I'm craving chocolate right now. But I don't want just another bite of chocolate. I'm confused by my own cravings. It's like an inner conflict between the brain and the tongue.
These things happen sometimes to a lot of us. Luckily, I have a quick and delicious solution for my problem: An easy to make keto lava cake. It's done in 20 minutes altogether. That's not too long for my brains and tongue's patience.
I believe I'm sharing the chocolate craving problem with a number of you. Here you go, enjoy a chocolate delight.
You'll be done with the preparation in 10 minutes and the oven will work instead of you for another 10.
What's more, you will only need 5 ingredients!
The 5 Ingredients for the Keto Lava Cake
One of the best things about this recipe, which I'm sure you'll all appreciate, is that you might have all the ingredients already waiting in the pantry.
But first, look for a couple of eggs and a quarter cup of butter in the fridge.
Next, being a chocolate fan, you're hopefully keeping a stack of high-quality dark chocolate and/or sugar-free keto-friendly chocolate somewhere in your home.
Not many keto recipes are made without any blanched and finely ground almond flour. You will only need a small amount in this recipe.
Powdered sweetener of choice is the last ingredient that will add to the bulk and, naturally, to the sweetness of the keto lava cake batter. Most of the time, I recommend using a sweetener blend that is as sweet as sugar.
You can read about how we make our own blend at home, here.
The Equipment You'll Need
If you want to melt your chocolate double boiler style you will need a bowl for the chocolate that will sit on top of a pot filled with simmering water.
Alternatively, a microwave-safe bowl will come in handy for malting the chocolate inside a microwave.
A rubber spatula is something I'd encourage all of you to keep in your kitchen. It comes in fantastically handy for most of the keto baking recipes.
Besides the oven, an important thing to have for the keto lava cake is a couple of ramekins that will sit in a baking pan filled with hot water. The method used here is called water bath or bain-marie.
An electric mixer and a medium-size bowl will make beating the eggs a piece of cake.
How to Make the Keto Lava Cake
- As usual, you'll first want to preheat your oven to 305°F (175°C) and grease your ramekins with butter.
- Now you'll melt your chocolate with butter. Either use the double-boiler method or put the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in a microwave in 30-second intervals. Stir each time and repeat the process until the chocolate and butter are melted and well combined. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the room temperature eggs with powdered sweetener until fluffy. The fluffy part is important as we are not using any baking powder.
- Add the chocolate mixture into the fluffy egg mixture and stir gently. Also, sieve the finely ground almond flour into the egg mixture. Stir gently until combined. Keep the mixture airy.
- It is now time for a water bath (bain-marie). Place the ramekins in a baking dish and fill it with hot water until it reaches 1 inch up the ramekins.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove the ramekins from the oven and let them cool for a couple of minutes or until the ramekins are no longer too hot to touch.
- Flip each ramekin upside down onto a dessert plate. Let it rest for another minute before removing the ramekins. Now, it is finally the time to serve the keto lava cakes. Dust them with some more powdered sweetener.
Notes:
We like adding a tablespoon of cacao powder to the mixture for a nice flavor that becomes a tad more bitter.
A half-dash of salt also combines very well with chocolate.
It is of high importance to beat the eggs until fluffy and to keep the whole mixture airy by not stirring too long or too vigorously after adding chocolate and flour.
The Recipe Tips and Tricks
Can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour?
We, by no means, prefer the finely blanched almond flour which has worked best in this recipe. However, in case of allergies or such, you might want to use coconut flour. If this is the case, use approximately ¼ tablespoon coconut flour per batch.
Can I use coconut oil instead of butter?
We wouldn't recommend that in this recipe as the batter will no longer have as much potential for an airy cake-like consistency. It can, however, be done with coconut or another type of oil, but we haven't been as satisfied with the cake in the end.
Can I just skip the water bath?
No. The chances are you will be baking brownies inside ramekins instead of lava cake. The water bath creates gentle heat around the ramekins and results in a more uniform cooking process.
My lava cake baked all the way through with no soft or runny center.
Chances are your oven was too hot for a 10-minute bake. As every oven operates and heats a bit differently, it might take some trial and error for you to find the right timing and baking temperature for the desired result.
We suggest shortening the baking time for 2 minutes or lowering the temperature of the oven for 40°F (5°C) and see what happens.
How can I store the keto lava cakes?
These are originally suggested in batches of two cakes on purpose.
With the soft or even runny center of the cake, it is meant to be served and enjoyed immediately.
Thus, we don't recommend storing the cakes for later. If you store them in the fridge, they will not go bad but will most probably not be lava cakes anymore,
Recipe
Keto Lava Cake
Ingredients
- 2 eggs - room temperature
- 2 oz dark chocolate - at least 80% cacao
- 2 oz butter
- 1 ½ tablespoon almond flour - blanched & finely ground
- 3 tablespoon powdered sweetener
- butter - for greasing the ramekins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease two ramekins with butter.
- Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter. Stir until well combined.Alternatively, melt the butter and chocolate in a microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each interval.Let cool to room temperature.
- Beat the eggs with powdered sweetener for a few minutes until fluffy.
- Add the cooled chocolate mixture and sieved almond flour. Stir gently using a rubber spatula until incorporated. Keep the mixture airy by not stirring too long or too vigorously.
- Pour the batter into the ramekins.
- Make a water bath (bain-marie): Place the ramekins in a baking dish and fill it with 1-inch hot water.
- Bake the lava cakes for 10 minutes.
- Remove the lava cakes from the oven and allow them to cool few minutes.
- Flip each ramekin upside down onto a plate and allow to rest for 1 minute. Remove the ramekins and serve the lava cakes dusted with some more powdered sweetener.
Notes
Nutrition
MORE KETO CHOCOLATE DESSERT RECIPES TO TRY!
If you love this low-carb keto recipe, I recommend you also try:
D CHAMBERS says
Not sure if it's my PC, but I cannot seem to figure out how can I print this recipe. Thanks in advance for your help!
Tisa says
Hi. We're in the process of setting up a separate print page. In the meantime, all the content is available online. It's not add-free as we need financial support to be able to continue creating and delivering free online recipes and other resources. Thank you for your understanding.
Ron N says
I would love to try it, but I can't find the Print button.
Tisa says
Hi. We're in the process of setting up a separate print page. In the meantime, all the content is available online. It's not add-free as we need financial support to be able to continue creating and delivering free online recipes and other resources. Thank you for your understanding.