Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

February 27, 2014June 4, 2020 - Sadia Mohamed

Looking for a gooey, moist and intense chocolate treat? Then try this extremely decadent Chocolate Lava cake that boasts of a lovely super moist devil’s food chocolate cake combined with the richness of chocolate fudge. Top it off with some creamy vanilla ice cream and a 2 ingredient Magic Shell Ice Cream topper, and you have yourself one praise-worthy dessert.

I’ve tried several recipes for Molten cakes before, but none have been as good as this one. Unlike the normal lava cakes, these get stuffed with chocolate ganache/chocolate fudge sauce and i can definitely say that it makes them about a billion times better. It actually does, I’m not kidding!! Moreover here you don’t have to worry about the critical oven temperature and baking time to get the perfect cakes.

So isn’t this the perfect recipe? I do think so. All thanks to my dear friend Sadiya Gafoor. Yeah, she is my name twin. 😉 She is actually an encyclopedia of cakes, desserts and all things chocolate, i guess. She did a lot of research and trials on lava cakes and finally she concluded that this is THE best method to get THE perfect ooey gooey cake. Thanks a loot dear. Muuaahz!

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that you can freeze them too. The recipe makes about 20 small cakes if you are making them in a ramekin or exactly 24 of them if you are using muffin tins. If you don’t need them all at once just freeze the rest for later. All you need to do is warm them in a microwave oven for 20-30 seconds at the time of serving. Isn’t that great? You can be prepared if unexpected guests show up at your place just anytime.

So here goes the million dollar worth recipe with the step by step instructions. Enjoy!!!

For Cakes:
Makes 20-24
Recipe courtesy: Maria of Maria’s Menu

1/2 cup (113 gms) butter( room temperature)
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream (low fat or full) -can be substituted with yogurt or cream mixed with a tsp of yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2-oz (57 gms)dark chocolate
1 cup water( boiling)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/180 C and lightly grease two 12-cup muffin tins or ramekins.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add half of flour mixture to the butter mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla extract, followed by the addition of the rest of the flour mix. Stir well between each addition and mix until no streaks of flour remain.
4. Stir the cocoa powder and the dark chocolate into the boiling water. Pour chocolate water into the rest of the batter and stir until uniform.

5. Evenly distribute batter into prepared baking cups. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed.
Turn cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely before filling.

For the hot fudge sauce:
Makes 1 1/2 cups
Recipe courtesy: Sadiya Gafoor

1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1teaspoons vanilla

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
2. Over medium heat, combine milk, butter and vanilla until the butter has melted. Add dry ingredients to the milk mixture, constantly whisking. Boil, stirring constantly until thick and smooth, about 5 or 7 minutes. Cool and refrigerate unused portion.

For the magic shell:
Recipe courtesy: Shawn of iwashyoudry

1/2 cup coconut oil
12 oz. (340 g) semi sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate or dark chocolate

1. In a large (microwavable) measuring cup or bowl combine the coconut oil and chocolate chips.
2. Microwave in intervals of 30 seconds at 50% power, stirring in between until smooth. Took me 3 intervals to reach the perfect consistency.
3. Drizzle over ice cream and let sit for 30-45 seconds to harden.
4. Store in an air tight container at ROOM TEMPERATURE. (The Magic Shell may harden slightly, but just microwave for a few seconds till it is liquid again.)

Assemble:
Thanks for the idea Sadiya! 🙂

1. Let cakes cool for 10 minutes in pan, then take a knife and loosen the edges. Carefully remove cakes from the pan, and place on a wire rack to cool.
2. Then take a knife and slice the ‘dome’ off the top of the cakes, so they are flat. Once the tops are flat, turn the cakes upside down. Using a sharp knife, cut out a 1-inch circle out of the center of the bottom (now the top) of each cake. The hole should be at least 1-inch deep. Scoop out the chunk of cake and discard. Repeat this process with all the cakes.

3. Spoon 2 Tablespoons of hot fudge into each of the holes in the cakes.
4. When ready to serve, take one cake and place on a microwave-safe plate. Heat for 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and top with one big scoop of vanilla ice cream, then drizzle on Magic shell. Serve and enjoy!

Notes:

✔️ Store the cakes in a sealed container in the freezer and you can store them for up to 2 months.
✔️ If you feel lazy to prepare the chocolate cake from scratch, choose the easy way and use 1 box of devil’s food cake mix or just any chocolate cake mix for that matter.
✔️ You can also skip making the hot fudge at home and make use of Hershey’s ready made hot fudge.