Is there any more luxuriant dessert than the chocolate lava cake? And although it may seem a daunting venture, these little cakes with a molten chocolate interior are actually surprisingly easy to realize. All it takes is good preparation and timing.

Lavish as this last course may be, you may still take it up a nudge by adding a particular flavor. The variations in the below recipe are really just a few ideas (my favorite is the violet – it’s really extravagant and super delicious!). Or you stick to the basic recipe and indulge in pure chocolate bliss!

Sanni

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 50 grams of butter
• 50 grams of dark (pâtisserie) chocolate
• 20 grams of cake flour (German type 405)
• 30 grams of icing sugar
• 1 egg (50 grams)

Variation no. 1: Chili

• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of chili flakes (ground into a fine powder in a mortar)
• For decoration: Chili threads or a small fresh chili

Variation no. 2: Violet 

• violet food flavoring (determine the amount in accordance with the instructions for the flavoring you use)
• For decoration: crystallized violet leaves, silver pâtisserie dust

Variation no. 3: Pomegranate

• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped pomegranate beads and their juice
• 1-2 additional teaspoons of flour
• For decoration: a few fresh pomegranate beads

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (fan oven).
2. Line 2 oven-proof dessert rings (ca. Ø 8 cm) with parchment paper. Place on an even (!) oven tray lined with parchment paper.
3. In a water-bath (not too hot), melt first the butter and then the chocolate until completely liquid.
4. In the meantime, sift the flour and the sugar. Incorporate the egg with an egg whisk. Make sure there are no lumps in the batter.
5. If you are going for any of the variations, add the respective flavoring and ingredients now.
6. Incorporate first the butter and then the chocolate using a baking spatula. Mix well (but do not beat too much in order to avoid bubbles) until the batter is smooth. The batter should not be too viscous, but also make sure that it is not too runny (or it will spill out from the bottom of the dessert rings) – carefully add a bit more flour if this should be the case.
7. Pour into the dessert rings and bake for 11 minutes. Depending on your oven, slightly more or less time may be required: Check by observing the center of the cake – it should be still of a darker color and slightly sunken in, very moist and almost runny, but not liquid anymore. However, best to know for sure how much time you require to obtain an ideal result is to do a test-run. The idea of a chocolate lava cake is, of course, that the center is still runny while the outside is cooked as you can see in the picture.
8. Take out of the oven and transfer quickly to individual plates with a pâtisserie spreading spatula or cake lifter. Remove the dessert ring and the parchment paper.
9. Decorate as the variations above suggest – or in whichever manner that pleases your eye! Serve immediately (warm!).