Lava Cake Recipe (easy, vegan, gluten free) (2024)

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This delicious dessert is the best lava cake I've ever had, and one of the best recipes I've ever created! It's got a rich molten chocolate center in the middle and a soft and fluffy chocolate cake layer on the outside. It's the perfect dessert to prepare for romantic occasion like Valentine's Day, or a great recipe to bring your dinner party or special occasion to the next level!

What you will need

This molten lava cake recipe is actually a super easy recipe to create, even though it looks fancy. It is vegan, so you won't need any eggs, egg yolks or heavy cream. Instead it's made with pretty simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand, and it's actually relatively nutritious too!

• oat flour- you call also use all purpose flour.
• cacao powder- cocoa powder works too.
• baking powder
• dash of espresso powder
• melted dark chocolate- you can use semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate, depending on your taste preference.
• peanut butter
• coconut oil
• maple syrup- brown sugar or another kind of sweetener will work as well.
• dairy-free milk
• vanilla
• dash of salt
• chocolate chips

Toppings

I topped my molten chocolate lava cakes with a dust of cacao powder and a strawberry, but it also taste incredible with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (use dairy-free if needed).

You will also need

• a small bowl- (I used 4 oz ramekins)
• dessert plates or other another kind of small serving plate to serve the cakes on
• some oven mitts while you're handling the hot cakes
• a butter knife, so you can separate the sides of the cakes from the bowls
• an air fryer- this recipe works best in the air fryer, but I will include oven directions as well at the bottom of the post, if you do not have an air fryer.
• a mixing bowl- to mix the ingredients (a large bowl or a medium bowl will work). You won't need an electric mixer or any fancy mixing equipment.

How to make the lava cake recipe

In a bowl, add the oat flour, cacao, baking powder, espresso powder, melted chocolate, peanut butter, coconut oil, maple, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix them well.

Generously grease two small ramekins with coconut oil. You want the ramekins very greased- this will allow the lava cakes to slide out of the dishes once they have baked.

To further ensure that the cake doesn't stick to the ramekin, I dusted cacao powder around the edges and bottom of the dishes. You can also use powdered sugar or flour to do this. You can even use parchment paper to line the bottom of the ramekins.

Divide the chocolate mixture into the two prepared ramekins, but only fill them each halfway.

For the molten center:

You can either place the semi-sweet chocolate chips in the middle of the batter, or you can do what I did, which was to melt the chocolate chips, then place the melted chocolate in two mini muffin cups or in a mini muffin pan and refrigerate them until the chocolate hardens and forms two mini chocolate cups.

Place the chocolate cups or chocolate chips in the middle of the lava cakes, then top them with the remaining cake batter.

Once the cake has cooked, the warm chocolate cups will melt and create the runny center.

Note: you can either melt the chocolate in the microwave or using the double boiler method.

Place the ramekins in the air fryer for 6 minutes at 400F/ 200C. See bottom of the post for oven instructions.

Allow the cake to cool off for 2-3 minutes at room temperature. Then gently slide a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen them.

Place a dessert plate on top of the ramekin and holding both the plate and the ramekin, carefully flip them upside down.

Gently lift up the ramekin to reveal the chocolate molten lava cakes underneath.

Sprinkle more cacao on top of the molten chocolate cakes and top with berries, if you wish.

Slice into them to reveal the gooey center and enjoy! Bon appétit!

Video

If you would like more chocolate dessert recipes, you might like these other easy recipes:

2 ingredient chocolate mousse

healthy date "snickers"

Making the lava cakes in the oven

I think that the air fryer makes the perfect lava cakes, but if you don't have one, you can just as easily make this recipe in the oven. The only thing that will change is the bake time. The air fryer cooks things faster, so it takes less time, which is another reason why I love making the cakes in there.

To make the lava cakes in the oven, place the ramekins full of raw cakes on a baking sheet or baking tray and bake them at 350*F/ 175*C for 12-15 minutes.