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Instant Pot lava cake is rich, gooey, and done in 30 minutes! Perfect quick fix for when those chocolate cravings hit.
Featured with this recipe
- Ingredients for Instant Pot Lava Cake
- Steps to Make Instant Pot Lava Cake
- Toppings for Instant Pot Lava Cake
- Getting The Right Consistency
- Recipe Tips
- Variations and Additions to this Instant Pot Lava Cake
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Storing Instant Pot Lava Cake
- More Decadent Chocolate Desserts
- How to Make Instant Pot Lava Cake
- Instant Pot Lava Cake Recipe
Instant Pot lava cake comes together in just a few minutes and is made with simple ingredients. This is the best dessert to whip up when it’s late, you’re wandering around the house craving something sweet and a handful of chocolate chips from the pantry just isn’t going to cut it. It just as easily can be a centerpiece dessert after a special Valentine’s Day dinner. Super versatile, gooey, and full of chocolate flavor, this is one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes!
This Instant Pot Lava Cake just happens to be one of our favorite things to bake right in the Instant Pot. No need to heat your ovens for this treat. It’s the perfect dessert for Valentine’s Day or any other special occasion!
Ingredients for Instant Pot Lava Cake
Instant Pot lava cake ingredients are very simple. Chances are, you probably have everything you need in your pantry right now!
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips – I like to use semi-sweet but you could add dark chocolate, milk chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, or a combination of both.
- Unsalted butter – For the perfect consistency, you will melt the butter with your chocolate chips. This gives it a ribbon-looking effect!
- Sugar – Regular, granulated sugar for the recipe. You can dust some powdered sugar or a dusting of cocoa powder on top if you like.
- Eggs – Use both the egg yolks and the whites for this recipe.
- Flour – This is the base of the cake. There is not much flour but it does go a long way. All-purpose flour gives it depth and thickness.
- Vanilla – Use good quality vanilla extract for the best flavor.
Steps to Make Instant Pot Lava Cake
Inside an Instant Pot lava cake is an overflowing amount of chocolate that is going to be running through the cake. It is the perfect combination and gives depth and flavor to this cake. Learn the steps to making this dessert!
- Microwave – Place chocolate chips and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, remove from microwave, and stir. Place back in the microwave for another 30 seconds and stir until smooth.
- Whisk – In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, flour, and vanilla together until smooth.
- Combine – Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and stir well to combine.
- Prepare and assemble – Spray four 6 to 7-ounce ramekins with cooking spray. Fill each ramekin 2/3 of the way full with batter. Put a steam rack in the bottom of the Instant Pot and add 1 cup of water. Place ramekins on the steam rack, placing 3 of the ramekins directly on the rack and one over the top and in the center of the 3 ramekins.
- Instant Pot – Place lid on Instant Pot and place tab to “sealing”. Manually set the time to 8 minutes on “high” pressure. Quickly release the pressure and carefully remove ramekins from the Instant Pot.
- Serving – Serve with ice cream and add mint leaves and raspberries for garnish.
Toppings for Instant Pot Lava Cake
Once you have your instant pot lava cakes, you can top it any way you like! Use all your favorite toppings and enjoy so many different ways to make this decadent dessert. The options are endless!
- Sauces – Spoon caramel sauce over the top or an extra chocolate ganache drizzled over the instant pot lava cake.
- Powder – Dust with cocoa powder or confectioners’ sugar to give a light sweetness.
- Berries – Top with fresh berries and a dollop of whipped cream. This is always my favorite!
- Ice cream – Add a big scoop of vanilla ice cream to the hot cake. It will melt nicely into the cake.
Getting The Right Consistency
Do you like your chocolate lava cake with more melted chocolate lava flow like chocolate cake batter or do you like your cake gooey, but a little more intact? The center “lava” consistency depends on the amount of time it is cooked. In the picture above, I cooked the lava cake in the Instant Pot for 8 minutes. In the picture below I did 9 minutes with a 1-minute slow-release.
Recipe Tips
Follow these helpful tips when making this chocolate dessert in the Instant Pot for the best results!
- Instant Pot tip – Dessert in the Instant Pot or a pressure cooker can be tricky. Trust me, this recipe came about after three failed attempts to pressure cook. With Instant Pot desserts you need to be fairly exact with your cooking times. You also need to consider that cooking times will be different at different elevations.
- Liquid – When cooking dessert or anything in the Instant Pot, you need to make sure you have enough liquid. To make this easier, I like to place the steam rack in the instant pot first. Then, I like to add a couple of cups of water to the bottom. Lastly, I place the dessert containers on the steam rack. This places the 6-ounce ramekins out of the water and makes them easier to remove from the Instant Pot when they are finished.
- Stacking – Since this molten lava cake recipe makes 4 dessert cups, you will have to place 3 cups on the bottom and one cup over the top. Don’t worry, they will all still cook perfectly, even if they are stacked!
- Elevation – I cooked these instant pot lava cakes for 8 minutes and did a quick release. I live at a fairly low altitude so this time was perfect for me. If you are at a higher elevation, you may want to add a minute to the cooking time or allow it to slow-release for a minute or two. Just don’t let it slow release for too long or it will overcook and you won’t get that liquid chocolate center.
Variations and Additions to this Instant Pot Lava Cake
This Instant Pot lava cake is perfect in every way! There are times that there needs to be variations and additions to a recipe and these are great to choose from. You can’t go wrong with these changes for this instant pot lava cake recipe!
- Chocolate – For this recipe, I like to use dark chocolate because I think it makes it extra rich. You are adding sugar to the batter so it will still be plenty sweet. If you simply won’t use dark chocolate or if you don’t have it, you can also use semi-sweet.
- Toppings – If you aren’t a fan of having fruit with chocolate, instead of adding raspberries, you can drizzle a little salted caramel or whipped cream on the top.
- Espresso powder – We don’t drink coffee, but a little espresso powder in this recipe enhances the chocolate flavor and tastes absolutely delicious.
- Peanut butter – If you’re a peanut butter fan, melt some in the microwave and drizzle on top of the chocolate lava cake.
- Gluten-free – This recipe uses VERY little flour. Only a quarter cup! That is great news for those who want to make a gluten-free version. Just swap out the flour for your favorite GF flour and you are good to go! If you have good GF flour, you won’t even be able to tell the difference because the flour amount is so small. Namaste flour from Costco works great or if you have a homemade flour blend that you like, that will work great too!
“Super easy and quick to make. Rich but just the right amount with some berries! Kids loved! Thanks for the terrific recipe.”
-Julie
Frequently Asked Questions
A chocolate lava cake is a cake that has a center filled with a chocolate ganache addition. This will help the chocolate melt away from the chocolate cake. It looks like lava is flowing from the cake.
The cake is formed, shaped, and baked with a center that is filled with ganache. Once the cake is broken into by a fork or spoon, the ganache will flow out of the cake similar to a lava flow. It is pretty and decadent. Usually served at fancy restaurants or special occasions in our home.
No, instant pot lava cake is served warm. You will want to remove it from the instant pot as quickly as possible and enjoy it right away. That way the lava of the chocolate cake will still be melted and flow through the cake.
They both have the same appearance and look they also have a few differences that help them stand out. A chocolate lava cake has a runny center whereas a chocolate souffle has a puffed-up middle in the cake.
For this instant pot lava cake recipe, we used chocolate chips and melted them down for a type of chocolate ganache for the filling made in the lava cake.
Storing Instant Pot Lava Cake
Once you have baked this instant pot lava cake it will be hard to save any for leftovers! It is rich and flavorful when baked. Release the cake from the ramekin and carefully place it in an airtight container. Store the instant pot lava cake in the fridge for two to three days. When ready to enjoy, reheat in the microwave or oven until it is warmed through. Enjoy!
Read Next: 27 BEST Instant Pot Recipes
More Decadent Chocolate Desserts
If chocolate is your love language, welcome to our blog! We are huge chocolate fans here too. Try one or all of these sinfully sweet and rich chocolate treats next time the craving hits.
How to Make Instant Pot Lava Cake
Instant Pot Lava Cake
Video
Equipment
- Whisk
- Mixing Bowls
- Measuring Cups
Ingredients
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup butter
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- mint leaves (optional)
- raspberries (optional)
Instructions
- Place chocolate chips and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, remove from microwave, and stir.
- Place back in the microwave for another 30 seconds and stir until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, flour, and vanilla together until smooth.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and stir well to combine.
- Spray four 6-7-ounce ramekins with cooking spray. Fill each ramekin 2/3 of the way full with batter. Put the steam rack in the bottom of the Instant Pot and add 1 cup of water. Place ramekins on the steam rack, placing 3 of the ramekins directly on the rack and one over the top and in the center of the 3 ramekins (as seen in the photo above).
- Place lid on Instant Pot and place tab to "sealing". Manually set the time to 8 minutes on "high" pressure (see notes above for consistency times). Quickly release the pressure and carefully remove ramekins from the Instant Pot.Serve with ice cream and add mint leaves and raspberries for garnish.
Can I use milk chocolate instead of Dark?
Sure!
Made tonight for my birthday dessert since we are shelter-in-place due to Corona virus and can’t go out to eat. These are fantastic! Gooey in the middle, easy to make, and delicious. I’ve tried “baked” ones before but they always overcook. These were perfect. This is the only recipe I will use from now on. Topped with home-made whipped cream. Thank you for the recipe!
Happy Birthday! We are so glad that we could help with your special day! Thanks for the 5-star rating!
Easy & Flavor was good but no gooey center for me and they were all wet from the steam. Is that normal?
I am so sorry this recipe did turn out for you! Do you live at a high altitude? Sometimes that can affect a recipe.
My ramekins are smaller. I was able to fit them into 7 of them. I cooked in two batches. The first 3 were firm like brownie after 8 minutes. So for the second batch, I changed the timer to 4 minutes which was like pudding. I added 2 more minutes, then it did have two textures (brownie on the outside and lava on the inside). That said, the lava was exposed like you can see it on top and it smudged on the foil covering. I also wasn’t able to transfer it into a plate as it just fell apart. Any recommendations? Should I just do 6 minutes and maybe slow release for a couple minutes next time?
Oh, if you could fit 7, then they are quite a bit smaller than ours. That’s tricky because the smaller they are, the quicker they cook through. There might not be much difference between the time the outside is cooked and when the inside is cooked. Give it a try and let us know how it turns out!
Made no changes to the recipe, but it wasn’t cooked after 8 minutes on high.
I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work for you! Instant Pot recipes can be tricky! I live at a fairly low altitude so this time was perfect for me. If you are at a higher elevation, you may want to add a minute to the cook time or allow to slow-release for a minute or two.
I had the same result. 8 minutes and did the quick release and it was like pudding. I had to re-pressure for 4 minutes more. I’m goin to try it again, but will change the time to 10 minutes with 1 minute of slow release.
We just tried your recipe, and it was AMAZING! Your directions are easy to follow, and this was the perfect dessert for New Year’s Eve. Thanks!
Turned out excellent! Thank you!
This is the best one l’ve found but I want to cook in 6″ bundt? Tips, and times. TY
We haven’t tried it with any other sizes for this recipe so I can’t say for sure. If you try it out and have success, please come back and let us know!
I tried this recipe from two others and they did not turn out at all…yours worked for me!!! I think it may be the extra cup of water and more flour. At any rate, the “lava” didn’t actually run out of the center, but the center was ooey and gooey…totally awesome! Thank you.
Hi Kath- so glad it worked out better for you than the other recipes! I know elevations and other factors can affect the runny center. Hopefully you will get what you are looking for by just adjusting the time a little bit. Thanks for the nice comment!
I fixed this for dessert last nigh for our Father’s Day celebration. It was fabulous!! I followed the directions exactly however we live about 250 above sea level so taking your instructions into account regarding elevation I set the timer for 8 minutes and let it slow release for 1 minute. Perfect!!
I see some other sites cover their dishes with foil. Your recipe doesn’t say to do this. I’m not sure if it’s because others want them to cook differently or because moisture drips onto the cakes. ???
Yes, you definitely could cover it with foil. I think it is fine without the foil but if you are worried about too much moisture you can cover it for sure!
For my very first time ever using an instant pot, I picked this recipe to try. I substituted Zing baking blend for the sugar. I made the mistake of using the baking button instead of pressure. To try to salvage my mistake, I then put it on pressure for 5 minutes since I had already baked it for 8 minutes. It came out cooked all the way thru like a regular cake but it was good. Next time I make it, I feel confident it will turn out just like it was suppose to be. Thank you for posting your recipe!
Oh no, so sorry it didn’t work out! I hope next time you are able to have more success!
Turned out excellent! Thank you!
1st cake made in the instant pot! Its a hit! Everyone loved it!
So glad to hear this recipe turned out so well for you! Thanks for the 5-stars!
So easy to make and tastes SO wonderful topped with ice cream! Thank you for this great recipe!
So glad you liked it Tammy! Oh man, I agree, it definitely needs a big ol’ scoop of ice cream on there 🙂 Thanks for the nice comment!
Can I make this in my 6” cake pan that fits my instant pot? Or too messy when serving?
I haven’t tried it that way before, so I’m not sure! Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
How big are the ramekins? Mini are 1. 5 x 3. Is that too small.
The ramekins are 8 oz. Hope this helps!
This is my “go to” dessert. It is quick, easy and delicious. Always have the ingredients on hand. Everyone loves these lava cakes and requests them when they visit. I even make the day before and stick in fridge (covered). Take out and put in microwave for about 30 seconds, just long enough to loosen from ramekin, then turn onto plates and serve with whipped cream. Yummy!
This cake taste really good. It came out more like pudding in the inside. I was hoping for a flow of chocolate. I will try and cook a minute or two less next time.
When do you add the flour?
You add it at the same time as the eggs, sugar, and vanilla! Hope this helps!
A lot more lava than cake but that isn’t exactly a problem, now is it? 🙂 I had to use larger cooking containers than called for, don’t have ramekins. But I used a 4″ spring form and it worked great. Will pass this along to friends to try.
That’s because this recipe isn’t actually lava cake. This is just a creamy, fudgy, slightly undercooked chocolate cake- still good, but not the same thing.
A true lava cake has a frozen ball of ganache inside, so the cake actually cooks perfectly, and the frozen ganache inside melts, staying liquid.
If using one large dish, which size? Does cook time need adjusting?
Yes, it you are using one big dish you will need to cook it longer. We haven’t tried it all in one dish before so I don’t know the best way to advise. I would probably start by adding another 2-3 minutes and then go from there. Hope this helps!
Not a fan of dark chocolate . . . can this be made with milk chocolate?
Yes, it will just be more sweet 🙂 Hope this helps!
Do you know how much to reduce the sugar amount with milk chocolate?
I would reduce it by 1/4 c. if it were me but I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. Hope this helps!
I love this recipe! I make it whenever I’m craving chocolate cake. I will concede that the texture is a little bit different (just on the very top only) but that’s to be expected when you basically steam a cake. Absolutely delicious though and a family favorite! Thanks for the great recipe! 🙂
Thank you so much Julia! I am so glad this recipe has worked out for you. Thanks for the 5-stars!
Loved that I had all these ingredients on hand! Couldn’t have been easier to whip together and a lot cheaper than going out to order a lava cake.
I made a half batch (with two eggs) and it made 2 ramekins about half full. I would cook it probably one more minute when I make it again as it came out a little soft but it still tasted amazing and had that ooeygooey chocolate center with a mousse like consistency on top – perfect with vanilla ice cream and a few blackberries
So glad you liked it! Haven’t tried it with blackberries before but that sounds delicious!
Incredible! I halved the recipe and decided to try just 1 egg…perfection! 2 perfect little chocolate lava cakes! Kept the same cook time. Perfectly cooked and tasty!
So glad you liked it!
Just a thought… maybe try avoiding the microwave! The “micro-waves” are radiation. And just like a cancer treating Chemotherapy radiates cells to kill them, so do the waves of the beloved home appliance …radiation damages the molecular structure of your foods… leaving you with close to zero nutrion 😉 and a home-made cancer causing dish!
💟☮️
This is just not true, Erika.
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/radiation-exposure/radiofrequency-radiation.html
Radiation is the act of releasing energy, and it works on a spectrum from high to low. The radiation used in chemotherapy is a high spectrum energy, that has the ability to change molecular structure. The microwave oven uses a low spectrum energy that is only powerful enough to vibrate the water molecules in our food, to produce heat. The oven cooks food, but is not powerful enough to change the chemical or molecular structure of it.
And, if anything, microwaves are useful for fresh food retaining its nutrients.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/microwave-cooking-and-nutrition
Get to know the microwave better, and might I suggest not trying to actively frighten people unless absolutely necessary?
Thanks for correcting her misconception. Science is not to be feared but to be understood and used!!!