Molten Chocolate Cake Recipe

By
Nila Jones
Nila Jones is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Nila Jones
Nila Jones is a gutsy home baker-turned-blogger who secretly prefers cake batter over cake and who has made it her personal goal to demystify so-called difficult recipes so that everyone, even the most ignorant novice baker, can bake like a master baker. She ran her blog, The Tough Cookie, from 2013-2017.
Learn about Serious Eats' Editorial Process
Updated February 22, 2025
20150206-molten-chocolate-cake-nila-jones-7.jpg
A molten chocolate cake to put all others to shame. Nila Jones

This gooey chocolate cake for two, loaded with whipped cream, ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauce more than delivers. And it couldn't be easier to make.

Why this recipe works:

  • No special equipment required—just a whisk and a rubber spatula.
  • By serving the cake in the ramekin, you don't have to worry about whether it will unmold properly.

Note: Cooking for more than two? This recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, or even quintupled—heck, you could make a hundred of them if you had enough ramekins. Just scale the ingredients accordingly, and then pour into multiple 4-ounce ramekins (making a larger cake in a single larger ramekin will throw off cooking times given here).

Recipe Details

Molten Chocolate Cake Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Cook 20 mins
Active 8 mins
Total 25 mins
Serves 2 servings
Keep Screen Awake

Ingredients

  • 1 ounce semisweet chocolate

  • 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter

  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (18 grams) powdered sugar

  • 1 large egg, at room temperature

  •  1/2 tablespoons (12 g) all-purpose flour

  • Pinch kosher salt

  • Ice cream, for serving

  • Whipped cream, for serving

  • Hulled and quartered fresh strawberries, for serving

  • Store-bought or homemade salted caramel sauce, for serving

  • Store-bought or homemade hot fudge sauce, for serving

Directions

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 390°F.

  2. Melt chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl); alternatively, melt chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl in the microwave, stirring after every 20 second-interval. Once fully melted, whisk in powdered sugar (it's okay if it looks a little bit lumpy).

  3. Separate the egg into two small bowls. Whisk the egg white briefly with a fork, then add half the egg white to the yolk. Discard the remaining half of the egg white.

  4. Add the yolk and half the egg white to the chocolate mixture and whisk until incorporated. Add flour and salt and whisk until the batter is smooth.

  5. Pour the batter into a 4-ounce ramekin. Bake until the cake is set around the edges but still molten within, about 12 minutes. Let cool for 1 minute before adding toppings. Serve immediately.

Special equipment

1 ramekin with 1/2 cup (4 ounce) capacity

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
531 Calories
28g Fat
66g Carbs
8g Protein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories 531
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 28g 36%
Saturated Fat 16g 81%
Cholesterol 155mg 52%
Sodium 267mg 12%
Total Carbohydrate 66g 24%
Dietary Fiber 3g 10%
Total Sugars 51g
Protein 8g
Vitamin C 26mg 130%
Calcium 137mg 11%
Iron 2mg 9%
Potassium 366mg 8%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

More Serious Eats Recipes