Chocolate Lava Cake
The moelleux au chocolat—that quintessentially French dessert of liquid chocolate centre encased in barely-set cake—requires precision masking as simplicity. It is pastry wizardry disguised as straightforward baking. The timing matters acutely. Thirty seconds too long and you have chocolate cake. Thirty seconds too short and you have soup.
This is the dessert that made a generation of restaurant-goers gasp when the centre flowed onto the plate. Yet at home, it demands little more than good chocolate, fresh eggs, and nerve. Use the best chocolate you can afford—at least 70 percent cacao—as there is nowhere for inferior ingredients to hide. The rest is temperature, timing, and faith.
Serve these immediately, still hot from the oven, with cold cream or vanilla ice cream creating thermal contrast. Watch your guests crack the surface with their spoons. Watch the molten chocolate spill forth. This is theatre, edible and ephemeral.
Ingredients
- 100g dark chocolate (70% cacao), chopped
- 80g unsalted butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 50g caster sugar
- 30g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, for dusting
- Double cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Generously butter two 180ml ramekins, then dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess. Place in refrigerator while preparing batter.
- Melt chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together whole eggs, egg yolks, and sugar until pale and thick—about 3 minutes. The mixture should fall in thick ribbons.
- Fold melted chocolate into egg mixture gently but thoroughly. Sift flour over the top and fold in until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Divide batter evenly between prepared ramekins. They should be about three-quarters full.
- Bake for exactly 12 minutes. The edges should be set but the centres will still jiggle slightly when gently shaken. This is correct—the residual heat will continue cooking them.
- Let stand for 1 minute, then carefully invert onto serving plates. The cakes should release cleanly. Serve immediately with a generous pour of cold cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside. Pierce the centre and watch the chocolate flow.
Nutritional Information
| Per Serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 580 kcal |
| Protein | 12g |
| Carbohydrates | 42g |
| Fat | 42g |
