Flourless Molten Chocolate Lava Cake {Gluten Free}

This decadent {Gluten Free} Flourless Molten Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe has just a few simple ingredients but the rich molten chocolate lava center will wow everyone. Perfect with a scoop of ice cream on top!

There is something that is innately enticing about a flourless molten chocolate lava cake. I still remember coming across a recipe for molten chocolate lava cake as a teen. I just HAD to make it! I can’t remember if I actually made it, but I do remember being enamored at the idea of the molten chocolate lava center oozing out when I took my first bite.

Sometime after that occurrence I got a chocolate lava cake mix in my stocking for Christmas one year.

I was a bit of a kitchen nerd as a teen. I baked cookies all the time without a recipe. My 16th birthday presents consisted of matching ice cream scoop, vegetable peeler, can opener, and tea kettle (all a nice pastel pink.) My 18th birthday I got a saucepan, an immersion blender, and a mini food processor. So getting a chocolate lava cake mix in my stocking was not out of the ordinary.

All I remember is making the cake with the mix, and eating it. And that it was good.

What is more memorable is when I found a recipe for guiltless chocolate lava cake on Food Network that used sweet potato, banana, and honey to sweeten it. My family was very health conscious growing up, so a recipe like that was like gold. My parents thought it was amazing!

I remember making it for my parents and their friends for a game night. I wowed everyone. My parents were bragging to their friends about my culinary skills, and I felt like a chef. That was a great feeling! To watch the amazement and joy in the faces of others as they ate a bite of something that I had created.

A lot of my love of cooking came from that experience, and many others like it.

This naturally gluten free, flourless molten chocolate lava cake is not a guilt free dessert, but it is more than worth it. Simple ingredients. Good chocolate, eggs, sugar, butter. That is it! The magic comes  in the way you combine them.

First you melt the chocolate and the butter together.

Then you separate the eggs. Whip the egg whites first, with just a touch of sugar. Then whip the egg yolks with some more sugar.

Fold the chocolate into the egg yolks. Then fold the egg whites in.

Divide the batter between ramekins that have been buttered and dusted with sugar or cocoa powder, and then pop them in the oven.

Baking them takes patience. It is tricky to pull them out at just the right moment. A minute too early, and too much of the cake will be molten. A minute too late, and you won’t get that satisfying chocolate lava ooze. The good news is that it doesn’t REALLY matter if you bake it a minute too long, or too short. They still taste ah-MAZING!

You don’t have to unmold your flourless chocolate lava cake either. It is much easier to serve it while still in a ramekin because you don’t have to worry about it falling apart when you unmold it but you still get that gooey molten chocolate lava sensation.

It is just perfect with a scoop of good vanilla bean ice cream on top. You have the hot molten chocolate lava center, the cool and creamy ice cream and the warm and rich chocolate cake.

Together they combine in the ultimate chocolate dessert.

I made this flourless molten chocolate lava cake recipe when my husband and I had some friends over for dinner. It brought back the memories of when I prepared that first lava cake for my parent’s friends as a teen.

I love watching people enjoy a dessert that I have enjoyed creating. Watching them take the first bite, listening to their compliments. I hope that doesn’t sound creepy. I just really like to watch people eat the food that I have created. It brings me joy!

Also, then I don’t eat it all by myself and get fat.

Flourless Molten Chocolate Lava Cake {Gluten Free}

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: Brianna

Serves: 4 flourless molten chocolate lava cakes

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, separated
• 6 Tablespoons butter
• 6 oz (approx 1 cup) semisweet, bittersweet, or dark chocolate
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• additional sugar or cocoa powder and butter for the ramekins
• Ice cream to serve, NOT optional 🙂

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Lightly butter 4 ramekins and dust the inside with sugar or cocoa powder.
3. Melt the butter and chocolate. (I used a microwave safe bowl, heating for 30 seconds, and then 15 second intervals until it was melted. You could also use a double boiler.) Set aside, and cool to room temperature before using.
4. Whip the egg whites with an electric hand mixer until very foamy. Gradually sprinkle in 2 Tablespoons of sugar, and continue to beat until they reach soft/medium peaks. Set aside.
5. Whip the egg yolks with ¼ cup of sugar until pale yellow. When you rub a little of the mixture between your fingers you shouldn't feel any sugar crystals. Add the vanilla extract.
6. Gently fold the cooled chocolate into the egg yolks.
7. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the rest of the mixture, ⅓ at a time.
8. Divide the batter evenly between the ramekins.
9. Bake for 12-15 minutes. You want the edges to look set but the center of the cake should move if you jiggle the ramekin.
10. THEY WILL NOT LOOK DONE and a toothpick will not come out clean. That is ok. You want the molten lava center, right?
11. The cake will continue to set a little after you remove it from the oven. If you plan to unmold your cakes, I suggest erring on the side of cooking them longer, it will make it easier to unmold them.

To prepare your flourless molten chocolate lava cake ahead of time (like for a party or something)

1. Prepare the batter, put it in the ramekins, and then cover them tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours.
2. Remove the ramekins from the fridge AT LEAST an hour before you plan to bake them. (1-2 hours is ideal)
3. Bake in a preheated oven for 15-18 minutes until they are done as described above.

Notes

I used sugar to dust the ramekins the first time I made them. I made them again and used cocoa powder. The pictures are from when I used sugar, but I think they would unmold better if you used cocoa powder.

These flourless molten chocolate lava cakes can easily be made dairy free by using a butter substitute (like Earth Balance or coconut oil) instead of the butter and using a dairy free chocolate (like Pascha or Enjoy Life.)

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