This rich chocolate cake has a melting fondant centre – it’s a showstopper of a dessert! Find out how to make it, as well as how to get your hands on my latest dessert cookbook.

Family baking: Decadent chocolate lava cake

This rich chocolate cake has a melting fondant centre – it’s a showstopper of a dessert! Find out how to make it, as well as how to get your hands on my latest dessert cookbook.

Many years ago, I went to a fancy restaurant for my birthday and ordered the chocolate cake for dessert. It had a delicious crispy outside, and the most wonderful centre. When you dug your spoon into it, all this melted chocolate flowed out and mingled with the vanilla ice cream on the plate. It was heavenly!

When I got home, I told myself that I’d learn to make this type of cake myself, and after a bit of trial and error in the kitchen, here we are! I hope you love this spectacular dessert as much as I do.

You might think I’ve put this cake under the wrong category, but I absolutely see it as a family baking classic. My kids love the melting centre and say it’s like watching a volcano erupt!

Author: Iman Osman

Ingredients

Units Scale

Here’s what you need to make this delicious lava cake

8 eggs, whites and yolk separated into two different bowls
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar (1/2 tsp for each bowl of eggs)
60g butter at room temperature (and extra for greasing the cake tin)
200g bittersweet chocolate, chopped
30g all-purpose flour
Cocoa powder and powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

My decadent chocolate lava cake recipe

Prepare a 24cm removable base cake tin with butter and dust with cocoa powder. Preheat the oven to 180°C
Melt the butter in a small saucepan until it melts. Once melted, remove from heat and add in the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a few minutes and stir until the chocolate melts. Set aside to cool
Take the bowl of egg whites and add the vanilla sugar/extract. Using a handheld electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat on high speed until the egg whites form meringue-like stiff peaks. Clean the whisk attachment to get rid of any egg white residue
Take the bowl of egg yolks and add the vanilla sugar/extract. Use the handheld electric mixer to whisk the egg yolks on high speed until pale yellow with lots of bubbles. Switch to slow speed and mix in the flour, followed by the butter and chocolate mixture. Make sure the mixture has cooled down so it doesn’t cook the egg yolks
Stop the mixer and use a spoon or spatula to gently fold in the egg whites
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 20 minutes. The edges of the cake should be firm, while the centre should be soft
Carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool and serve as soon as possible. Dust with cocoa powder and powdered sugar, and serve with whipped cream or ice cream. Yummy!

This cake will last up to two days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

Making chocolate lava cake: my top tips

It’s important not to overmix the cake batter; otherwise your lava cake will sink in the middle! Mix the ingredients until they are blended together, and then stop
When mixing the egg whites, your bowls must be as clean as possible. Even a little grease can stop your egg whites from forming stiff peaks
This type of cake is always best served warm to take advantage of the gooey chocolate centre. Reheat in the oven or microwave, and enjoy!

Check out my dessert cookbook for more tasty family baking ideas

If you’ve never made a chocolate lava cake before, I definitely recommend giving it a try. You don’t need a lot of ingredients, and it only takes about forty minutes to prepare and bake.

Plus, if you’re scared of separating eggs into whites and yolks, this recipe will fine-tune your skills! (Here’s another handy hint: The fresher the eggs, the easier they are to separate).

If you give this recipe a go, I’d love to hear your thoughts. And remember, if you’re a fan of luxury cake recipes, you’ll find lots of delicious ideas in my new dessert cookbook.