Raspberry Lava Cake (Mi-cuit au Chocolat)

Name: Raspberry Lava Cake (Mi-cuit au Chocolat)
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 3
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1.4 oz. (40 g) butter; 2.7 oz. (75 g) dark chocolate + 3 pieces of dark chocolate; 2 eggs; 9 1/2 teaspoons (45 g) sugar; 1 tablespoon flour; 3 tablespoons sugar; 3 tablespoons water; 1.7 oz. (50 g) fresh raspberries; 0.7 oz. (20 g) pistachios, chopped

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Sink your spoon into this chocolate raspberry lava cake - an indulging molten chocolate cake with a running chocolate center.

It takes only 30 minutes to whip up the five-ingredient batter and serve cakes right from the oven from start to finish.

Chocolate molten lava cake with the poured raspberry sauce on top served on a dessert plate

Today is the turn for a rich, fudgy and delicious raspberry lava cake with a warm, gooey chocolate center.

This cozy dessert warms up on cold days. It brightens up any, even sunny day.

Have you ever thought that due to the "masculine" chocolate center of the lava cake, it deserves to be served on Father's Day?

This cake has some inner strength. What could be stronger than lava in nature that can change the Earth's landscape?

Jump to:

What is lava cake?
Lava cake history
How to serve lava cake
Lava cake variations
Why you should try this recipe
Ingredients
How to make raspberry lava cake
Expert tips
Frequently asked questions
Love chocolate desserts? Try these next!
Recipe card
Comments

What is lava cake?

Lava cake (aka molten chocolate cake) is a popular dessert with a pouring delicious chocolate center.

It is called mi-cuit au chocolat in French, meaning "half-cooked chocolate" in English.

The lava cake batter resembles brownie batter - that is why sometimes the dessert is even called brownie lava cake or lava brownies.

Lava cake history

It is considered that the American chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten invented a lava cake in 1987.

Although the French chef Jacques Torres argues that the lava cake (mi-cuit au chocolat in French) already existed in France.

Yes, once again (after Tarte Tatin on my blog), the great dessert came up to live as a baking mistake.

Chef Vongerichten was making a chocolate sponge cake. He took the cake from the oven before it was ready and found that the center was still liquid and runny.

However, it was warm and had an incredible texture. So, the lava cake, or lava brownie, was born.

Dar chocolate lava cakes served in ramekins

How to serve lava cake

Impress your guests with a final touch to the classic lava cake. Accompany it with a scoop of ice cream, custard, or whipped cream.

Sprinkle the dark chocolate lava cake with toasted nuts (hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios) or shredded coconut.

Serve the dessert with pomegranate seeds, fresh raspberries, or cherries to add a tangy note.

Sprinkle cakes with fleur de sel before serving to enhance the flavor of chocolate.

Dust lava cakes with powdered sugar or cocoa powder, and serve them in ramekins if you prefer not to flip them.

Bake cakes in ovenproof cups, filling them up to half instead of traditional ramekins. Sprinkle with some toasted nuts, pipe the whipped cream and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Lava cake variations

Experiment with lava cake ingredients to make the dessert original and personal.

Serve a lava cake with raspberry sauce (recipe for dark raspberry lava cake below)

Try the milk chocolate version for more indulgence.

Add ground cinnamon and chili powder to the cake batter to get the Mexican chocolate twist - Mexican "Hot" Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes.

Top each lava cake with peanut butter before baking and make Peanut Butter Chocolate Lava Cakes.

To enjoy a runny dulce de leche center, follow the recipe for Molten Caramel Cakes.

Make Chocolate-Espresso Lava Cakes if you are a coffee-lover.

Add Grand Marnier and orange zest to make these unique Grand Marnier Molten Chocolate Cakes.

Play with adding red food color to the batter and enjoy Red Velvet Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes.

Add your favorite liquor to make Molten Chocolate Liquor Cakes.

Surprise your guests with Molten Chocolate Cakes with Matcha Tea and Black Sesame Seeds Filling.

Add Nestle Butterscotch Morsels and enjoy these flavorful little Butterscotch Spice Molten Cakes With Cream Sauce.

Nutella lovers will surely appreciate Chocolate Nutella Lava Cakes.

Flourless Chocolate Lava Cakes will please those on a gluten-free diet.

Raspberry lava cake dusted with icing sugar on a white plate with a wine bottle, glasses

Why you should try this recipe

The recipe is easy to make and is ready in under 30 minutes.
Dark chocolate lava cake is perfect for Valentine's Day celebration and a great option to serve at parties.
Making ahead and freezing option save time in making lava cakes.
There is no chilling time for the dessert: serve it right from the oven.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

Butter: the recipe calls for unsalted butter.

Dark chocolate: use high-quality dark chocolate such as Scharffen Berger dark chocolate, Valrhona dark chocolate, or Lindt Excellence dark chocolate. Dot use chocolate chips.

Eggs: use large whole eggs at room temperature.

Sugar: use granulated white sugar.

Flour: a bit of all-purpose flour is needed for this recipe.

Raspberries: Use fresh or frozen berries interchangeably to make the raspberry sauce and let it cool while baking lava cakes.

Pistachios: chopped toasted pistachios bring color, texture, and taste to the dessert.

How to make raspberry lava cake

Preheat oven to 425 F/218 C. Butter and flour three individual ramekins and set aside.

To make the raspberry sauce, pour water and sugar in a saucepan, add raspberries and cook over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add chopped pistachios at the last moment and remove them from the heat. Let it cool down (photo 1).

To make the cake batter, melt chocolate and butter in a bain-marie/water bath.

Using an electric mixer, whip eggs, and sugar until the mixture whitens (photo 2).

Add flour and melted chocolate with butter, and mix with a rubber spatula (photo 3).

Photo 1: Sauce in a saucepan Photo 2: Eggs mixture Photo 3: Batter in a bowl — **PHOTOS 1-3**

Fill ramekins with the batter up to halfway and place a chocolate piece in the center. Finish filling the molds (photo 4).

Bake for 12 minutes. Remove lava cakes from the oven and let cool for 2 minutes (photo 5).

Photo 4: Ramekins filled with the batter Photo 5: Baked desserts in ramekins — **PHOTO 4 PHOTO 5**

Place a dessert plate on top of the ramekin. Flip the dish and ramekin together to remove the cake from the mold.

Sprinkle with powdered (icing) sugar, pour raspberry sauce on top of each cake, and serve immediately.

Expert tips

Use fresh or frozen berries to make the raspberry sauce and let it cool while baking lava cakes.
Ensure to use high-quality dark chocolate such as Scharffen Berger dark chocolate, Valrhona dark chocolate, or Lindt Excellence dark chocolate. Please, do not use chocolate chips.
Be sure to read how to melt chocolate before you begin.
Add a pinch of salt or use salted butter to intensify the flavor of chocolate.
The baking time is the key to making this dessert. You might need to use a toothpick to test the cakes' center to make sure that they are not over-baked.
To release cakes, use a knife to loosen them from the edges. Then let the ramekin sit upside down for a few seconds after the flipping movement.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to eat a lava cake?

Yes, it is safe to eat lava cakes even while pregnant. First, the cakes are baked all the way through. The cakes pouring part is melted chocolate put in the middle of each cake before baking. Second, some recipes do not call for solid chocolate to insert into each cake before baking. There is no concern that the egg-containing "lava" center is undercooked in this cake either. Eggs baked at 425 F/218 for 12 minutes are safe to eat.

Can you bake lava cakes in a muffin pan?

Yes, if you do not have ramekins, use a muffin pan instead. Butter and flour muffin pan cups, fill up with the chocolate batter, and bake at 425 F/218 C for 8 to 10 minutes. To release the cakes from the mold, use a spoon.

How to make a gluten-free lava cake

To make the gluten-free version of a lava cake, replace wheat flour with corn starch or a gluten-free flour blend.

How to make a vegan lava cake

To make vegan molten lava cake, remove all the eggs and butter from the recipe and replace them with a mix of applesauce and almond puree.

How to prepare a lava cake in advance

Make the chocolate batter one day in advance. Pour it into prepared ramekins, cover them with a plastic film and refrigerate. The next day, uncover the molds and bake as directed.
You can also freeze the batter in ramekins for up to 3 months. Once you are ready to make and serve it, increase the baking time by a couple of minutes.

What wine to pair with a lava cake

Accompany the dessert with any natural sweet wine, which will be perfect with chocolate.

Love chocolate desserts? Try these next!

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from http://gourmand.viepratique.fr/. It was originally published on June 15, 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.