Chocolate Lava Cake (Moelleux au Chocolat)
Your New Party Trick: Molten Cakes in Minutes
Chocolate lava cake – or Moelleux au Chocolat as we call it in Paris – is known for its tender cake exterior that gives way to a river of warm, molten chocolate. It’s the kind of dessert you order at a restaurant and secretly wonder if you could pull off at home. Spoiler alert: you absolutely can.
Chef Sarah’s showing you how it’s done, step-by-step, in the video below. She makes this recipe look effortless (and with her expertise, it actually is). You’ll learn how to prep your ramekins, how to achieve that perfect balance between cooked on the outside and molten on the inside, and most importantly, what to do right after they bake to keep that lava running perfectly.
This one’s rich, decadent, and totally worth turning the oven on for.
Chocolate Lava Cake (Moelleux au Chocolat)
A deliciously delectable dessert that has graced many a French menu for years. Easier than you think to make.
Ingredients
- 180 Grams Dark Chocolate (70%) (6.5 oz)
- 180 Grams Butter (6.5 oz)
- 6 Eggs (large)
- 180 Grams Sugar (6.5 oz)
- 90 Grams Flour (3.5 oz)
- 100 Grams Butter (for molds) (3 oz)
- Pinch per mold Fleur de Sel
- Parchment Paper (for molds)
Instructions
- Melt chocolate and butter together over steaming water till just melted and cool enough to touch the bottom of the bowl without burning your fingers.
- Beat the eggs and sugar about 3 minutes till light and creamy and sugar is dissolved.
- Pour warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture and mix till homogeneous.
- Stir in sifted flour and mix gently till all flour is incorporated.
- Butter 6 medium size ramekins and line each with cut up pieces of parchment paper (the paper should come up higher than the molds. Fill each with batter leaving a little less than a 1/4 margin, you can put a pinch of fleur de sel on top of each battered mold (optional) and bake at 200ºC/360ºF about 12 minutes, or until sides have fully risen, but center remains concave.
- Cool 5 minutes before removing from ramekins if using porcelain, or cakes will break. Free sides with paring knife and invert onto a plate. Silicone or disposable aluminum ramekins are ideal for an easy release.
- Serve with a scoop of crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Also goes nicely served with in-season berries.
For a real lava effect, drop a tiny pinch of chili pepper into the center of each ramekin before baking, 🙂 surprisingly good.
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