Chocolate Lava Cakes

There was a point in the early 2000s when just about every celebrity chef claimed to have invented the molten cake, the lava cake, or whatever they called it. Not one of them made the cake in a multi-cooker! Too bad, because the steam creates a super light cake surrounding a liquid chocolate center. You can unmold these cakes on plates, although they can tear (and immediately run) if you haven’t greased the ramekin well enough for the cake to pop loose. Run a flatware knife around the inside perimeter, put a dessert plate over the ramekin, turn the whole operation upside down, and tap gently until the cake comes free. Or simply serve the warm cakes in their ramekins with spoons and plenty of whipped cream.

Cuisine

Modern

Course

Dessert

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

15-30 min

Cooking Technique

Max Pressure Cook, Pressure Cook

Keywords

15-30 min, 4 servings, all-purpose flour, bittersweet chocolate, butter, confectioners’ sugar, contributed, cook 10 min, dessert, easy, egg yolk, eggs, max pressure cook, modern, prep 5 min, pressure cook, table salt, water

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

10 min

Servings

4 servings

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
6 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp table salt
1 1/2 cups Water

Instructions

Put the butter and chocolate in a large, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high in 10-second bursts, stirring well after each, until a little over half of the butter has melted. Remove from the microwave oven and continue stirring until smooth.
Set the chocolate mixture aside and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, generously butter the inside of four heat- and pressure-safe 1-cup ramekins.
Stir the confectioners’ sugar into the chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is well incorporated before adding the next. Stir in the egg yolk until smooth, then the flour and salt, stirring again until smooth. Divide this mixture evenly among the prepared ramekins. Do not cover the ramekins.
Pour the water in the cooker. Set a trivet in the pot, then stack the 4 ramekins on the trivet. Lock the lid onto the cooker.
Optional 1 Max Pressure Cooker
Press Pressure cook on Max pressure for 8 minutes with the Keep Warm setting off.
Optional 2 All Pressure Cookers
Press Pressure cook (Manual) on High pressure for 10 minutes with the Keep Warm setting off.
When the machine has finished cooking, turn it off and let its pressure return to normal naturally, about 20 minutes. Unlatch the lid and open the cooker. Transfer the hot ramekins to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. Serve warm or cover and chill in the fridge for up to  1 day, serving them right in their ramekins.

Notes

Beyond
- Because of the shape of the ramekins, this recipe will not work (even halved) in a 3-quart cooker.
- Add up to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, or 1/4 teaspoon orange extract with the eggs.

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