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If you were to ask me what I’d choose to eat for dessert, I will always say some sort of chocolate.
Whenever we go out to eat, I always look at the dessert menu first.
I need to know what to save room in my stomach for, you know?!
If there’s anything chocolate on the menu — and there usually is — I usually always choose that.
My favorite is a super decadent chocolate cake but I will also take any type of chocolate dessert.
I feel like molten lava cake is a very popular one to have on menus but I’ve always dreamed about making it at home myself.
Insert salted caramel molten lava cakes.
Absolutely, 100% drool-worthy.
What is a molten lava cake?
A molten lava cake is kind of like emulating a volcano.
Hot, gooey chocolate liquid is in the center of the half-baked cake and when you slice it in half, it all oozes out into a river of chocolate goodness.
Mine doesn’t stay liquid in the center
You’ve cooked it too long!
You need to cook it JUST until the center is slightly jiggly and then immediately pull it out of the oven otherwise it’ll keep baking.
Mine fell apart when I inverted it
That’s probably because it was not structurally cooked enough.
The sides may have looked cooked but it couldn’t structurally hold itself when you inverted it.
I don’t like dark chocolate.
You can make this with semisweet chocolate chips, if you prefer or milk chocolate.
What can I serve this with?
A giant scoop of ice cream on top, DUH!
Do I have to use the salted caramel?
No, you certainly don’t have to but that’s a third of the goodness, isn’t it?!
Can I make this ahead of time?
You can make the batter ahead of time but no, this cake needs to be made and eaten immediately.
So I can’t freeze it.
Correct.
Salted Caramel Molten Lava Cakes for Two
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (128 g) dark chocolate chunks
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons salted caramel sauce, divided
- Vanilla ice cream for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 °F (204 °C)
- Place a heat-proof glass bowl over a pot of simmering water or use a double-boiler.
- Melt chocolate and butter together then remove from heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, and baking powder.
- Add egg, milk, and vanilla extract to the chocolate mixture. Whisk to incorporate.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture then whisk until fully incorporated.
- Divide batter amongst 2 well-greased 6-ounce ramekins.
- Add 1 teaspoon of salted caramel into the center of the batter in each ramekin.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges of the cake are set and the center is only slightly jiggly.
- Invert the ramekin onto a plate, top with ice cream, and serve.
Nutrition
Photography by Erin Alvarez
Hi Julie. Could these be microwaved like your other mug cakes?
No
Hi! I want to make this for a nice dessert for my boyfriend, but he doesn’t like dark chocolate. Can it be made with milk chocolate chunks?
Or semisweet?
Yep, any kind of chocolate chip is fine.
Made them for my wife on Valentine’s Day and making them again. The Salt Carmel Sauce is good by itself.
Awesome! So glad you guys enjoyed this!
Are you sure it’s only a teaspoon of caramel for each? That’s not much.
Yup, positive. You’re welcome to add more if you don’t think it’s enough.
Pinned it, made it, loved it! ‘Nuff said. :-)
Yay! So happy to hear this!
Totally sin worthy!! I love these Julie!
One for me, and one for me. Yeah, I’m not sharing these when I make them.
Hard to believe Christmas is tomorrow! And these lava cakes look sooo good; I’ll probably need to make a few batches :)
Wow. So decadent and delicious!
Give me all the oozy, gooey, caramely, chocolatey ice cream cake lava. I’m doubling this, b/c I’d eat both otherwise ;- )