Molton Chocolate Babycakes (also known as Lava Cakes) are gorgeous chocolatey cakes with a warm chocolate centre that makes its own gorgeous sauce. Perfect for entertaining, you can make them up a few hours in advance and store them in the fridge, baking them just before serving.
I have slightly adapted this recipe from Nigella Lawson’s book How to Be A Domestic Goddess (affiliate link). It has to be one of my most used cookbooks, and it is has the flour marks and batter splotches on it to prove it! If you do not have it in your cookbook collection, I urge you to get hold of a copy as soon as you can. Aside from the delicious recipes, Nigella’s writing style is a delight, and for me this book is as much a treasured reading companion as a recipe tome. But on to the Babycakes.
I often make Molton Chocolate Babycakes in my heart shaped Le Creuset dishes (perfect for Valentine’s Day!) but you can use any 6 ounce (175 ml) ramekin, soufflé dish or custard dish. (affiliate link)
You need to line the dishes with bits of baking parchment, so I traced round the bottom of the dishes and cut out little heart shapes. I also brushed the dishes themselves with melted butter before I inserted the parchment.
Like all of Nigella’s recipes, this one is easy to follow and if you do as she says, it will turn out beautifully. Do not, as I did with my first attempt, decide to cook these just a little longer than she says or you will end up with lots of cake and very little molten chocolate.
Luckily, on that first occasion, I baked half of the recipe the first time round, and stored the rest in the fridge overnight. My second attempt was much more successful than the first. I brought the dishes to room temperature so they were not going into the oven fridge cold, and baked them for exactly 11 minutes to molten gorgeousness.
My Variation on Nigella’s Recipe
I made a couple of changes to the Molten Chocolate Babycakes recipe. I substituted almond extract for vanilla, and cut the sugar back by 4 tablespoons. I was really pleased with the results. As the dark chocolate makes these intense in an almost ‘death by chocolate’ way, I served them with good vanilla ice cream.
Molton Chocolate Babycakes – Printable Recipe
Molton Chocolate Babycakes
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons soft unsalted butter, plus more for greasing dishes
- 12 ounces really good dark chocolate I used Lindt 70% cocoa bars
- 1/2 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 4 large eggs
- pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ cup Italian 00 flour or all purpose (plain) flour I prefer Italian 00 flour but both work
Instructions
- Preheat the oven and a baking sheet to 200C (180C for fan/convection ovens). (Unless you are making the Molton Chocolate Babycakes in advance, in which case do this just before baking.)
- Set 3 of the baking dishes/soufflé dishes/moulds on a sheet of folded parchment or baking paper and draw around the bases. Then unfold the sheet and cut around the marks.
- Grease the inside of the baking dishes/soufflé dishes/moulds lightly with some butter and then press the discs into the bottom of them.
- Melt the chocolate carefully and set aside to cool a bit.
- Cream together the butter and sugar in an electric mixer or with a hand mixer.
- Beat the four eggs together with the pinch of salt and then gradually beat them into the creamed butter and sugar.
- Beat in the almond flavouring.
- Add the flour and beat it in until the mixture is smooth and well-combined.
- Add the melted chocolate and gently blend together with a wooden spoon until smooth.
- Divide the batter between the six baking dishes/soufflé dishes/moulds. They are now ready to bake or to put in the fridge until you need them. Be sure to remove them from the fridge a few minutes before baking so the dishes are not fridge-cold.
- If you have preheated the oven and are ready to bake the Lava Cakes, carefully remove the pre-heated baking sheet and place it on a heat-proof surface.
- Put the six baking dishes/soufflé dishes/moulds on the pre-heated pan and carefully put it back in the oven.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes (I generally find 11 minutes is perfect if I have made the mixture in advance and stored it in the fridge before baking. It normally takes ten minutes if I'm baking them straight-away but as I shared above, you need to watch these!)
- Meanwhile get some serving plates or shallow bowls ready, because as soon as the Babycakes are cooked, you need to take them out of the oven and carefully tip them on to the serving vessels. Take care not to burn yourself!
- Serve with vanilla ice cream (my preference), cream or whipped cream. I love garnishing them with raspberries if they are in season.
did you make this recipe?
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