Air Fryer Lava Mug Cake - Gooey Chocolate Lava Cake
These fail-proof air fryer chocolate lava cakes bring extra lava to the party! Even if you accidentally overcook the cakes, you will always have a gooey center thanks to the chocolate ganache that is added to the center.The cake cooks perfectly, just enough to hold its structure, and the ganache center melts and floods out as soon as you cut into the cake. Every bite features an ooze of chocolate lava that will be sure to impress and satisfy everyone. The gooey ganache in the center means you always have good results.
Servings: 4 Servings
Ingredients
For the Mugs
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
For the Ganache
- 6 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup heavy cream
For the Cake
- 8 tablespoons butter
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 whole eggs room temperature
- 2 egg yolks room temperature
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Prepare the ramekins or mugs by greasing them with butter and dusting them with cocoa powder.
- Heat the cream on the stove or in the microwave in a bowl until it is steaming and just shy of boiling. Add the chocolate chips for the ganache to a medium mixing bowl and pour the hot cream over them. Cover and let them sit for a few minutes.
- Once the chocolate chips have melted completely, mix the cream and chocolate together until smooth. If the hot cream doesn't melt the chocolate completely, use the microwave in 15-second increments to finish melting the chocolate.and refrigerate it until it is firm.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and the remaining semi-sweet chocolate. Melt the chocolate and butter either over a double boiler or in the microwave. If you use a microwave, use low power and 30-second increments.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt to the batter and mix. Then, slowly add the eggs and egg yolks to the batter. Be sure to use room-temperature eggs. Otherwise, the cold eggs could cause the batter to curdle and break. If you notice the batter curdling, see the notes below to fix it.
- Mix in the flour until smooth.
- Fill four 6-ounce ramekins about ½ way with the cake batter (see the notes below for other size dishes). Then, add a dollop of the cooled, firm ganache to the center of the ramekin. Then, fill the ramekin the rest of the way with the batter. You will want to leave about 1 or 2 inches of space in the mugs because the cakes will rise when cooked.
- Bake the lava cakes in the air fryer at 360°F for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are firm and the center is still soft.
- Let the cakes cool for 1-2 minutes, and use a butter knife to loosen the cake from the ramekins. Flip the ramekins over on a plate. You may need to give them a tap to release the cake onto the plate. Serve the lava cakes with fresh berries, ice cream, or whipped cream.
Video
Notes
- When adding cold eggs to a batter with lots of butter, you may experience curdling of the cake batter. This is because the cold butter causes the emulsion of butter fat, milk solids, and water to break. If your batter begins to curdle, stop adding the eggs and quickly add some of the flour to the batter until it smooths out. If this doesn't work, use an electric mixer to smooth the batter out. Avoid this by using room-temperature eggs.
- You can use any chocolate in this recipe. I tested it with chocolate chips and nice chocolate bars. Fancy chocolate bars yield a slightly better result, but the chocolate chips also taste delicious!
- Chocolate chips have an additive called soy lecithin. This helps the chips to retain their shape and means that they are not quite as smooth as chocolate bars when they are melted.
- This recipe size works well with four 6-ounce ramekins or six 4-ounce ramekins. You can use any size baking dish. Just be sure that the dishes fit in the air fryer and monitor the cakes while cooking.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 1006kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 80g | Saturated Fat: 47g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 22g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 309mg | Sodium: 572mg | Potassium: 567mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 45g | Vitamin A: 1819IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 114mg | Iron: 6mg