Take Out Fake Out: Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
I don’t know what it is about molten chocolate lava cakes. It’s like having one on the menu is a prerequisite to opening a restaurant. Almost every chain restaurants dessert menu consists of:
- New York Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis
- Skillet Cookie with Vanilla Ice Cream
- Apple Crumble
- Molten Chocolate Lava Cake
I get it though, man. Those are all good things. Especially the lava cakes, all warm, gooey and chocolatey. Most joints even top them off with a scoop of ice cream, so then you get the cold and hot combo, which I am a huge fan of. If they do it right, the outside will be slightly crisp, the cake will be warm throughout, and the center? Oh, the center. It’ll be gooey and “molten.”
Except it’s not literally “molten” because that would be super dangerous. Burnt esophaguses for everyone!
Since these darn cakes are so popular I figured I would make a recipe at home and try lighten ’em up a bit. I mean, its still a dessert and you can only lighten it up so much before you might as well be eating cardboard. So with desserts, I always try to replace the naughty fat and sugar, but keep the flavor. Since fat and sugar are the cornerstones of yummy desserts, I try to replace them with something even just slightly more healthful.
For example, in this recipe I replaced the butter with coconut oil and replaced the granulated white sugar with honey. Coconut oil has tons of natural health benefits, if you want to learn more about the wonders of coconut oil, click here. As far as the honey goes, I figure at least it is natural and not processed like granulated sugar is. There are also lots of health benefits to using local honey, so try to grab some from a local farm if you can.
The other thing about restaurant versions of this recipe, they charge like $6-9 dollars for one of these babies! That’s insanity.
We’re talking about a 1/2 cup of cake batter that’s NOT EVEN COOKED ALL THE WAY THROUGH.
It’s highway robbery, folks.
However, if you’re frugal like me, you can make 4 cakes at home for wayyy less than it would cost you for one at a restaurant. Plus you get the satisfaction of making them from scratch and knowing each and every ingredient that goes into them.
You will be amazed at how fast this recipe is to make, you can have a lava cake in your mouth within 20 minutes of preheating the oven. That’s cray right there.
Thank you all for reading and please comment below if you have an idea for a recipe you would like me to recreate!
Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes (MCLC):
Makes 4 cakes
Total time: 18 minutes
Total time where you’re actually doing things: 6 minutes
What you need:
- 6 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup 2% milk
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing the ramekins
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and make sure there is an oven rack in the center position. You will need four small (5 ounce) ramekins, grease them generously with coconut oil. Set aside for a moment.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa. Set aside. Now in another bowl or glass measuring cup, add the milk, honey, egg, vanilla and coconut oil. Mix together until fully combined. Now, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk, whisk, whisk, until smooth and totally incorporated.
Divide the batter evenly between the four ramekins and bake for 9-10 minutes or until the tops are just set, this means the center will still be gooey.
Let them cool on a wire rack for 2-3 minutes before running a knife around the edges of each of the ramekins to loosen. Turn out onto a plate and dust with powdered sugar. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream if you’re feeling extra naughty.
Enjoy!
