Do you wish you could serve a restaurant-worthy dessert at home? These Chocolate Lava Cakes with Kahlua Whipped Cream are easy and incredibly delicious!

The sweet sugar crusts, the warm fudgy centers, and the dollops of sweet whipped cream make this Lava Cake Recipe an impressive dessert for any occasion!

Overhead with of a chocolate lava cake topped with Kahlua whipped cream on a white plate with a raspberry and mint garnish and a red handle spoon

Why You’ll Love this recipe for Chocolate Lava Cakes

  • It’s a restaurant-worthy recipe you can make at home.
  • This recipe makes 8 rich chocolate cakes that each ooze hot, fudgy lava after the first bites are removed.
  • You can park these in the refrigerator after making them, then cook them after dinner. This makes them perfect for dinner parties!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Lava Cake?

Molten Lava Cakes are individual cakes with warm fudgy centers that ooze out like lava when cut into.

Are Lava Cakes Safe to Eat?

The middles of lava cakes are basically undercooked cake batter. Eggs that aren’t cooked to 160 degrees can harbor salmonella, which is a bacteria that can cause food poisoning. So use caution and don’t serve this dessert to the very young, elderly, or anyone who is immune suppressed.

Can You Make Lava Cakes Ahead of Time?

Yes! Just fill your ramekins with batter and park them in the refrigerator. Before you plan to bake them, bring them out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature.

Bake as directed. If your batter is still a little cool, you may need to add a couple of minutes to the baking time. Just pull them out when the top surface looks cooked except for the very center.

Can You Reheat Lava Cakes?

Yes, but gently reheat them in the microwave so the centers do not solidify.

What Can You Use Instead of Kahlua?

Kahlua is a coffee liqueur and coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate. If you don’t have Kahlua on hand, a second teaspoon of vanilla extract or just leaving it out is fine.

Lava cakes garnished with cream and berries

Culinary Term: To Fold

To fold is a technique in which a light, airy mixture is combined with a heavier mixture. Usually, the lighter mixture is added to the heavier mixture in a large bowl. A rubber spatula cuts down through both mixtures, is pulled across the bottom and up the other side. The bowl is rotated quarter turns after each circular stroke is completed until the mixtures are well combined.

How to Make Lava Cakes

  1. Prep ramekins as directed. In this recipe, they’re buttered and dusted with sugar.
  2. Melt chocolate and butter and set aside.
  3. Beat eggs, yolks, sugar until  very light and voluminous.
  4. Gently fold about a third of the chocolate mixture into egg mixture, then fold in the remaining chocolate.
  5. Fold in flour.
  6. Divide batter evenly between ramekins.
  7. Bake as directed until the cakes are puffed but the very middles look underdone.
  8. Invert onto a dessert plate.
  9. Serve with whipped cream and garnish as desired.

Tips for Making Lava Cakes:

  • When baking any dessert where chocolate is the star of the show, use the highest quality chocolate you can afford. Valrhona or Callebaut are recommended, but Ghirardelli bars are fine in a pinch.
  • Look for a recipe with just a bit of flour. The flour will give your cakes some structure so they don’t totally collapse when unmolded.
  • Not all ovens are created equally. Watch carefully while baking. You’ll want the centers of your cakes to look underbaked so you have that classic “lava” in the middle. Give your cakes the jiggle test at about 9 minutes…you’ll want the center inch to move slightly when shaken.
  • Since these cakes are under-baked, please use pasteurized eggs if serving to the very young, elderly or immuno-compromised. Safest Choice is the brand I can find locally.
  • PRO-Tip: An underdone center about the size of a dime ensures that you will have a molten center.

If you love chocolate, you’ll also adore this One Layer Fudge Cake, these Chocolate Lava Cookies, and these White Chocolate Lava Cakes! Plus make sure to check out all my Best Chocolate Recipes.

Two lava cakes on white dessert plates with berries, mint and whipped cream to garnish

Lava Cakes with Kahlua Whipped Cream

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
Total Time 28 minutes
Yield 8 servings

Molten lava cakes served with a Kahlua spiked whipped cream

Ingredients

  • 5 tablespoons sugar, plus more for dusting ramekins
  • 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, plus more for greasing ramekins
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Kahlua, or other coffee liqueur
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  1. Butter eight 3/4-cup capacity ramekins. Dust interiors with sugar. Set aside.
  2. Melt chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl, stopping to stir at 30-second intervals till melted and smooth. Set aside.
  3. Using a mixer, beat eggs, yolks, and sugar till thick and pale yellow, about 8 minutes.
  4. Gently fold about a third of the chocolate mixture into egg mixture, then fold in the remaining chocolate.
  5. Fold in flour.
  6. Divide batter evenly between ramekins.
  7. Preheat oven to 425°F. Place ramekins on a baking sheet.
  8. Bake until edges are puffed, but the center inch of the cakes look undercooked and will jiggle if shaken, 11-13 minutes.
  9. Invert ramekins to remove cakes, if desired.
  10. In a chilled bowl, whip cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, and Kahlua till soft peaks form.
  11. Top with a dollop of Kahlua whipped cream.

Notes

Ramekins may be covered and held in the refrigerator overnight. Bring to room temperature before baking.

You may use any size of ramekins you have on hand. Watch carefully while baking and remove when the perimeter is set and just the very center looks underdone and jiggles.

Adapted from Bon Appetit

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1 ramekin

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 351Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 173mgSodium: 42mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 2gSugar: 30gProtein: 6g

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