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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
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.
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?