Easy chocolate lava cake: the restaurant dessert that looks spectacular and is actually the simplest to make at home. 20 minutes total, 6 ingredients, and the satisfaction of watching molten chocolate flow at the first cut. Madagascar cinnamon adds a subtle spiced warmth that elevates dark chocolate to a new level of aromatic complexity.

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 10-12 min  |  Difficulty: Easy (precise timing)  |  Serves: 5

Ingredients

• 150g dark chocolate, minimum 70% (quality is everything here)
• 100g butter + extra for moulds
• 3 whole eggs + 2 extra yolks (extra yolks = richness and flow)
• 80g icing sugar
• 50g plain flour (just enough to hold)
• 1 tsp Madagascar cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt (amplifies chocolate flavour)
• Unsweetened cocoa for dusting moulds

Step-by-Step Recipe

1. Prepare moulds (5 min): Butter 5 ramekins generously. Dust with unsweetened cocoa (not flour — avoids white residue). Refrigerate — cold moulds form the outer crust.
2. Melt chocolate and butter (3 min): Melt together in a bain-marie or microwave in 30-second bursts. Stir until smooth and glossy. Cool 5 minutes.
3. Whip eggs and sugar (3 min): Whisk eggs, extra yolks and icing sugar vigorously until mixture whitens and doubles in volume. This aeration creates the lightness.
4. Fold together (2 min): Pour cooled chocolate onto egg mixture, folding gently. Add sifted flour, cinnamon and salt with sweeping motions — never whisk at this stage.
5. Fill and bake (10-12 min at 200°C): Fill moulds ¾ full. Can refrigerate up to 24h and bake at the last moment. At 10 min: very runny centre. At 12 min: molten but not liquid. Test your oven once to find your perfect time.
6. Unmould and serve immediately. The molten centre sets as it cools.

The Physics of the Lava Centre

A lava cake is not an undercooked cake — it is a precisely calculated one. The outside (touching hot metal) cooks and forms a firm crust. The insulated interior never reaches the temperature needed to set proteins and starch. The central mass stays liquid. Ramekin size, oven temperature and baking time must be exact.

The Frozen Caramel Centre Trick

Freeze salted caramel in semi-spheres. Place frozen at the centre of each mould before pouring batter. At baking, caramel melts into an amber, salted molten centre — extraordinary.