I have always wanted to be able to make a good chocolate lava cake, (also known as molten lava cake.)  After all, it’s not something you can just pick up at the grocery store whenever you fancy one!  I did actually find some in the freezer section once at Smiths, but to call them a disappointment would be an understatement.

Lava cake is cake that is cooked enough to be safe, but not quite all the way through so that when you cut in to the middle of it, it oozes a pool of rich chocolate molten lava!  The best lava cake I have ever had was at the Cliffside Restaurant in St. George, Utah when we were there celebrating our wedding anniversary a few years ago.  I could not stop thinking of that rich double chocolate cake with berries, ice cream and a decadent molten chocolate lava center without drooling.  That cake was the inspiration for this recipe.

I’ve tried many different recipes over the years, but none of them lived up to my expectations until this batch.  After remaking these suckers MANY times to make sure they come out well, I finally have lava cake recipe perfection to share with you!  You won’t believe how easy they are!  The hardest part of making them is literally flipping them out of the ramekins, but you can absolutely serve them in the ramekins if you want to simplify even more.  This lava cake is my new favorite dessert and the ultimate show stopper for dinner with family or friends.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup powdered sugar 
• 2 whole eggs and 2 additional egg yolks, whisked together
• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup AP flour

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Spray 4 (6-oz) ramekins with cooking spray or rub them down with butter.  (I find that butter works best and I like to sprinkle some cocoa powder in each one to help them come out a bit easier.)
2. Throw your chocolate chips and your butter in a microwave safe dish and heat for 40 seconds to 1 minute on high.  Stir until well combined and smooth.  
3. Stir in the powdered sugar, stir in the whisked eggs and then add in the cocoa powder and the flour and combine well.  
4. Divide the mixture equally between the 4 ramekins.  
5. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes.  The cakes should be firmer around the edges, but still look a little jiggly in the center.  (13 minutes is perfect in my oven.)
6. Remove the tray from the oven and let the ramekins sit on it for 2-3 minutes.  
7. Carefully slide a thin knife around the edges of the cakes to loosen and invert the cakes on to small serving plates.  (I let them sit upside down on the plate in the ramekin for a minute before gently removing the ramekin.)  
8. Dust with powdered sugar and serve!  

We like heavy cream with ours, but a scoop of ice cream melting over the top is pretty dang awesome too.  I know what you are thinking… there is no way that it is that easy to produce such a lavalicious, (yes, I just made that a word), delectable dessert.  But believe me… it is!  This is my new go to for when we have company for dinner.  Dessert just doesn’t get better.