Chocolate lava cake is the dessert that made molten chocolate centers a cliché. But clichés become clichés for a reason—because they work, because they deliver exactly what they promise. Break the crust with a spoon and liquid chocolate flows out like dark lava. It is impossible not to be impressed.
The technique is deceptively simple. You underbake a chocolate cake just enough that the center remains molten while the edges set. The timing is crucial—thirty seconds too long and you have a regular chocolate cake. Thirty seconds too short and the whole thing collapses into a puddle. But hit that narrow window and you achieve dessert perfection.
Use good chocolate. This is not the time for baking chocolate or chocolate chips. You want dark chocolate with at least seventy percent cocoa, the kind you would eat on its own. The chocolate is the star here—everything else is just structure to contain it.
