These chocolate lava cakes baked in the air fryer are perfect to serve as individual desserts. Decadent and fudgy with a molten middle, this is a fantastic treat for any holiday party. Ready in just minutes, these eggless cakes are my go-to dessert for any gathering.
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First things first, these cakes are how I indulge myself. These perk me up on a long day and since they take less than 20 minutes to whip up, they make for an ideal dessert.
Before attempting this recipe, kindly read the recipe notes and then proceed for best results.
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Ingredients
Like any cake recipe, this too has dry and wet components. Putting it in a nutshell, we will first mix all sorts of nice things like butter, coffee and such. Then we will combine our dry ingredients. Finally, we mix both and bake. Simple, right?
- Butter- you will need melted butter for this recipe. Cold butter or solid butter will not work.
- Brown sugar- soft brown sugar works perfectly well here. Feel free to substitute it with caster sugar.
- Warm milk – this step is really important. Cold milk, room temperature milk or hot boiling milk will not give you the perfect results here.
- Coffee powder- Use any instant coffee powder. Coffee powder really accentuates the chocolate flavor in any chocolate cake recipe.
- Vanilla
- Whole wheat flour- These cakes are dense as is. So whole wheat flour works perfectly well here.
- Cocoa – I have used Hershey’s cocoa here. But you can use any Dutch process cocoa.
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Couverture chocolate- Now, this is very important to use couverture chocolate here. You cannot use candy bars like Hershey’s or Cadbury. Simply because we need baking chocolate to achieve that molten middle.
Make ahead, shelf life and storage
You can make these ahead of time since they keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days. Keep them covered or store them in an air tight container to prevent them from drying out on the top.
Freeze chocolate lava cakes by placing them on a baking sheet and waiting for each individual cake to completely freeze. Once frozen, transfer to freezer safe bags, label and freeze upto 2 months.
Thaw in the air fryer by defrosting or reheating at 350F (180C) for 2 mins.
Please note that the cakes lose their molten lava texture in the middle after refrigeration or freezing.
Recipe Notes
- This recipe makes 3 small cakes. I have used 4 oz ramekins for this recipe.
- If you are making this for a gathering, you can use disposable muffin liners.
- You can easily double this recipe. I have not attempted tripling the quantity here. In case you do, please share your thoughts in the comments.
- For getting that consistency and texture right, the milk has to be warm. This is crucial.
- All purpose flour will also work instead of whole wheat flour in this. The result with a lighter crumb that is equally delicious.
- Couverture chocolate gives the best results as far as the molten middle goes.
- The timing matters big time for getting that gooey middle. You will have to bake it for exactly 6 mins in the air fryer. No more and no less.
Serving suggestions
- Serve this with some berry compote and vanilla ice cream.
- Pair it with some raspberries or strawberries.
- Dust with some icing sugar and serve as is.
Method
Prep work
Combine melted butter and cocoa powder in a bowl till it resembles a thin paste. Coat your ramekins thoroughly with this paste. Take care to coat the bottom and the edges evenly without any gaps.
Making the wet mixture
To a mixing bowl, add melted butter and sugar. Whisk well until you get a smooth paste.
Now, add the warm milk and whisk well.
Tip in the coffee powder. Whisk rapidly until it is frothy. You can use an electric egg beater for this purpose. Even a coffee frother will work well here. Tip in the vanilla, mix well and set aside.
Making the dry mixture
In another mixing bowl, add the flour and cocoa. Tip in the baking powder along with salt. Using a balloon whisk, mix well until the ingredients are well incorporated.
Alternatively, you can sieve everything together into the bowl using a fine mesh sieve.
Making the batter
Add 1/2 the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix well using a balloon whisk.
Now, add the remaining dry mixture and continue to whisk until you see no streaks of raw flour anywhere. Do not over mix. Whisk with a gentle hand until it is all just combined.
Preheating air fryer or air fryer oven
Preheat your air fryer at 370F (185C).
If your air fryer has a preset preheat function, you can use that. Or, you can manually preheat for 5 minutes at 370F.
In the Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer oven, press BAKE and set the temperature to 185 C (370F) and hit START.
The display will read ADD FOOD when it reaches the optimal temperature for baking.
Filling the ramekins
Fill the greased ramekins with 2 tbsp of the batter. Now, place 2 tbsp of the couverture chocolate.
I have used chocolate chips but you can also use couverture chocolate bars. Chop them into small chunks or squares and place 2 to 3 of these in the middle.
Cover the chocolate with 2 tbsp batter. Spread evenly. If you are left with more batter after this, divide it equally among the three ramekins.
Baking
Place in the preheated air fryer and bake for 6 minutes. The tops should look set and the edges should be fully cooked.
Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick around the sides. It should come out with a few moist crumbs. Once baked, serve immediately.
Explore More Desserts
Chocolate Lava Cake
Equipment
- 1 Air fryer or air fryer oven
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (2.15 oz)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (1 oz)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp coffee powder
- 4 oz couverture chocolate chips
Wet ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter melted
- 1/2 cup warm milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
For greasing the ramekins
- 2 tsp melted butter
- 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
Instructions
Prep work
- Combine melted butter and cocoa powder in a bowl till it resembles a thin paste. Coat your ramekins thoroughly with this paste. Take care to coat the bottom and the edges evenly without any gaps.
Making the wet mixture
- To a mixing bowl, add melted butter and sugar. Whisk well until you get a smooth paste.
- Now, add the warm milk with coffee powder. Whisk rapidly until it is frothy. You can use an electric egg beater for this purpose. Even a coffee frother will work well here.
- Tip in the vanilla, mix well and set aside.
Making the dry mixture
- In another mixing bowl, add the flour and cocoa. Tip in the baking powder along with salt. Using a balloon whisk, mix well until the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Alternatively, you can sieve everything together into the bowl using a fine mesh sieve.
- Making the batter
- Add 1/2 the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix well using a balloon whisk.
- Now, add the remaining dry mixture and continue to whisk until you see no streaks of raw flour anywhere. Do not over mix. Whisk with a gentle hand until it is all just combined.
Preheating air fryer or air fryer oven
- Preheat your air fryer at 370F (185C).
- If your air fryer has a preset preheat function, you can use that. Or, you can manually preheat for 5 minutes at 370F.
- In the Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer oven, press BAKE and set the temperature to 185 C (370F) and hit START.
- The display will read ADD FOOD when it reaches the optimal temperature for baking.
Filling the ramekins
- Fill the greased ramekins with 2 tbsp of the batter. Now, place 2 tbsp of the couverture chocolate.
- I have used chocolate chips but you can also use couverture chocolate bars. Chop them into small chunks or squares and place 2 to 3 of these in the middle.
- Cover the chocolate with 2 tbsp batter. Spread evenly. If you are left with more batter after this, divide it equally among the three ramekins.
Baking
- Place in the preheated air fryer and bake for 6 minutes. The tops should look set and the edges should be fully cooked.
- Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick around the sides. It should come out with a few moist crumbs. Once baked, serve immediately.
Notes
- This recipe makes 3 small cakes. I have used 4 oz ramekins for this recipe.
- If you are making this for a gathering, you can use disposable muffin liners.
- You can easily double this recipe. I have not attempted tripling the quantity here. In case you do, please share your thoughts in the comments.
- For getting that consistency and texture right, the milk has to be warm. This is crucial.
- All purpose flour will also work instead of whole wheat flour in this. The result with a lighter crumb that is equally delicious.
- Couverture chocolate gives the best results as far as the molten middle goes.
- The timing matters big time for getting that gooey middle. You will have to bake it for exactly 6 mins in the air fryer. No more and no less.
For Instant Pot & Air Fryer Recipes
Instant Pot timings may vary based on your geographic location. Air fryer settings and timings may vary based on the capacity and the model of the Air fryer.
Disclaimer
Nutrition values are provided here as a courtesy and are only a rough guide. Please consult a health care provider if you have any concerns.
Nutrition
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Looks delicious!
wow anusha, these look delicious and makes it to top of my to do recipes….lovely clicks as well and wanted to try these from such a long time….
Simply chocolicious.
I am glad you started blogging – your recipes are fabulous! The photos make the cupcakes very tempting 🙂
so delicious cupcakes
yummy…delicious…
Baking a molten lava cake has been my long time wish. Your post makes me want to bake it right away. They look superb Anu.
Yum, love this! Definitely going to give it a whirl…
They look delicious..Bookmarked