I’m all about making a special meal at home for Valentines Day rather than fighting the crowds at the restaurants. Cooking together is more intimate, special and is some of the best “quality time” you can have together. And men, listen up, this dessert is SO EASY that I promise you can do it. I’m telling you, there is nothing sexier than a man who can whip up something delicious in the kitchen. So at least try! With only five ingredients (most being kitchen staples), this Valentines Day dessert is an easy win.
If you’re single this Valentines Day, why not make something special for yourself? Grab a bottle of wine, a couple of your single friends and indulge in this super delicious dessert.
This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled if you want to make more for a crowd.
I bought these ramekins for this recipe (I needed some anyway). In store they are sold individually for $2.46 each, not bad. Some people say they’ve gotten ramekins at the dollar store so check it out. Just make sure they’re oven safe!
Chocolate Lava Cake for Two (or one)
Chocolate Lava Cake for Two (or one)
Servings 2Ingredients
- 1 whole + 1 yolk large eggs ($0.32)
- 2 Tbsp white sugar ($0.02)
- 4 Tbsp + 1 tsp butter ($0.16)
- 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate ($0.50)
- 2 Tbsp flour, divided ($0.02)
Instructions
- Divide 1 tsp of butter between two four-inch (8 oz.) ramekins. Using your fingers, smear the butter all over the inside surface of the ramekins until they are coated. Tbsp of flour inside one ramekin and roll it around until the entire inside is dusted with flour. Pour the excess flour into the second ramekin and dust in the same manner. Discard the excess flour from the second ramekin.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl combine the egg, egg yolk and white sugar. Using a mixer, whip the mixture until it is aerated and a light yellow color (about 2 minutes).
- In a small microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Microwave for 15 second intervals, stirring well between each interval. The chocolate will melt further as you stir between heating so stir well. My chocolate took 3, 15 second intervals (45 seconds total) to melt completely.
- Stir the remaining 1 Tbsp of flour and the melted butter/chocolate mixture into the whipped eggs and sugar. You can use the mixer again if desired but I just stirred really well with a fork.
- Divide the cake batter between the two ramekins. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook for 8-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on the cakes, you want to remove them from the oven when the edges are set but the centers are still soft and jiggly.
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Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
Place a little bit of butter in each 8 oz. ramekin. Smear it all around until the inside is completely coated.
Place a tablespoon of flour in one ramekin and roll it around until the entire inside is coated in flour. Pour the excess flour into the second ramekin and coat in the same manner. Discard the excess flour from the second ramekin.
Now the ramekins are coated in butter and flour and the cake will not stick.
These are the only ingredients: butter, chocolate, eggs, sugar and flour. EASY.
Place the egg, egg yolk and sugar in a bowl. Mix on high until it is aerated and a light yellow color (about 1-2 minutes).
Place the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 15 seconds then stir will. Repeat the microwaving and stirring until it is completely melted. Do not microwave for more than 15 seconds at a time or else the chocolate could scorch. Mine took about 45 seconds total to completely melt.
Combine the remaining 1 Tbsp of flour, the melted chocolate and butter and the egg and sugar mixture. Stir it up well until everything is evenly mixed. This is the finished batter.
Pour the batter into the two ramekins. It will only fill a four inch ramekin about 1/3 of the way to the top. The cake will expand a little while cooking.
It looks like a very small amount but the cake is super rich.
Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. You only want to bake until the outer edges are set but the middle is still soft and jiggly. Mine cooked for about 1 minute too long. You can tell because the centers are high and have expanded which means they are fully cooked. If the center was still molten, the centers would be slightly depressed compared to the outer edges. Just watch them closely after 8 minutes in the oven. Shake the baking sheet a little to see if they’re set.
Turn the ramekin over onto a plate and the cake should fall out. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with whipped cream or berries.
See, the inside is completely cooked. Ooops. It was still super rich and delicious.
CAN’T. STOP.
I like my cakes a little more lava-y, so I take them out once the middle reaches 160° F. Nobody notices the hole from the thermometer probe once you’ve turned the cakes over.
Also, instead of dusting the ramekins with flour, I use granulated sugar for a little extra crispiness. Then, if I’m feeling fancy, I dust the cakes with powdered sugar immediately before serving.
Perfect recipe. I’ve made it at least 100 times since discovering Beth in 2012. It went from being a fancy (and cheap) dessert to make for dates in grad school, to sometimes being dinner for one as a young professional, and is now a reliable favourite at dinner parties. This foolproof recipe was a standby for the best memories from my 20’s. Thank you so much Beth and the whole team at Budget Bytes for making approachable, affordable, and delicious recipes.
It was so bad…I’m too bummed
I’m sorry to hear that this recipe didn’t turn out for you Sandra. Do you have any questions about the instructions or process I can help you to possibly troubleshoot?
I made these tonight for me and my husband, for valentine’s. . They were awesome. One little tip. I chilled the bowl and beaters first. Only one thing wrong. There was only two and they tasted like MORE. c an you just double the recipe and make four??.
I’m sure you could double it! :)
I don’t have a ramakin(sp.). Can I use a coffee mug to make the lava cake?
Unfortunately I’ve never tried that so I’m not sure how it would affect the outcome.
I always use small glass pyrex bowls if you have those.
Beth. The Chocolate Lava Cakes were on point! My sister made this amazing dessert as a late Valentine’s Day present. The cakes were served with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. I would make this recipe again very soon. Thank you, Beth!!!! ❤☺
Could you say what size your Ramekins are, measurements or how many ounces they hold. I looked up the one you linked and they aren’t sold anymore and it gave no sizes. There are so many different size ramekins! :) Thank you Beth, I just discovered your site today and I love it!! Looking forward to trying so many recipes!
Yes, sorry about that. On these older recipes I wasn’t as thorough. :P These are 8 oz. ramekins.
Turned out pretty good. A little jelloish, but I think that’s because I didn’t have any ramekins and measured it a little off. Still delicious though. Thanks!
Making these for our 2nd wedding anniversary :) I do hope they come out as planned!! will let you know soon enough! By the way… I loooooove your food blog!
I tried making these last night, and they were delicious, they really were. However, they barely rose, and I believe I probably overcooked them, so they definitely came out exactly like fudgy brownies. How can I fix this?
Also, they tasted a bit too flour-y, but I think that may have just been my flour as that’s been happening with everything I bake lately.
Mine didn’t really rise a lot, either, so you’re good on that point. To get the center more lava-like, just decrease the cooking time. It can be a bit tricky because you have to catch them at just the right point and everyone’s oven is a little different. Try decreasing the cooking time by 2 minutes and see how that works.
When I say they barely rose, I mean they were probably half of, maybe three quarters of, an inch thick. Is it possible that my ramekins were just too big?
Ahhhh, yes. Mine must have been smaller because the raw batter was at least an inch thick when I poured it in. :)
Mine got really puffy, like sponge cake, and then sunk down. Your pictures show a much denser cake – is it possible to whip up eggs too much?
The cake sinks in the middle. Don’t know why.. ;(
It didn’t turn out good ;(
Me and my fiancé made these last night, we too cooked them a little to long. They still tasted great, we also used 60% cacao instead of semi-sweet chips.
Tried making these today, tasted great but it stuck to the ramekin and became a mess! Anyone know why it sticks? I used a TON of butter on the outside.
But thanks for the recipe! Will try it again.
Try rubbing the inside of the ramekin with butter, then dusting it with a little bit of flour.
thiz iz so amazing…………i m very glad that i found thiz recipe thanxz to post thiz recipe. really its so yummy and full my tummy……
Update! Kept oven at 400, omitted the baking chocolate in the center, baked 10 minutes, and let them cool for 15 minutes after cooking. I also put cocoa powder on the inside of the ramekins over the butter. They were amazing!!!!! I must resist making these every night.
Made these tonight. My oven runs 50 degrees too hot on most recipes so I turned it down to 400. I baked 8 minutes and saw the sides had pulled away a bit so I pulled them out not wanting to overcook them. Unfortunately, they were undercooked because when I tried to put them on a plate they just fell apart. The mess was still delicious :) Next time I won’t put baking chocolate in the center because there was a ton of lava in the middle. I think that contributed to them being unstable. I’ll bake them 10 minutes and see how they go next time.
Made these last night and they turned out fabulous. Did them exactly as the recipe called for, although I did beat the egg by hand, which I came to regret once the hand cramps set in :) They did stick quite a bit to my ramekins, even though they were buttered and floured, but they still tasted fine with an oozy middle, they just didn’t look as pretty (and that doesn’t matter as much when you throw Oreo ice cream on top, anyway…). Thanks very much for sharing, and for the great visual instructions!
A bit late to the party but I’ve made these a few times recently and I’ve found that they seem better to me with dark chocolate, the flavor is a little bolder. I will confirm that 2 whole eggs is also a bit too eggy. Also, if you want it gluten free you can just use a GF flour mix, it seems to work out fine and doesn’t have texture issues.
Hahahah, that may be the worst typo I’ve ever made! At least I spelled it right earlier in the written directions. Fixing the photo caption now :)
Lol, I think you meant “until the middle is soft and JIGGLY” … these look delicious!!!
Alyssa – These are pretty tricky because they go from being uncooked to overcooked fairly quickly. Also, did you use two whole eggs or one whole egg plus just the yolk of the second egg? Using two whole eggs may have made it too spongy. If that’s not it, I’m guessing they were just cooked too long. Try to take them out of the oven when the center is still “unset” or liquidy. I hope it works better for you next time!
I made these last night for Valentines Day. I’m pretty sure I followed the instructions exactly but they didn’t turn out. The crust was crisp and delicious, but the inside was spongy and the texture of an egg. Not very appetizing. I don’t know what I did wrong.
So glad I found this to make for my baby daddy (husband) tonight after dinner. Money is so tight but I want to still celebrate today! Even if we have ham sammiches for dinner this will spruce it up enough! :)
Thanks for the always awesome recipes!
I think the inside will stay gooey, although it won’t stay warm. Reheating it will cook the inside the rest of the way through. I think someone said that they mixed up the batter before dinner and then just baked them really quickly after dinner. Although, if you refrigerate the batter, the cooking time will be different and you’ll just have to guage it by sight (if the center wiggles). I hope that helps!
Do these need to be eaten right after they are made, so the inside will be warm and gooey? cause I would like to cook them ahead of time before dinner.
I absolutely loved making these for me and my bf for valentines last year, and have found other great recipes to use Ramekins for as well :D !!!!
These are brilliant-thank you. Perfect recipe for 1or 2 people when you’re craving chocolate and don’t want to deal with a whole pan of brownies. They turned out perfectly. Nothing better than lava cakes! May try adding orange zest and ginger next time. Thanks again.
Oh, yum! I just made these. Cheap, easy, and delicious! The only thing I did differently was substitute some hot fudge for a few of the chocolate chips as I was about 2-3 Tbsp short. I will definitely be making these again!
I can’t even speak to how amazing these were. If anything, I undercooked them, but everyone was amazed by my baking prowess. I will definitely be using this to impress countless times in the future. Thanks Beth!
I just made these (at 4 in the afternoon on a Sunday) on a whim. They were awesome! Used the comment suggestion of cocoa powder in the ramekin instead of flour, and also used the suggestion of pushing a little extra chocolate into the center of each.
What a great project for a lazy Sunday afternoon :) I had dessert before dinner…but that’s the perk of being an adult!
These were AMAZING. Better than the first molten chocolate lava cake recipe I tried. I can’t wait to make them again. I used a Pyrex custard cup, and they came out wonderful. Though, I would probably just use cooking spray the next time, instead of butter and flour.
I have 4, 2″ rammies, and I found I had to cook the cakes for a little longer, like ten minutes, to avoid an overly gooey center.
HOWEVER. These were amazing! I’m so glad I found your blog: my father was a chef, so you would think I would know how to cook, but I was kind of shooed out of the kitchen, actually. I had no idea delicious food could be so easy! I’m going to try your stir fry tonight, and the no-knead bread tomorrow.
Thanks, Beth!
I’ve made these (not this EXACT recipe, but very similar) using a muffin tin before. They turned out great.
Made these for Valentine’s and they were so easy and soooo tasty. Will be making them again for sure! Forget complicated recipes!
This was delicious!! Thanks so much. The engineer in me is pumped I found your blog. Thanks again!
I doubled the recipe and it came out great! Thanks for the tip on the timing. They were perfect inside. A couple little tips: I used cocoa powder to dust the ramekins – no white flour residue and extra chocolate flavor! And I mixed up the batter before dinner, poured it into the cups and let them sit until toward the end of dinner when I popped them into the oven and we had warm little cakes right on time! Yummy!
Made it last night using mini pie tins and they came out perfect. I think I accidentally used 1/2 the butter required (2TBs), but again…came out great!
I made this for my roommates – we’re all single this year, so we’re all each other’s valentines! I’m stuffed with sweets, so I’ll have to wait till they get home from work to find out if it’s any good, but it sure looks awesome!
Here’s a trick I use to make the inside a yummy lava. After filling the remekins with the chocolate, put a block (1 oz) of baking chocolate square right in the middle pushing it in only ever so slightly so that it’s snug in the center but not fully emerged and then throw it into the oven for the same amount of time and you’ll have all the gooey, chocolaty, lava flowing coming out of your mini cake that will be so beautiful, you’ll melt! I fill my remekins just a little over the half way point and it suffles gorgeously! And when flipped over onto a plate, perfection! Not to mention the first slice into the cake will get you so excited it’s not even funny!
I used a giant muffin tin with a liner and it came out fantastic!
Anon – hmmm… gross jelly consistency? Wow, you’ve got me stumped. Did you review the ingredients and make sure you had the right measurements? Maybe it just needed another minute in the oven? Did you notice the cake puffing up at all? Sorry it didn’t work out :(
Matt – haha, but this recipe is SO FAR from being healthy!
I made these tonight for Valentine’s Day! They were very tasty, but 8 minutes was a bit much for mine. They aren’t gooey if they’re overdone. This is a keeper! I used 1 oz. Baker’s chocolate for the 1/3c. chocolate and a few chocolate chips. I wanted to have high quality chocolate. yum!
This is an awesome Valentine’s Day recipe! I’d love it if you’d share this on the Healthy Hop, the new blog hop I’m hosting: http://www.favedietsblog.com/announcing-the-first-favediets-blog-hop/
I made these according to the recipe and they came out as some weird gross jelly type of consistancy :/ What did I do wrong?
DELICIOUS!
Chocolate lava cake for just a bit over a dollar! I could eat these every day.
You could probably use a muffin tin for these or even some oven safe mugs. Just adjust the baking time.
Michael, I think you need to have ramekins for this… it’s all about the surface area ratio. I bought mine at Walmart for $2.46 each… someone on facebook said they got some at the dollar store. Just be sure they’re oven safe.
If anyone has used anything else with success, please share!!
Thanks for the post, the cake looks delicious. I’ll definitely be trying this for Valentine’s Day-I think my boyfriend will love it! I’m with Michael, though-I don’t have any ramekins either…
I don’t have any ramekins. Can I use something else?