3 Variations of Molten Lava Cake Recipes

I am obsessed with molten lava cakes. They are always my go-to for dessert.

I have gathered plenty of different recipes and tried them all, took notes on each one and reduced it down to my top favourites (I told you I was obsessed), but I couldn't justify settling on just one. So, I decided to create one post, but with many variations. And don't worry, I will be writing the differences between them otherwise it's a bit of a waste.

I've experimented by changing the recipe to more coconut oil ( runnier ) more flour ( lighter ) more chocolate ( gooier ), and whipping the egg whites ( spongier ).

So yep, I've tried it all.

So let's go onto the first one....

Out of all my testing and trying, these are amazing, They're healthy ( if you exclude the fact there's 40g chocolate in each one- but it's dark at least! ) but so decadent. One mouthful and you're transferred to heaven. It's rich, smooth, and gooey in the middle but firm and crisp around the edges. Are you hungry yet?

Even better, these go perfectly with ice cream. I make these quite bitter ( 85% dark chocolate ), so a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream...perfection.

Substitutions

Any time I say 'Coconut sugar', or 'Coconut oil', for example, you can replace it with butter or white/brown sugar.

Molten Lava Cake #1

Paleo Molten Lava Cake

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 80g dark chocolate ( 75% or higher )

• 30g coconut oil, melted

• 1 egg plus 1 yolk

• 1 1/2 tbsp coconut sugar ( or other sugar works )

• pinch salt

• 1tbsp almond flour ( or cacao powder )

• 1tbsp cacao powder, to sprinkle the ramekins

Method

- Preheat the oven to 350F/180 degrees celsius, fan. grease a muffin tray or ramekins, then sprinkle cacao powder over them to coat the inside.

- Whisk the egg, sugar and salt until frothy.

- Melt the chocolate and the oil until smooth then transfer to a cold bowl to chill it slightly.

- Beat the chocolate mix into the egg until the mixture thickens and turns glossy and smooth.

- Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and fold it in.

- Pour the batter into the holders and pop them in the oven to bake for 6-8 minutes. They should be firm around the edges but glossy and wobbly in the centre.

- Remove the cakes from the oven and tip them carefully out onto a plate. Let them cool for a couple of minutes before serving with a dollop of ice cream and a sprinkle of icing sugar!

Molten Lava Cake #2...

So this one is a bit thicker, like peanut butter, like how it gets stuck to the roof of the tongue? This one has a deeper cocoa flavour and is richer than the previous one and a perhaps more indulgent variation if you are not so health-concerned.

Spelt Lava Cake

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 84g dark chocolate ( 75% )

• 84g coconut oil, melted

• 2 small eggs ( about 90g )

• 50g coconut sugar or xylitol ( I used 25g sugar with stevia )

• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

• 1/2tsp instant coffee powder or extract, optional

• 20g spelt flour, sifted

• pinch sea salt

• butter

• cacao powder, to dust

Method

- Grease 2 ramekins with butter then sprinkle with the cacao powder and shake them about. Tip out the excess cacao powder. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c, fan.

- Melt the chocolate in bursts in the microwave or over a bain-marie. Once melted, remove from the heat and stir in the coconut oil until melted. Set aside.

- Whisk the eggs and sugar until foamy. Add in the vanilla and coffee extract and stir. Make sure the chocolate mix has cooled as we don't want to scramble the eggs then fold in the chocolate mix until thick, shiny and gloopy.

- Sift over the flour and sprinkle over the salt then fold until fully combined.

- Divide the mixture between the two ramekins and pop it in the oven for 10-15 minutes. It's hard to get it right the first time so it's a bit of trial and error but generally look for matte, slightly cracked cooked outside of the pudding shiny soft and gooey to touch in the centre.

- Remove from the oven and cook for a few minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream, a few leaves of mint, fresh berries, creme frâiche, and orange zest ( not all of them at the same time, or you can ! ).

Molten Lava Cake #3

Our next variation of Molten Lava Cake is my favourite, peanut butter...

So the cake itself is lighter than the previous one and has a more mellow taste which I think works well with the peanut butter so there are not too many overpowering tastes.

It's got a beautiful smooth and soft texture and is velvety in the mouth.

Salted Peanut Lava Cake

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 60g dark chocolate ( 85% )

• 60g coconut oil, melted

• 1 small egg

• 1 egg yolk

• 60g coconut sugar

• 15g spelt flour, sifted

• 2 heaped tsp peanut butter (you can use caramel sweets instead)

• Pinch salt

• butter

• cacao powder, to dust

Method

- Pop the spoonfuls of peanut butter into a square of tin foil and gently scrunch the foil around the caramel. Pop it in the freezer.

- Grease 2 ramekins with butter then sprinkle in the cacao powder. Gently shake the cacao powder around the inside of the ramekins. Tip out the excess cacao powder.

- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, fan.

- Melt the chocolate and coconut oil together over a bain-marie or in short bursts in the microwave, stirring in between bursts. Remove and allow to cool.

- Crack the eggs and egg yolks into a mixing bowl with the sugar and whisk with an electric whisk until thickened in volume and pale.

- Fold the chocolate mix into the eggs then add the flour and salt and fold to combine fully.

- Remove the peanut butter from the freezer and unwrap the two dollops.

- Divide the mixture between the two ramekins then dollop the frozen peanut butter blob in the middle. then pop the ramekins into the centre of the oven for 12-15 minutes, but I like to check after 10 as these cakes lose their appeal if they become overcooked!

- Serve the puddings as they are or with chocolate sauce and ice cream!