Molten Chocolate Lava Cake
Four small cakes with a crisp shell and a centre that pours when broken. Mix in one bowl, bake hot and fast.
Ingredients
- 100 g dark chocolate (70%), chopped
- 100 g unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 60 g caster sugar
- 30 g plain flour
- pinch fine sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- for greasing butter and cocoa powder
Method
- 00
Heat oven to 220 °C. Butter four 150 ml ramekins and dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess.
- 01
Melt chocolate and butter together over a bain-marie or in short bursts in the microwave. Stir smooth. Cool 2 minutes.
- 02
Whisk eggs, yolks, sugar, and salt until pale and thickened, about 2 minutes.
- 03
Fold chocolate mixture into eggs. Sift in flour and fold until just combined. Stir in vanilla.
- 04
Divide between ramekins. Bake 9–11 minutes — edges set, centres still soft and shiny.
- 05
Rest 1 minute. Run a knife around each edge, invert onto a plate, lift the ramekin. Serve immediately.
Notes from the kitchen
- ·Underbake before you overbake. A cake with a slight wobble at 9 minutes will be lava; one fully set on top is already pudding.
- ·Eat lava cake straight from the oven. Refrigerating kills the texture — the molten centre sets and the crumb dries out. Serve hot.
- ·Pair with crème fraîche, vanilla ice cream, or a few raspberries to cut the richness.
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