These mini chocolate molten lava cakes have a rich chocolate cake with an oozing chocolate ganache center! They're the perfect romantic dessert for Valentine's Day, a birthday, or date night!
Some recipes for chocolate lava cakes just have you undercook the cake so that the "lava" center is really just undercooked cake batter. However, a molten chocolate ganache center is the superior way to make them! With ganache you don't have to worry about the middle getting overcooked, the center will always be runny!
You might also like these mini chocolate chip cookie skillets or this red wine chocolate cake!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make these mini chocolate lava cakes!
Espresso powder - This is optional, but I love how espresso powder enhances and deepens the chocolate flavor! King Arthur is my favorite brand of high quality espresso powder!
Heavy whipping cream - This is for the ganache but you can also substitute whole milk + 1 tablespoon of butter.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
What type of chocolate to use in this recipe?
I always use either semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate baking bars when making chocolate ganache because they are designed to melt smoothly! Chocolate chips contain added emulsifiers that cause them to not melt as smoothly, so they aren't the best choice for ganache.
Some of my favorite baking chocolate bars are:
- Guittard - This is my number one choice! It's super high quality, affordable, and pretty easy to find. You can usually get it at Whole Foods or Target.
- Vahlrona - This is the chocolate that a lot of pastry chefs swear by! It's usually hard to find in stores, but comes in a ton of different forms.
- Callebaut - This is amazing chocolate that comes in block form, but is usually much harder to find but Whole Foods and Costco usually have it as do specialty stores.
- Scharffen Berger - I've never actually tried this brand but I've heard a lot of great things about it.
- Ghirardelli - The most affordable and widely available baking bars that are still high quality! I always have either their semi-sweet or bittersweet baking bars on hand.
Note: If you don't want to make the ganache, you can substitute Lindt chocolate truffles! Just pop a few in the fridge for an hour and use in place of the ganache.
Topping Suggestions
These chocolate molten lava cakes are delicious on their own, but even better when dressed up with a few simple toppings! You can use:
- Powdered sugar or cocoa powder
- Whipped cream
- Vanilla ice cream
- Fresh berries
- Chocolate shavings
How to Make Chocolate Lava Cakes
Finely chop the dark chocolate and add to a microwave safe bowl along with the heavy cream.
Microwave in intervals of 20 seconds, until the chocolate is fully melted and smooth.
Chill in the fridge for at least an hour, or until the ganache is firm enough to be shaped into balls.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Prepare your 6 ounce ramekins by greasing with butter and then lightly dusting the inside with flour. Be sure to tap out the excess.
Finely chop the dark chocolate and add to a large microwave safe bowl along with the butter. Microwave in intervals of 30 seconds or until melted. Let cool slightly.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Then slowly whisk into the chocolate mixture.
Add in the flour, espresso powder, and salt and mix until just combined.
Fill the prepared ramekins about ⅓ of the way full.
Then place a 1 tablespoon ball of ganache into the middle of the batter. Top with more batter until the molds are ⅔ of the way full.
Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes or until the cakes are set.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 2 minutes.
To remove, place a small plate on top of the ramekin, then flip over and gently tap the base until the cake slides out. [Instead of removing from the ramekins, you can also just grab a spoon and dig in!]
If desired, dust the cakes with powdered sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream and fresh berries.
Recipe FAQ's
Yes! Store chocolate lava cakes in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave for 30-60 seconds to make the center melty again.
Yes! For the cakes, halve everything and just use 1 egg + 1 egg yolk instead. For the ganache, it's difficult to make super small quantities so I would keep that the same and just use the leftover ganache however you like!
You can use leftover chocolate ganache a variety of ways (or just eat it with a spoon).
- Filling for chocolate macarons or cupcakes
- Roll into balls and then roll in cocoa powder or crushed Oreos for easy homemade truffles
- Reheat it in the microwave and use to drizzle over ice cream or dip strawberries in it
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More V-Day Recipes You Might Like!
- Heart Shaped Strawberry Hand Pies
- Dark Chocolate Fondue Board
- Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes
- Red Wine Chocolate Cake
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Recipe Card
Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes (with ganache center)
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Chocolate Ganache
- 4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
- ¼ cup heavy cream, or whole milk
Lava Cakes
- 8 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder, optional
- pinch kosher salt
Top With
- powdered sugar
- vanilla ice cream
- fresh berries
Instructions
Chocolate Ganache
- Finely chop the dark chocolate and add to a microwave safe bowl along with the heavy cream.
- Microwave in intervals of 20 seconds, until the chocolate is fully melted and smooth.
- Chill in the fridge for at least an hour, or until the ganache is firm enough to be shaped into balls.
- If you don't want to make the ganache, you can substitute Lindt chocolate truffles! Just pop a few in the fridge for an hour and use in place of the ganache.
Mini Lava Cakes
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Prepare your 6 ounce ramekins by greasing with butter and then lightly dusting the inside with flour. Be sure to tap out the excess.
- Finely chop the dark chocolate and add to a large microwave safe bowl along with the butter. Microwave in intervals of 30 seconds or until melted. Let cool slightly.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Then slowly whisk into the chocolate mixture.
- Add in the flour, espresso powder, and salt and mix until just combined.
- Fill the prepared ramekins about ⅓ of the way full. Then place a 1 tablespoon ball of ganache into the middle of the batter. Top with more batter until the molds are ⅔ of the way full.
- Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes or until the cakes are set.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 2 minutes.
- To remove, place a small plate on top of the ramekin, then flip over and gently tap the base until the cake slides out. [Instead of removing from the ramekins, you can also just grab a spoon and dig in!]
- If desired, dust the cakes with powdered sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream and fresh berries.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Nicola says
I used the Lindt balls instead of making the ganache and they turned out perfectly!