Make chocolate lava cakes with your Instant Pot!

One of my favorite desserts to order when eating out is a chocolate lava cake. It’s like warm chocolate heaven! Vanilla ice cream with it is a must! This recipe is so simple and now with an Instant Pot pressure cooker, it’s even more simple. You can cook four little cakes inside at one time, stacking three on one level and the fourth one staggered on top. You’ll have to watch our video to see how easy it is. This would be a fun dessert to serve at a dinner party, or for a special occasion, like say Valentine’s Day…because chocolate is a must on Valentine’s Day…and every day.

What you need to make Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cakes:

granulated sugar
butter
semi sweet chocolate chips
powdered sugar
eggs
egg yolk
vanilla
flour
salt

How to make Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cakes:

Prep ramekins: Butter the bottom and sides of four 6 oz ramekins. Sprinkle sugar inside each one and tip the sugar around to coat all sides. Dump out excess sugar.
Melt butter and chocolate: Melt the butter and chocolate chips in a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl for about 1 minute or more until melted. Stir together until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
Add sugar: Stir in the powdered sugar.
Combine all wet ingredients: Whisk in the eggs, egg yolk and vanilla.
Add flour and salt: Stir in the flour and salt.
Pour into ramekins: Divide the batter evenly between the prepared ramekins.
Add chocolate to center: If you’d like, add semi sweet chocolate chips into the center of the ramekin to guarantee the chocolate flow after cooking.
Pour water into instant pot: Pour 2 cups of water into the inner pot of the Instant Pot, and place the trivet into the water.
Add ramekins: Place 3 ramekins on the trivet and place 1 more on top of them, in the middle (staggered). Close the Instant Pot. Make sure the steam release knob is pointed to the ‘Sealing’ position.
Cook: Pressure Cook for 13 minutes.
Release steam: Do a Quick Release of steam and open the Instant Pot.
Remove ramekins: Use oven mitts to gently remove the ramekins from the Instant Pot. Gently dab off any condensation from the top of each cake.
Flip out: Gently run a knife around the rim of the cake inside the ramekin. Flip the ramekin upside down onto a plate and let gravity pull the cake out of the ramekin. Lift the ramekin off the plate.
Dust with sugar: Dust the chocolate cakes with powdered sugar. Garnish with fresh raspberries.
Serve and enjoy: Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

How to store Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cakes:

Usually these lava cakes are best when made to serve. If you need to store them, you can keep them covered in their individual ramekins and store in the fridge. They will last a few days in there. Just heat them in the microwave when you’re ready to indulge!

Instant Pot vs. Baked Lava Cakes:

We ended up testing the same Chocolate Lava Cake recipe in the oven to see the difference. You can check the results over on that post. One great thing about the instant pot is that it’s a great way to not heat up the house. It’s a great option in the warm Summer months. If you use your Instant Pot for both sweet and savory recipes, it’s a good idea to have a back up sealing ring. Sometimes the sealing ring can hang onto scents from savory dishes that you might not want with your dessert recipes. If you don’t have an instant pot, you can totally cook these in the oven for about the same time at 425 degrees.

Lava Cake gooey center:

There’s such a balance between cooking the entire little cakes enough to not be completely undercooked but not too much that you don’t miss out on that soft undercooked center. I think the answer to guarantee the chocolate lava flow is to add a small chocolate bar or a few semi sweet chocolate chips to the middle. Regardless of the lack of hot chocolate lava flowing out, these little cakes are delish!

Cooking Lava Cakes in the instant pot:

Here’s a look at how you can stack the ramekins inside the instant pot to fit all four ramekins. Three on the bottom rack and the fourth one staggered in the middle resting on the three. You’ll need to add 2 cups of water into the bottom of the inner pot before placing the filled ramekins inside.

Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cakes

Make chocolate lava cakes with your Instant Pot Pressure cooker.

Author Kami | NoBiggie.net

Ingredients

1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter cut into pieces
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup powdered sugar
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
*optional 1 teaspoon of semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Butter the bottom and sides of four 6 oz ramekins. Sprinkle sugar inside each one and tip the sugar around to coat all sides. Dump out excess sugar.
Melt the butter and chocolate chips in a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl for about 1 minute or more until melted. Stir together until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
Stir in the powdered sugar.
Whisk in the eggs, egg yolk and vanilla.
Stir in the flour and salt.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared ramekins.
If you'd like, add semi sweet chocolate chips into the center of the ramekin to guarantee the chocolate flow after cooking.
Pour 2 cups of water into the inner pot of the Instant Pot, and place the trivet into the water.
Place 3 ramekins on the trivet and place 1 more on top of them, in the middle (staggered). Close the Instant Pot. Make sure the steam release knob is pointed to the ‘Sealing’ position.
Pressure Cook for 13 minutes.
Do a Quick Release of steam and open the Instant Pot.
Use oven mitts to gently remove the ramekins from the Instant Pot. Gently dab off any condensation from the top of each cake.
Gently run a knife around the rim of the cake inside the ramekin. Flip the ramekin upside down onto a plate and let gravity pull the cake out of the ramekin. Lift the ramekin off the plate.
Dust the chocolate cakes with powdered sugar. Garnish with fresh raspberries.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!