8-10 minutes
• no need to wait for them to cool down
• it’s as easy as mix, dump, and bake!

Recipe Ingredients

And you also don’t need a long list of baking ingredients for this cake recipe. You basically need just 6 ingredients for this recipe, and the 3 are optional to add depth of flavor to our cake.

What you need are the following:

• dark chocolate
• milk chocolate
• butter
• all-purpose flour
• confectioner’s sugar
• eggs
• nutmeg
• vanilla extract
• rum

Ramekins and Muffin Pans

For this recipe, I like using my 4-oz ramekins, but you can also use a 6-oz or 8-oz (bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges begin to pull away from the ramekins and the center is jiggly). Now, if you don’t have ramekins at home, you can use your muffin pans. Make sure to dust your muffin pan cups with cocoa powder or grease it with a cooking spray or butter so the lava cakes won’t stick to them.

Make-Ahead and Freezing Instructions

Love to munch on something decadent any time you want? Great! You can make the batter ahead and just cover it tightly and store it in the fridge for 2 days. Allow it to come to room temperature before transferring it into the individual ramekins.

Or what you can do is bake them ahead, let them cool completely, before freezing them for up to 3 months. Make sure to put a label on the Ziploc bag.

How to Serve Lava Cakes

This is the fun part! Actually, you can serve these molten cakes as it is, or top them with any of these below:

• vanilla ice cream (my favorite)
• strawberry or any fresh berries
• a drizzle of chocolate ganache
• a sprinkle of powdered sugar
• caramel sauce (see my Homemade HERE)
• whipped cream (also see my Homemade Whipped Cream HERE)
• chocolate chips

You name it! There are tooons of ways on how to serve these decadent chocolate cakes here. 

More Chocolate Desserts

• German Chocolate Cake
• Chocolate Puff Puff
• Flourless Chocolate Cake
• Chocolate Malva Pudding
• Chocolate Rum Marble Cake

How to Make Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease 3 ” 6-ounce” or 4 “4-ounce” custard cups or small ramekins with a cooking spray or butter. Combine the chocolates and butter in a medium bowl, then microwave. If microwave is not your thing, then melt it in a double boiler over medium heat while stirring occasionally until melted.

Whisk in the flour and sugar into the chocolate mixture, making sure everything is incorporated. Stir in the eggs until everything is even and smooth. Add the vanilla extract, rum, and nutmeg. Mix well, scrape down the sides. Divide the mixture evenly among the custard cups. Bake for at least 8 -10 minutes. The cakes will rise slightly and will wiggle if you shake the pan slightly. Run a knife around the edges of the ramekins to loosen and invert the cakes onto dessert plates. Serve warm with ice-cream, whipped cream, strawberry, or powdered sugar.

Watch How To Make It

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This post was last published in March 2013 and has been updated with a new video, new photos, and additional write-up.

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Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

Rich, fudgy, and decadent molten cake fortified with rum and nutmeg and filled with a silky chocolatey filling. These impressive but easy to prepare cakes come together in less than 20 minutes and make the perfect Valentine's Day dessert or when you need a quick-fix dessert.

5 from 3 votes

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 10 minutes mins

Total: 20 minutes mins

American

Servings 3

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 (28g) oz dark chocolate
• ▢ 2 (28g) oz milk chocolate
• ▢ 5 (70) tablespoons butter
• ▢ ¼ (31.25) cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ ¾ (93.75g) cups confectioner's sugar
• ▢ 3 large eggs
• ▢ 1 (4.2g) teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 (15ml) tablespoon rum
• ▢ ½ (1g) teaspoon nutmeg (optional) for nutmeg lovers only

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease 3 " 6-ounce" or 4 "4-ounce" custard cups or small ramekins with a cooking spray or butter.
• Combine the chocolates and butter in a medium bowl, then microwave. If microwave is not your thing, then melt it in a double broiler over medium heat while stirring occasionally until melted.
• Whisk in the flour and sugar into the chocolate mixture, making sure everything is incorporated.
• Stir in the eggs until everything is even and smooth. Add the vanilla extract, rum, and nutmeg. Mix well, scrape down the sides.
• Divide the mixture evenly among the custard cups. Bake for at least 8 -10 minutes. The cakes will rise slightly and will wiggle if you shake the pan slightly.
• Run a knife around the edges of the ramekins to loosen and invert the cakes onto dessert plates.
• Serve warm with ice-cream, whipped cream, strawberry, or powdered sugar.

Tips & Notes:

1. You can use 4, 6, or 8-oz ramekins or a muffin pan. 
2. Make sure to dust your muffin pan cups with cocoa powder or grease it with a cooking spray or butter so the lava cakes won’t stick to them.
3. You may omit nutmeg, vanilla extract, or rum, but these three add a great a flavor profile in this lava cake recipe.
4. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 16-oz ramekin| Calories: 611kcal (31%)| Carbohydrates: 59g (20%)| Protein: 9g (18%)| Fat: 38g (58%)| Saturated Fat: 22g (138%)| Trans Fat: 1g| Cholesterol: 214mg (71%)| Sodium: 73mg (3%)| Potassium: 271mg (8%)| Fiber: 3g (13%)| Sugar: 44g (49%)| Vitamin A: 828IU (17%)| Vitamin C: 1mg (1%)| Calcium: 51mg (5%)| Iron: 4mg (22%)

Author: Imma

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

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