The Best Lava Cake and Fondant Recipes

If you’re anything like me, you’ll never miss out on ordering a lava cake or chocolate fondant if it’s on the menu. The prospect is just too thrilling! Well, earlier this year – I came to realise that these delicious desserts are ridiculously-easy to rustle up at home too and require a rather short ingredient list at that. In fact, once I got experimenting, I discovered a whole world of possibilities with exciting riffs on the classics. Gathered here, you’ll find the best of these lava cake and fondant recipes featuring:

A classic molten chocolate cake
Dulce de leche lava cake
Eggless chocolate lava cake
Low-carb healthy(ish) dark chocolate fondant (gluten-free, dairy-free & free of refined sugar)
Dark chocolate and raspberry fondant

But first: Lava cakes vs. fondants

If you’re wondering, the answer is yes – there is a difference between a lava cake and fondant.

Also known as molten chocolate cakes, lava cakes marry the best parts of a chocolate cake and a soufflé. These soft chocolate cakes have a distinctly liquid centre which is pure magic. Chocolate fondants on the other hand are slightly different, as they require less flour but more chocolate and butter. As such, they don’t really ooze out chocolate, but nonetheless still melt on the palate (if not your plate!).

Six-step guide for the best lava cake and fondant recipes

Prepare your ramekins: you will need ramekins for these recipes – small glazed ceramic, porcelain, or glass dishes designed to withstand high temperature. Grease each ramekin with butter and a dusting of flour before filling with batter. Don’t skip this step, as it is essential for easily releasing the lava cake from the ramekin onto a plate once out of the oven.
Prepare the batter.
Spoon the batter evenly across the ramekins filling them only about 2/3 of the way to the top.
Bake at the recommended temperature and for the suggested time. Remember that baking times vary from oven to oven; you will want to remove the ramekins from the oven when the edges are set but the centre still has a slight jiggle to it. Remember: an over-baked lava cake will be less gooey and lava-like inside! If you’re unsure about baking time, you can always test it with one lava cake, before popping in the rest once you know the best baking time for your oven.
Plate up: wait a minute before carefully running a knife around the edges of the ramekin and inverting the ramekin out onto a serving plate. Get creative with your toppings and pairings. A scoop of ice cream on the side is a must, but you can also add anything and everything from a dusting of powdered sugar to a scattering of berries, a drizzle more chocolate and so on!

Best Lava Cake & Fondant Recipes

Classic Chocolate Lava Cake

Joy in its purest form – this classic molten chocolate cake requires stirring together five of your most basic pantry ingredients – butter, sugar, flour, eggs and chocolate. All told, you can be digging into these magical chocolate moelleux (as they are known in French!) in about twenty minutes from the time you make a start on this startlingly-simple recipe!

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Dulce de Leche Lava Cake

Lava cakes can be baked with more than just chocolate. Variations with Dulce de Leche are particularly popular in Brazil, with these little “petit gateau” oozing out an indulgent and unapologetically-rich stream of caramel-esque magic.

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Eggless Lava Cake

I know, I know. If I had a penny for every time someone asked me for an eggless alternative for all the popular recipes on TFD…! Catering to popular request, here’s an eggless version of a lava cake.

I have to admit: by virtue of the original recipe, an eggless chocolate lava cake can never match up to a traditional molten chocolate cake, which draws richness and structure from eggs. However, this particular recipe does fit the bill for a super gooey delight, that’s also as chocolatey as it gets!

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Healthy(ish) Dark Chocolate Fondant

Would you believe me if I told you that this dark chocolate fondant is also flourless (therefore gluten-free), dairy-free and free of refined sugar? It never fails to impress, which is why I’m always baking it for my family and friends like family.

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Pooja Dhingra’s Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Fondant

Borrowed from The Foodhall Cookbook – Pooja Dhingra’s recipe for a classic dark chocolate fondant is elevated by a generous swoop of raspberry jam. As it turn out, the only thing better than dark chocolate is dark chocolate paired with berries!