How to Make Incredible Molten Chocolate Cake at Home
Here's the recipe for the Molten Chocolate Cake that I promised to post in my Humbled But What a Great Night of Cooking post.
If you didn't read it, this recipe came from a cooking class my wife and I attended at a great BYOB restaurant called Blackfish. Not only did we have a fun night of cooking and a great meal, I learned a lot from Chef Jeff Power and Chef Ashley Hess.
Important Tip - I learned from Chef Jeff while preparing this recipe it is critical to not get any water in the melted chocolate. He made it clear that even a drop of water would ruin the chocolate.
📖 Recipe
Molten Chocolate Cake Recipe
Equipment
- Double boiler
- 4 oz disposable aluminum cups
Ingredients
- 1 lb chocolate we used those chocolate chips you buy for cookies
- 1 pound butter
- 5 oz sugar
- 4 oz sifted flour
- 10 eggs
- powdered sugar for dusting at the end
Instructions
- Set up a double boiler by putting a large stainless steel mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water. You can buy a double boiler, but it is just as easy to set one up using the pans you already own. Just make sure that no water can splash up and get into the chocolate.
- Melt the butter and chocolate in the double boiler using a spatula to keep the chocolate from burning while you are combining the two ingredients. You want the consistency at the end to be silky.
- While the chocolate is melting, whip the sugar, eggs and egg yolks together in a kitchen aid mixer until it triples in volume. For us, it was when the mixture reached the top and was just about to overflow the mixing bowl. I guess you can eyeball what three times the volume would look like if you were cutting this recipe in half.
- If you don't have kitchen aid mixer, try using an electric hand mixer but it is going to make the next steps harder without having your hands free. So this is a great recipe to make with your spouse or even your kids.
- Once the eggs and sugar reach triple volume, slowly fold in the melted chocolate using the spatula to scrape any chocolate sticking to the sides. On the kitchen aid mixer we were using, I had it running at almost full speed while the eggs and sugar were mixing but turned it down to 2 when I folded in the chocolate.
- With the mixer still running at a slower speed, fold in the sifted flour into the chocolate and egg mixture and immediately stop the machine. Lower and remove the mixing bowl, remove the mixing whisk and stir the mixture by hand to make sure to scrape along the sides to be sure everything is well combined. Be careful not to over mix at this point.
- Pour the mixture into the buttered and floured tins and bake at 350° F for about 5 minutes. The sides should be set but the centers should still be quite wiggly.
- When done, remove from oven and gently remove the cakes from the tins by turning them over and gently taping the sides and bottom of the tins onto the serving plate.
- Sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the top and serve.
Notes
The tins were 4 oz disposable aluminum cups that you might use for muffins or souffles. The dimensions are about 3 - ⅛ inch across the top - 2.25 inch across the bottom and about 1.5 inch deep.
We didn't cook them right away so Chef Jeff covered and put them into the freezer until about 10 minutes before we were going to bake them. If you hold them for any length of time, you may want to remove them 30 minutes before baking.
Stan - Just Desserts Mystery Theater
Sounds great. I am trying to make mini servings in cup cake tins. No doubt need the paper liners. Any guess as to how long to bake? Totally willing to try and experiment for the exact best time.
Rico Devon
This looks really good. But to make less INCREDIBLE MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKES, you have to cut the amount in half, am I correct?
Monica
when you say 10 eggs and 10 egg yolks do you mean ten whole eggs with the yolks OR 10 whole eggs with an additional 10 egg yolks????
RG
This recipe calls for 20 eggs total but remember this makes a lot of Molten Chocolate Cakes. You can always cut the recipe in half or use the 10 egg whites for making omelets.
kylee
im only 14 but i love to cook.this looks really great but i will save to try it for a couple of years! lol. but this looks like a great recipe!! great job! see you in a couple of years!!! 🙂
RG
Hi Kylee,
Look forward to reading your posts and recipes in a few years. Keep cooking!
samantha wien
This seemed as if it would be perfect....there must be a mistake in the baking time of 5 minutes !!!! Please verify. Thanks.
RG
Hi Samantha,
We made this recipe two years ago so I don't remember exactly how long we baked them but I did check the recipe they gave us and it does say 5 minutes in a preheated oven.
I then asked my pastry chef friend and she thought it might be more like 10 to 15 minutes but it really depends on the oven you are using. Saying that, I would start with 5 minutes and if they don't look done, continue for another 5 minutes and check again. If you do make this at home, please get back to us and let us know how much time worked for you.
RG
Devin
This looks amazing! I am 15 and want to be a pastry chef so I'm looking into the programs. Thank you so very much for all the amazing recipes.
-Devin
Jodie Cheong - Singapore
hi RG,
Can the mixture be left overnight before we put them put to bake?
Jodie
RG
Hi Jodie, I'm not sure but because Chef Jeff put them in the freezer even though we were going to eat them that night suggests to me not to leave them overnight but I will ask around and see what some of my pastry chef friends say.
nick
got it spot on the third time
Randa
Hi, thanks for the yummy recipes:
I'm on a low sugar/ low carb life-style and was wondering if when substituting the sugar and flour would I use the same quantities as listed
5 oz sugar = 5oz stevia?
4 oz sifted flour = 5oz almond/flax meal?
Thanks!
Hi Randa, I'm not sure but I will see what pastry chef Jenni has to say and maybe we can get some responses from other low sugar/ low carb home cooks who read this blog. - RG
alex akers
I'm almost 15 and I love to bake and sooner or later I'm going to be a culinary chef after culinary school!!!
kris
Looks yummy!
I just turned 13 and I love to bake. I have plans to open my own cupcake shop when I'm older. Thanks for the recipes!!! Kristen
michelle
i am 15 years old and i will love to become a pastry chef so i am working as hard as i can.
Danika Noble
Love your website! Thanks for taking the time to share with everyone.
Mircea
I feel ya on this one. Sometimes I just don’t get it. I don’t do the “Seasonal decor” thing I think it’s a little weird .and kinda excessive. But - I do enjoy decorating for Christmas. The older I get the more effort I want to put into it. Plus with the advent of things like Pintrest it’s hard to not get that temptation, you know? I’m trying to hold off on Christmas music because I know I’ll get sick of it before then. My #1 holiday must is cinnamon scents - candles, oils, potpourri, etc. I love it!
Laura
where do you buy your tins?
Either online or at on of the local gourmet stores. - RG