Chef John’s Chocolate Lava Cake

  4.2 – 238 reviews  • Dark Chocolate

There are no pickles in this crowd-pleasing potato salad, which is thick, moist, and eggy. 40 servings are produced.

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Additional Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins
Servings: 4
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  1. butter as needed
  2. 2 egg yolks
  3. 2 eggs
  4. 3 tablespoons white sugar
  5. 3 ½ ounces chopped dark chocolate
  6. 5 tablespoons butter
  7. 4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  8. 3 tablespoons flour
  9. 1 pinch salt
  10. ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Generously butter the inside of 4 (5 1/2 ounce) ramekins. Place them in a casserole dish.
  2. Whisk together egg yolks, eggs, and sugar in a bowl until light, foamy, and lemon colored.
  3. Melt chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring after each melting, 1 to 3 minutes.
  4. Stir melted chocolate mixture into egg and sugar mixture until combined.
  5. Sift cocoa powder into the mixture; stir to combine.
  6. Sift flour and salt into the mixture; stir to combine into a batter.
  7. Stir vanilla extract into the batter.
  8. Transfer batter to a resealable plastic bag. Snip one corner of the bag with scissors to create a tip.
  9. Divide batter evenly between the prepared ramekins; tap gently on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
  10. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
  11. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
  12. Arrange the ramekins in a casserole dish. Pour enough hot tap water into the casserole dish to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
  13. Bake in the preheated over for 15-18 minutes. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
  14. Loosen the edges from the ramekin with a knife. Invert each cake onto a plate and dust with powdered sugar.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 394 kcal
Carbohydrate 32 g
Cholesterol 241 mg
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Protein 7 g
Saturated Fat 16 g
Sodium 207 mg
Sugars 10 g
Fat 29 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Sherri Cummings
I find if you add just 1/8 teaspoon of coffee extract, it punches up the flavor a lot.
Maria Hancock
I need to make adjustments. Followed exact instructions and it wasn’t gooey in the center, but it tasted good.
Jennifer Howard
They came out exactly the way they should have ! I didn’t have powdered sugar but were delicious without . Chef John can do no wrong !
Frank Santiago
OMG! We often get the lava cake at Chili’s and love it. Everyone said this one was BETTER!!
Kristin Farley
It was easy but I used 56 percent chocolate
Bethany Stewart
It was really good but no matter how many times we did it we couldn’t get any lava.
Damon Guzman
It’s simple to explain how good this is: There were 6 of us so we doubled the recipe and it yielded 7 servings…we had to draw straws to figure out who got to eat the last one! Needless to say, we can’t wait to make this again!
John Willis
Outstanding! This was my first time making lava cakes. It was fairly easy and I only had to buy 1 ingredient- the dark chocolate bar. I let mine bake for 17 minutes. It was soft in the middle but not runny.
Jack Matthews
these are so good i’m barking like a dog
Bethany Marshall
I’m a beginner and hardly ever bake and I followed the directions to a t and my wife thinks I’m a pro now.
Abigail Mason
I absolutely love anything Chef John does, and this video is a classic. He is so funny, witty, and makes each recipe approachable for cooks and bakers at every skill level. This one is no different. I’ve followed it several times with perfect results. My favorite video is his deviled egg one—if you’re a fan, you’ve gotta watch it. Too funny. Fellow lava cake makers, use this one with confidence,,
Katie Chaney
I made a double recipe (6 cakes), with 7 oz of 70% dark artisan chocolate bars, and Belgian powdered chocolate. I forgot to add the water to the dish that I placed the ramikens in until they had cooked for 10 minutes, then added the water and cooked for an extra 4 minutes. They turned out great – everyone loved it served with Vanilla ice cream.
Ashley Hill
This was so rich and delicious! It’s definitely a once-a-year treat. I need more single-serving glass dishes so everything comes out at once. I used different sizes and they had different cooking times.
Beverly Medina
I love Chef Joh’s recipes but this was awful. Dry and didn’t look anything like the picture. I followed the recipe exactly and even went over it several times to make sure I didn’t leave anything out.
Henry Williams
It was not the best recipe. No lava no cake brownie and gooey. No won’t make again. I followed this recipe to the last step.I’m an accomplished cook. I was disappointed.
Daniel Fox
Amazing recipes! I will definitely make it again
Jessica Stanton
Extremely smooth and decadent! Easy and perfect for Valentines Day. I had to bake it longer than 18 mins.
Adam Estrada
Thanks, Jeff John. I watched the video and it was helpful. Followed the directions and measured carefully. The little cakes came out very pretty and the center was soft as expected. Note this is a bittersweet dessert. In our family, some of us felt we needed a few berries (Chef shows this ) or vanilla ice-cream on the side, to soften the bittersweet taste just a bit. Also, I recommend sticking to the small size ramikens recommended because it is a rich dessert. Enjoy!
Alicia Freeman
These came out perfectly!!! And our dinner guests really enjoyed eating them on a cold fall evening!
Kimberly Carpenter
so mine didn’t come out but after watching Chef John’s video, I should have whisked my eggs, they should probably have been at room temperature,and not jumbo. operator error. try, try again
Jennifer Christensen
if you used a small muffin pan, no water bath and have a gas whirlpool stove. 8min @ 400°F is too much. will come out like cake. it was tasty, my 8yr/o loved it still. next time I will probably just do 4min.

 

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