An individual dark chocolate cake with a warm flowing molten centre cooked in a ramekin in the microwave in three minutes, the fastest restaurant-quality dessert you can make at home.
About This Recipe
Microwave lava cake brings the most dramatic restaurant dessert into the home kitchen in under five minutes with no oven preheating, no baking dish, and no anxiety about timing. The microwave version requires attention to wattage and timing but once calibrated for your specific microwave produces a perfectly reliably molten centre every time.
The technique relies on the same principle as the oven version: deliberately undercooking the cake so the exterior sets while the interior remains liquid. In the microwave this happens in approximately ninety seconds at full power in an 800 watt microwave, though this will vary. The first time you make this recipe, check at 70 seconds and add 10 second increments from there to find your specific microwave’s sweet spot.
A ramekin is essential rather than a mug because the shallow, wide shape distributes the batter more evenly and produces a more consistent result than a tall, narrow mug. Buttered and dusted with cocoa powder before filling, the ramekin releases the cake cleanly for serving on a plate if desired, though eating directly from the warm ramekin with a spoon is equally good.
History and Origins
Chocolate lava cake or moelleux au chocolat is credited to French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten who served an undercooked chocolate cake at a New York restaurant in 1987 and discovered the result was extraordinary. The microwave adaptation appeared as home bakers sought to replicate the restaurant experience without specialist equipment or precise oven timing.
Why It Is Fast To Make
Microwave cooking. No oven preheating. Three minutes total per serving. Batter can be prepared minutes ahead.
Microwave Chocolate Lava Cake
1
servings2
minutes6
minutes480
kcalIngredients
•t60g dark chocolate 70 percent
•t60g unsalted butter
•t1 large egg plus 1 yolk
•t80g icing sugar
•t2 tbsp plain flour
•tPinch of salt
•tCocoa powder for dusting
•tVanilla ice cream to serve
Directions
- Butter a ramekin generously and dust with cocoa powder.
- Melt chocolate and butter together in 30 second microwave bursts. Cool for 2 minutes.
- Whisk in icing sugar, egg, yolk, flour and salt until smooth.
- Pour into prepared ramekin.
- Microwave on full power for 60 to 90 seconds. The edges should be set, the centre still liquid.
- Rest for 30 seconds. Serve in the ramekin or invert onto a plate. Eat with ice cream
Notes
-
Calibrate your microwave by starting at 60 seconds and adding 10 second increments. Once you find the right time for your microwave it will be consistent.
The ramekin must be buttered and dusted to allow clean unmoulding if desired.
Use a 200ml ramekin. Too large and the batter is too thin to produce a molten centre.
Eat within 2 minutes of cooking. The molten centre firms as it cools
Make Ahead Tips
The batter can be made and poured into the ramekin up to 2 hours ahead. Microwave to order when ready to serve.
Storage and Serving
Eat immediately. Cannot be stored. The molten centre firms and the effect is lost within minutes. This is a cook-to-order dessert only.
Variations and Substitutions
Add a teaspoon of espresso powder to intensify the chocolate. Add the zest of an orange to the batter. Press a frozen cube of salted caramel into the centre before cooking for a caramel lava version. Use white chocolate in place of dark for a completely different result.
