One of my favorite holiday desserts is lava cake–rich and dense on the outside and all oozy in the middle, topped with sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries. These Spiced Chocolate Lava Cakes get bumped up a notch with some extra holiday spices.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Chocolate – In these photos I’m using American Heritage chocolate that has some extra spices and orange zest, but any good quality semi-sweet or dark chocolate is great!
- Salted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Cloves
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs and egg yolks
- All-purpose flour
- Sweetened whipped cream – for serving.
- Optional toppings – I love topping these cakes with a few berries and a sprig of mint.
How to Make Spiced Lava Cakes
- In a medium saucepan, combine the chocolate and butter and heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until melted. Whisk in cinnamon, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth.
- Add egg yolks and eggs and mix until smooth. Whisk in flour until smooth. Divide the batter evenly among greased ramekins. Bake in preheated oven for 13 minutes.
- While the cakes are baking, beat the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
- When the cakes are done, Remove from oven and allow to stand for 1 minute, then run a knife around the edge of each cup and carefully invert each cup onto an individual serving plate. Add a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and garnish with fresh berries and mint leaves. Serve immediately.
Storing and Other Tips
- These lava cakes are best eaten fresh. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat gently in the microwave and enjoy within 2-3 days. Be aware the center will firm up when reheated.
- Feel free to mix up the flavors as you see fit by adding other extracts or flavoring oil. Orange would be delicious!
Frequently Asked Questions
These lava cakes are best baked fresh!
Nope. Feel free to leave them out if you prefer a plain chocolate lava cake.
Yes! The center of the cakes will reach around 160-165°F, which is hot enough to safely cook the eggs, even though the texture is still gooey.
You’re going to need 4 ounces of AMERICAN HERITAGE®️ Chocolate, a stick of butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, and 4 eggs.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease 4 ramekins and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the chocolate and butter
and heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until melted.
Whisk in cinnamon, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth.
Add egg yolks
and eggs and mix until smooth. Whisk in flour until smooth.
Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins.
Bake in preheated oven for 13 minutes. While the cakes are baking, beat the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
When the cakes are done, Remove from oven and allow to stand for 1 minute,
then run a knife around the edge of each cup and carefully invert each cup onto an individual serving plate. Add a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and garnish with fresh berries and mint leaves. Serve immediately.
Spiced Chocolate Lava Cakes
Ingredients
Lava Cakes
- 4 ounces quality semi-sweet or dark chocolate
- ½ cup 1 stick salted butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of cloves
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 whole eggs
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Whipped Cream Topping
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional Toppings
- mint leaves
- blackberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425℉. Grease 4 ramekins and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the chocolate and butter and heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until melted. Whisk in cinnamon, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth. Add egg yolks and eggs and mix until smooth. Whisk in flour until smooth. Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins.
- Bake in preheated oven for 13 minutes. While the cakes are baking, beat the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
- When the cakes are done, Remove from oven and allow to stand for 1 minute, then run a knife around the edge of each cup and carefully invert each cup onto an individual serving plate. Add a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and garnish with fresh berries and mint leaves. Serve immediately.
Notes
- These lava cakes are best eaten fresh. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat gently in the microwave and enjoy within 2-3 days. Be aware the center will firm up when reheated.
- Feel free to mix up the flavors as you see fit by adding other extracts or flavoring oil. Orange would be delicious!
Nutrition
Questions & Reviews
The cakes look delicious and I can’t wait to make them, but how much of each ingredient did you use? I’ve looked many times and can’t see how much you added.
Hi Zachary- you just need to scroll all the way to the end and you’ll see a printable recipe card. At the top of the post there is also a “jump to recipe” button, try that and it will take you straight there!
Alright thank you, will definitely bake this and share with my friends!
At first when I saw “spiced” chocolate, I thought it was going to be like red pepper spice and I was exicted. (Not that I don’t get excited about cinnamon and cloves in chocolate cake!) So now I am wondering if just a touch of cayenne pepper would not go amiss….
Go for it! It would be amazing!
Can I use a muffin tin if I don’t have ramekins?
Yep! Just keep a close eye on the baking time (it will likely be less) so they don’t overtake.
These look amazing! I’m definitely going to be making these this week!
Paige
Do you have to temper the eggs at all?
Nope! 🙂
These look soooo good, Kate! I love lava cakes; can’t wait to try them with American Heritiage!
What size ramekins are you using?
They’re 6 ounces, but any average-sized ramekin will work. If you look at it and think, “Wow, that’s huge/tiny,” then maybe find one more in the middle. 🙂 Hope that helps!