This easy recipe makes two chocolate lava cakes. This small but rich dessert is a real treat. You only need a muffin tin and nothing else.
– 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the tin – Cocoa powder or additional flour, for dusting the tin – ⅓ cup quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips or 2 ounces chocolate, chopped into small piece – 2 large eggs (we’ll use 1 yolk and 1 full egg) – 2 tablespoons sugar – ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract – Pinch of salt – 1 teaspoon flour (whole wheat, all purpose or gluten-free flour blend) – Suggested garnishes: Powdered sugar, strawberry or vanilla ice cream, fresh sliced strawberries or whole raspberrie
If baking these lava cakes immediately, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (see notes for make-ahead option). Butter two cups of your muffin tin (one on the centre outside edge, one on the opposite).
Refer to photos and coat well. Then add cocoa powder to buttered cups. Turn and tap the tin over the sink to lightly powder the cups. Set aside the tin.
Melt the butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl that can handle microwave heat. You can also melt it slowly over low heat on the stove and then take it off the heat.
Stir the chocolate into the bowl until melted (if it won't melt on its own, gently warm it in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring after each, or over very low heat on the stovetop). Set aside.
Crack one egg and pour the white into a bowl; discard or use later. Another medium-to-large mixing bowl for the yolk. Add the second egg to the yolk bowl, white and yolk. Add sugar, vanilla, and salt.
Whisk the mixture for 1–2 minutes until foamy and pale. Pour egg mixture into chocolate. Add flour. Fully combine by whisking. Split the mixture between two muffin cups.
With enough mixture, fill them to the top (discard any excess). Bake until cakes rise from cups but still jiggle in the centre, 5 minutes. Place the muffin tin on a heat-safe surface and let cool for 1 minute.
Meanwhile, find two raised-rimmed dessert or appetiser plates. Place plates upside-down over each cake—this is tricky. Grab the plates and tin with both hands while wearing oven mitts.
Flip everything and place plate sides down on the counter. The lava cakes should release easily when the tin is lifted. If desired, garnish.
Serve right away! Covered cakes that are left over can be kept in the fridge for a few days. The texture will change, but the cakes should still taste great.