Ann Reardon

Magic Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe | Chocolate Fondant

chocolate lava cake reardon
 
Step 1: Serve the dessert to the guests at the table.  
 
Step 2: Add some hot chocolate sauce.  
 
Step 3: The sauce magically drops down into the middle of the dessert.  
 
Step 4: Take a spoonful and chocolate ganache oozes out of the centre like molten lava onto the cold plate.
 
chocolate lava cake recipe

Sydney is home to some great chefs, one of them Peter Gilmore came up with this impressive chocolate dessert idea. The real thing has 8 different textures and will set you back $175 to try it as part of his set menu at his restaurant Quay. I have greatly simplified the idea for you but kept the ‘magic’ and added lava. This recipe makes 6-8 lava cake desserts depending on the size you cut your circles.

 

Chocolate Lava Cake recipe

Chocolate Discs
140g (4.94 ounces) tempered chocolate

Chocolate Brownie Base
300g (10.58 ounces) or 1 1/3 cups plus 2 tspns butter or margarine
6 eggs
3 cups or 654g (23.07 ounces) sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
dash of marsala (optional)
3/4 cup or 90g (3.17 ounces) cocoa powder
2 1/4 cups or 360g (12.7 ounces) plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
(optional – you can add nuts, dried fruit or chocolate chips)

Line a baking tin 26cm (10.24 inches) x 38cm (14.96 inches) with baking paper, if your tin is not deep use the baking paper to make a wall around the edge and staple into place. This prevents it overflowing in the oven.
Melt butter in the microwave, beat in sugar, eggs, cocoa, flour and baking powder until just combined.
Add the vanilla and marsala, pour into baking tray and sprinkle with chopped chocolate or nuts.
Bake at 356°F (180 degrees Celsius) (or 180°C (356 degrees Fahrenheit)) until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean

Ganache
200g (7.05 ounces) milk chocolate
80g (2.82 ounces) dark chocolate
100millilitres (3.38 fluid ounces) cream (if you can’t get hold of cream you can use milk but use slightly less)

Place chocolate pieces in a bowl, melt the chocolate (if using a microwave be careful not to burn it, do 30 seconds, stir, 20 seconds, stir, 10 secs stir then 10 secs until melted). Then pour in your cream and keep stirring until it comes together to make a nice smooth ganache.

Make sure your ganache is warm when you place it on the dessert.
magic chocolate lava cake recipe
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All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

316 Comments View Comments

  1. how many does this recipe make?

    • Hi sarah I made 6 using an 11.5cm circle cutter

  2. I want to ask what cream do we use and if we use milk how much do we need. can u plz reply as soon add possible

    • hi hazel look for any cream that is around 35% fat. If using milk start with 70ml and add more if needed

    • I had the same question about the amount of milk
      LOL 😉 🙂

      • 😀

  3. Hello! How many desserts is this recipe for? I’m making 5 or 6 this weekend, and I have no idea if this recipe is enough or if I should double it?

    • Hi Linnea, it all depends on how big you cut your circles, if you cut smaller circles then yes you can make 6

  4. You made it in such a creative way ^^

    Are they supposed to be like mini-cakes? So cute.

  5. OMG!! this looks sooooo good but I don’t understand how much butter to put in?

    • Hi Carmen, 300g butter is 1 cup + 5 Tbsp

  6. Hi Ann,
    I was looking for a recipe like this although I don’t know how much 100ml of cream is compared to cups or ounces. Overall though this recipe looks delicious!!

    • 1 cup=250ml

    • Hi Michael, Cup measurements from country. If you are based in the USA, then 100mls would be around 0.42 of a cup or 3.38 fluid US ounces. If you need to convert for a different region, it is easy to do online.

  7. How many servings can you get out of this recipe?

    • 6 if you use smaller circle cutters

  8. hello I’m from Venezuela, I love your channel …
    I have some questions … understood not as ride the cake so that it is the hole in the center when you add the chocolate ganache?, which generates the hole in the cake? because I can see you cut circles of cake, but do you stack them one over the other?
    Sorry the truth is that I can ented the instructions in English. my language is Spanish …
    Thanks for sharing so many pastry techniques.
    by Andreina

  9. Hi Ann, Im making this on thursday my moms and my little sister is coming to Lima, and they love it brownies 🙂

  10. Hi Ann, you are amazing! I am so happy to find your website yesterday. I am so addicted to your videos. Simply awesome!
    By the way, could you include the measurements of the cocoa powder and flour in grams? As for the cream for the ganache, I can use whipping cream?

  11. im cooking that write now. im eating the scraps as i go and the brownie is delish an the chocolate plates are amazing. you arean awesome cook. i tried 2 different brownie recipes and yours is so far the best. i love your you tube channel i could watch you all day.

  12. Hi Ann I am making this on Thursday for my dads birthday I was just wondering how many of these desserts does the recipe make. Thankyou.

    • Hi Taylah it depends on the size of your circle, grab the circle that you want to use and measure it out on the brownie tray to see how many will fit. To be more efficient with your batter you could bake them in circle molds if you have them.

  13. Hello , I tried and loved this lava cake , it was amazing!!
    But I’m waiting you to do the molten chocolate cake because I’ve seen many recipes and I only trust yours =)

  14. Hi Ann,
    I just tried your recipe and it tastes amazing.
    Instead of cutting them in a circle, I tried a square so I don’t lose anything 🙂
    The entire family liked it and I must say it was quite easy to make from start to finish.
    I love all your recipes and hope to finish soon with my masters degree so I’d have more time on my hand for baking.
    Have a beautiful week-end!

    • yummm

  15. Hi ann, can I reheat the ganache in a double boiler to warm it up ? Because I also don’t have microwave . Thank you for the recipe ! 😀

    • Hi Karleen yes you can 🙂

  16. Hey, just wondering, what type of cream should you use for a ganache or any other dessert, is coffee cream ok?

    • Hi Ruth, I don’t think coffee cream will work for most desserts. Are you in the US? if so look for heavy cream. If in Australia pure cream, whipping cream, thickened cream will all do.

      • Yes, I am in the US, thank you for your help, I have been wondering for a while.

        • But I tried this recipe and it was amazing! The whole family was shocked and it tasted great!

  17. Looks great have to make it ty ann

  18. Hi Ann, I love your recipes and instructions, they are simple and delicious. Just wondering, in the video link for the ‘Magic chocolate lava cake’ you mention baking powder for the brownie base, but I can’t see it in the actual recipe.
    Thanks again for a fantastic site.

    • Hi Elaine, you can use self raising flour and then you do not need baking powder or use plain flour with 1tsp baking powder per cup of plain flour.

  19. This looks like such fun! I can’t wait to try it out. Do you think I could use a different brownie recipe? Or is this one especially designed for this particular recipe…

    • Hi Rach you can use any brownie recipe or not even use brownie, you could use chocolate cheesecake or anything you fancy.

      • Hi Ann i love you’re chocolate lava and i love Ü 🙂 im kids girl from phillipine im sweet girl 🙂

  20. Oh my God, I think I´m gonna get some pounds on as soon as I eat this delicious lava cake. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

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