How To Make The Easiest, Most Delicious Chocolate Lava Cakes

How To Make The Easiest, Most Delicious Chocolate Lava Cakes
Real love has sturdy foundations and a warm, gooey center.
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Design by Alice Mongkongllite / BuzzFeed. Photos by Lauren Zaser / BuzzFeed

Here are all the ingredients you need to make two chocolate lava cakes:

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4 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (plus a little more for greasing the custard cups)
2 tablespoons sugar (plus a little more for the custard cups)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Here is all the equipment you need:

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Electric mixer
Baking sheet or oven-safe dish
2 6 to 8-ounce custard cups or ramekins
Medium mixing bowl
Small microwave-safe bowl
Rubber spatula
1. First, preheat the oven to 425°F and grease two 6 to 8-ounce custard cups generously with butter. You'll probably use about half a tablespoon of butter in each cup.

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2. Put a small spoonful of sugar in each cup, then turn the cup sideways and rotate it so that the sugar is coating the butter all around. Dump out any excess.

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3. Next, put the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl.

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4. Microwave on high in 30 second intervals, taking it out to stir between each interval. It should be completely melted in about a minute.

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If there are still chunks of chocolate after one minute, microwave for another 20 seconds and stir again.
5. Cut the room temperature butter into cubes, and combine the butter and sugar in a medium mixing bowl.

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6. Cream together the butter and sugar using an electric mixer.

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If you don't have an electric mixer, you can use a rubber spatula for this.
It's ready when it looks like this. Paste-like, with no lumps.

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7. Add two eggs.

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8. Beat with the electric mixer until everything is combined and the mixture is starting to foam, about a minute.

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9. Add the flour and salt.

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10. Beat with the electric mixer just to combine everything.

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11. Add 1/3 of the melted chocolate, and gently fold it into the batter with a rubber spatula.

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The reason you're only adding 1/3 of the chocolate is that it's probably still pretty hot, and if you add it all at once, it might scramble the egg in the batter, which would be disgusting.
12. Add the rest of the chocolate mixture and gently fold everything together until it's combined, with no streaks.

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13. Divide the batter evenly between the two greased custard cups.

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14. The cups shouldn't be more than 3/4 full.

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15. Put them in the oven and bake them JUST until the tops are set and the edges of the cake start to pull away from the cup slightly, about 11 minutes.

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16. They'll look like this when they're done. Let them sit for 5 minutes when they come out of the oven.

Christine Byrne / BuzzFeed

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17. After 5 minutes, flip each cup upside-down onto a dessert plate.

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18. Tap the bottom of the cup with the palm of your hand. You don't have to SMACK it, but don't be too gentle, either.

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The cake will gently fall out.

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Serve immediately. Garnish with whatever your valentine loves most: whipped cream, ice cream, chocolate syrup, berries, or just some simple powdered sugar.

Easy Chocolate Lava Cakes
Recipe by Christine Byrne
Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing custard cups
2 tablespoons sugar, plus more for the custard cups
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 425°F, and grease two 6 to 8-ounce custard cups or ramekins generously with butter. Put a small spoonful of sugar in each cup, then turn the cup sideways and rotate it so that the sugar is coating the butter all around. Dump out any excess sugar. Place the greased cups on a baking sheet or oven safe dish.
Put the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave it on high for 30 seconds, take it out and stir it, then microwave it for another 30 seconds and stir it again. It should be completely melted. If there are still chunks of unmelted chocolate, microwave for another 20 seconds and stir.
In a medium mixing bowl, cream the room temperature butter and the sugar with an electric mixer or a rubber spatula. The mixture should be thoroughly combined, smooth, and paste-like, not lumpy.
Add the two eggs to the creamed butter and sugar, and beat it with the electric mixer or a whisk until everything is combined and the mixture is starting to foam, about a minute. Add the flour and salt, and again beat everything with the mixer until it's thoroughly mixed.
Add about 1/3 of the melted chocolate to the mixture in the mixing bowl, then use a rubber spatula to gently fold it in. Add the rest of the chocolate mixture, and fold together until you have a uniform batter with no streaks.
Divide the batter evenly between the two greased custard cups, then bake the cakes in the preheated oven until the tops are just set but the cakes still jiggle slightly when you shake them, about 11 minutes.
Let the finished cakes sit in cups for five minutes when they're finished baking. Then, flip each cup over on a dessert plate, and tap the bottoms of the cups so that the cakes fall out.
Serve immediately. If you want, you can garnish them with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and berries.
Cut a small heart out of a piece of paper. If you want, use a folded piece of tape to make a little handle, so that the heart is easier to pick up. Put the paper heart on top of your lava cake, dust with powdered sugar, then pick up the paper heart and serve!
If you want to get all "ying" and "yang," you can cover the second lava cake with the piece of paper that you cut the heart out of and then dust the powdered sugar.

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Write a message.

Lauren Zaser / BuzzFeed
You lava cake, and cake lavas you! Just cut letters out of paper instead of hearts, and let your cake do the talking.
Stack 'em up.