Chef notes
I love serving these warm, molten cakes with chocolate ice cream for that over-the-top chocolate dessert experience. These are also wonderful because they freeze easily for baking at a later date.
Technique tip: Don't over bake the cakes! You won't have a true chocolate lava cake if you cook the cakes more than 18 minutes. Adding the caramel in the bottom of the ramekin is great to ensure that even if you over bake them, there will still be some liquid goodness in these babies.
Swap option: Serve with vanilla bean, mint chip or chocolate cherry ice cream. Or use chocolate ganache instead of the salted caramel for a double chocolate treat.
Ingredients
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing ramekins
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons semisweet or dark chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 eggs
- 7 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Salted caramel sauce, homemade or store-bought
- Chocolate ice cream
Preparation
1.Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease four 6-ounce ramekins with butter.
2.In a medium glass bowl, microwave the butter and chocolate until melted, in 30 second intervals, stirring at each interval.
3.Add the powdered sugar to the melted butter and chocolate mixture, whisk to combine. Then add the eggs, whisk to combine. Finally, add the cornstarch and salt and whisk to combine.
4.Scoop a tablespoon of salted caramel sauce into each ramekin. Divide the lava cake batter evenly into the 4 ramekins on top of the caramel. Place 2 of the ramekins onto a cookie sheet, and freeze the other two for a later date (before baking, defrost the cakes for an hour at room temperature).
5.Bake the cakes for 18 minutes, until the crust is crackly and the centers are still soft and liquid. Let cool for 5 minutes, then top with chocolate ice cream and salted caramel sauce.
