Lava cake

The legend of the lava cake

Lava cake gets its name from the way that its molten middle oozes out like, well, lava! It’s an iconic sight that’s just as important as the actual taste of the dessert. However, while the popularity of this indulgent treat isn’t in question, its history is a little less clear. Two chefs claim to be the creator of the chocolate lava cake recipe: Michel Bras and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. And strangely, they might both be right.

Bras claims he first served his version of a lava cake recipe in 1981, at his restaurant in Laguiole, France. The simple act of drinking hot chocolate on a skiing holiday inspired him, and he spent two years perfecting the dessert. His take on it was more complicated than many modern recipes, comprising a frozen ganache centre surrounded by chocolate cake batter.

Vongerichten, on the other hand, claims to have created his lava cake recipe by accident. When making chocolate cakes at a New York City restaurant in 1987, he removed them from the oven too early. Rather than being a disaster, the cakes’ inadvertently gooey middle made them a huge hit. The dessert quickly became a permanent fixture on the menu, and it wasn’t long before it spread across the US.

Although some chefs use Bras’ method, because of its simplicity, Vongerichten’s molten lava cake recipe tends to be more popular. It uses relatively few ingredients and is surprisingly simple to bake (not that you need to tell your guests that!)

One way in which we’ve made this lava cake recipe a little different to Vongerichten’s is by using cacao powder. Time to find out more about this delicious and wellness-supporting ingredient.

What is cacao powder?

It’s easy to mix up cacao and cocoa because they come from the same beans: cacao beans. Even the words are very similar! And the fact that people sometimes use the terms interchangeably doesn't help matters. Although they look, smell, and taste fairly alike, there are definite differences between these two chocolatey foods. It all comes down to how they’re processed. And while you can use either in your lava cake recipe, we think cacao has the edge.

Producers harvest cacao beans from Theobroma cacao trees, then allow them to ferment and develop their flavour. To make cacao powder, you leave the beans to dry in the sun. To make cocoa powder, you roast them. After this step, the rest of the process is the same. This small difference means that cacao powder has a more bitter taste than cocoa powder, and a lighter brown colour.

And while they both have potential benefits for our health, the wellness advantages of cacao powder are more impressive. One reason for this is that cocoa powder often includes added sugar and dairy, which lessens its nutritional value. But cacao also retains more of the bean’s nutrients thanks to its minimal processing. Here's why we’ve chosen to use cacao powder in this lava cake recipe.

The health benefits of cacao powder

A chocolate lava cake recipe isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when you think of a healthy dish! And we’re certainly not going to pretend that it’s as nutritious as a salad. However, cacao powder does bring some wellness benefits to the dessert that we believe are worth highlighting.

For starters, it’s bursting with potent polyphenols and flavanols, which have impressive antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This is beneficial because both chronic inflammation and oxidative stress raise the risk of several harmful conditions.

Getting more specific, using cacao powder (and some cocoa powders) in a lava cake recipe could support your cardiovascular health. It can increase the levels of nitric oxide in your blood, which benefits the function of your blood vessels. This enhances blood flow and lowers blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke.(1) The fact that cacao could have a positive influence on cholesterol levels further supports heart health.

But the heart isn’t the only organ that could benefit from the inclusion of cacao in your lava cake recipe. Improving blood flow is also good for your brain, providing it with the oxygen and nutrients it needs to function. This may lessen the risk of neurodegenerative conditions and help to stave off cognitive decline.(2)

Excitingly, studies even show that cacao could support cognitive functions in healthy young and middle-aged adults.(3) That’s a great excuse to bake this lava cake recipe the night before an exam or important day at work! Let’s find out how.

How to make this chocolate lava cake recipe

Something we appreciate about this molten lava cake recipe is that, although it looks complex, it’s surprisingly easy to bake. To start, heat your oven to 180℃ and dust six ramekins with cacao powder. While the oven is warming up, grab a bowl and add the all-purpose flour, cacao powder, salt, and brown sugar. Mix well, then set it aside.

Next, take a smaller bowl and pour in a cup of oat milk and one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Stir them together, then leave the mixture to curdle for about five minutes before adding the oil and vanilla extract. We’ve recommended two teaspoons of vanilla, but you can adjust this to suit your tastes. Mix well, then add the liquid ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold them together until they’re fully combined.

Now you’re all set to divide the batter between your cacao-dusted ramekins. Want to make this molten lava cake extra gooey inside? Chop up some dark chocolate and press it into the centre of each ramekin of batter. It will melt while the cake is baking, ready to flow out when you carve into it with your spoon. Delicious!

Cook your cakes for about 10-12 minutes, then let them rest for 3-5 minutes. Next, decant them from the ramekins onto serving plates. Finally, dust each one with a little almond milk powder and enjoy! We recommend tucking into your lava cake recipe straightaway, while the middle is still gorgeously molten.

How to check if your chocolate lava cake is ready

It can be tricky to know if a lava cake recipe is underbaked, perfectly baked, or overbaked before eating it. Which isn’t ideal, because the bake is so important on this dessert. Get it wrong, and your molten lava cake is just a regular chocolate cake. With that in mind, here are a few ways to check if your cake is ready to take out of the oven:

• Stick a toothpick into the top of your lava cake. You want it to come out with a touch of batter on it, not completely clean. When you insert it in the edges, however, it should come out clean.
• The sides of the cake should be cooked and firm, but the middle still a bit shiny and jiggly. Shaking the ramekin slightly will help you test this!
• The cakes will begin to rise above the top of the ramekin when this lava cake recipe is ready.

Loosening the outside with a thin knife should enable you to turn the cakes out of the ramekins more easily!

All about apple cider vinegar

Vinegar might not seem like the most obvious ingredient to use in a lava cake recipe. However, it serves an important purpose. Mixing it with plant-based milk makes a vegan alternative to buttermilk. Adding this to your bake gives your lava cake recipe a wonderfully light and airy sponge, with a moist texture. Incidentally, apple cider vinegar may also have some health benefits of its own. For example, it could have a positive influence on blood sugar and cholesterol levels, plus suppress appetite in the short-term.(4)

So don’t be tempted to leave it out – we promise it’s there for a good reason!

Why you should add dark chocolate to your lava cake recipe

Having an extra-gooey middle isn’t the only reason to use dark chocolate in your lava cake recipe. Just like cacao powder, this ingredient is also rich in potential wellness benefits. And one that we haven’t mentioned yet is the ability to lift our mood.

This may be due to flavanols that cacao and cocoa contain, or the positive effects chocolate has on our gut microbiota.(5) In addition, dark chocolate is bursting with an amino acid called tryptophan, which the body converts to serotonin. This is a natural mood stabiliser. All of which helps explain why many studies have linked consuming dark chocolate to a reduced risk of depression.(6)

To get the most benefit from using chocolate in your lava cake recipe, choose one that’s at least 70% cocoa. Similarly, try to avoid bars with lots of added sugar, dairy, or other extra ingredients. Otherwise, the negatives of eating the chocolate might outweigh the positives!

Introducing our organic raw cacao powder

We source the raw cacao powder for this lava cake recipe directly from small, independent farmers in Peru. They use their expertise to cultivate and harvest top quality cacao beans using only organic techniques. No pesticides or other chemicals in sight! Our team then transforms them into cacao powder in small batches, ensuring that the quality remains high. And we ship this to you in environmentally friendly, recyclable amber glass jars to keep it fresh.

We absolutely adore this chocolate lava cake recipe, but it’s not the only dish you can use cacao powder in. Essentially, it’s possible to create any recipe that calls for cocoa powder with cacao powder instead. Brownies, cupcakes, cookies… anything chocolatey will work! We also love adding a scoop to smoothies or using it to make raw treats like energy bars and bliss balls. Other delicious options include sprinkling some on porridge, fresh fruit, breakfast bowls, and granola.

One thing to bear in mind about cacao is that it contains caffeine. As such, if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, or sensitive to caffeine, you may wish to limit your intake of the ingredient. Of course, caffeine has its benefits too, from supporting cognition to enhancing physical performance. So rather than being a negative, this could be another reason to use it in your lava cake recipe.

Customising your molten lava cake

You might not think there’s much room for customisation in a lava cake recipe. In some senses, that’s true, as you need to preserve the distinctive melted centre. However, you’ve still got plenty to play around with in terms of taste and toppings.

For instance, you could add a dash of cinnamon to the batter to bring warmth and spice to the dessert. Alternatively, sprinkle icing sugar on top instead of almond milk powder for extra sweetness. Desiccated coconut is another great choice, retaining the white colour for contrast but adding a new flavour dimension. You might also like to use vegan white chocolate in the middle rather than dark chocolate to mix things up!

When it comes to what to serve with this lava cake recipe, the options are almost endless. Make it healthier with a handful of fresh strawberries and raspberries. Or go more decadent with a scoop or two of sorbet or vegan ice cream. Drizzle a little plant-based cream or chocolate fudge sauce on top for even more moisture. The choice is yours.

Although we’ve talked about serving this lava cake recipe at dinner parties, it’s also ideal for normal family dinners. And you needn’t feel guilty about whipping one up just for yourself! We find its rich, warm, chocolatey deliciousness to be the perfect antidote to cold and dark winter nights. In fact, we’re going to start preheating the oven right now…!