Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake For Two - very easy and decadent molten lava cakes cooked in the Instant Pot pressure cooker, ready in less than 20 minutes. The gooey, fudgy center is irresistible!
Valentine's Day is just a few days away! If you are still trying to decide what dessert to get or make to celebrate the holiday of love, may I suggest this surprisingly easy to make Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake? It's rich, delicious, beautiful and ready under 20 minutes!
INSTANT POT CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE
These Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cakes are rich and decadent! You won't believe they were cooked in the pressure cooker. It's another amazing example that you can make a beautiful dessert in your pressure cooker. My Instant Pot Cherry Delight Cheesecake is a proof!
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE FOR TWO?
- Start by gathering ingredients. Make sure the stainless steel insert is in your Instant Pot. Butter the ramekins and set aside. Measure out flour and powdered sugar, by spooning each into a measuring cup.
- Add 1 cup of tap water to the IP. Set the trivet (that came with your Instant Pot), inside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, place butter (cut into squares) and chocolate. Microwave in 15-second intervals, until the butter is melted. Whisk until the chocolate melts with warm butter. The mixture should be glistening and smooth.
- Add powdered sugar. If your powdered sugar is clumpy, sift it over the chocolate mixture, then whisk in. The mixture should be thick. See photo below, for visual reference.
- Add egg and egg yolk and vanilla and whisk well. Add flour and salt (for best result, sift right over the chocolate mixture) and gently fold in with a spatula. Do not overmix!
- Divide the chocolate batter evenly among the ramekins. Place ramekins on trivet in the Instant Pot. Close the lid and set valve to "sealing" position. Newer models do it on their own. Make sure the IP is set to cook at HIGH pressure. Press "manual" or "pressure cook" button and set timer to 8 minutes. The IP will beep and start coming to pressure. It took 4 minutes for my Instant Pot to come to pressure.
- When the timer is done, press "cancel/off" button. Switch the valve to "venting" position to release the pressure.
- When the pressure pin is down, carefully open the lid away from your face. Carefully, wearing oven mitt, remove ramekin from the IP. Cover each ramekin with a plate, flip over, tap the ramekin and gently remove. The cake should pop right out. Let it cool for a few minutes, dust with powdered sugar and serve.
INSTANT POT LAVA CAKE FOR TWO
This recipe makes two chocolate lava cakes. It's the perfect dessert for a special occasion to enjoy with your loved one, like anniversary, Valentine's Day, etc. You can easily double it, as long as you have enough ramekins.
CAN I MAKE THESE LAVA CAKES AHEAD OF TIME?
Yes, cooked lava cakes can be made up to 2 days in advance. Store them in the fridge and reheat in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds.
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST LAVA CAKE IN INSTANT POT:
- use good chocolate: the better the chocolate, the more delicious the cake will be. While chocolate chips are fine, they are often coated with wax which can affect the taste. Use semi-sweet or dark chocolate in a bar. I used 6 squares to get 2 ounces of chocolate, needed to make this recipe.
- grease the ramekins: to make sure the cakes come out easily out of the ramekins, you need to butter each ramekin (bottom and sides!).
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CAN YOU USE RAMEKINS IN INSTANT POT?
Yes, you can use ramekins in the Instant Pot. If they are meant to be used in the oven, they can be used in the IP. I used 2 6oz ramekins, like in this set. (<<--- affiliate link)
CAN I MAKE GLUTEN-FREE LAVA CAKE?
If you have experience with gluten-free baking and have flour that can be substituted in 1:1 ratio, you can easily use it to make this lava cake gluten-free.
MORE RECIPES:
Instant Pot Cherry Delight Cheesecake
Molten Lava Cakes (baked in the oven)
To learn more about the Instant Pot, check out my Guide for Beginners. If you experienced the “burn” message while using your IP, check out my Instant Pot Burn Message post to learn how to fix the issue and prevent it in the first place.
If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment!
INSTANT POT CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE FOR TWO RECIPE:
Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake For Two recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 2 oz. semi-sweet or dark chocolate
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Make sure the stainless steel insert is in your Instant Pot. Butter the ramekins and set aside. Measure out flour and powdered sugar, by spooning each into a measuring cup. This ensures an accurate amount of flour used. Do not use unbleached flour.
- Add 1 cup of tap water to the IP. Set the trivet (that came with your Instant Pot), inside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, place butter (cut into squares) and chocolate. Microwave in 15-second intervals, until the butter is melted. Whisk until the chocolate melts with warm butter. The mixture should be glistening and smooth.
- Add powdered sugar. If your powdered sugar is clumpy, sift it over the chocolate mixture, then whisk in. The mixture should be thick.
- Add egg and egg yolk and vanilla and whisk well. Add flour and salt (for best result, sift right over the chocolate mixture) and gently fold in with a spatula. Do not overmix!
- Divide the chocolate batter evenly among the ramekins. Place ramekins on trivet in the Instant Pot. Close the lid and set valve to "sealing" position. Newer models do it on their own. Make sure the IP is set to cook at HIGH pressure. Press "manual" or "pressure cook" button and set timer to 8 minutes. The IP will beep and start coming to pressure. It took 4 minutes for my Instant Pot to come to pressure.
- When the timer is done, press the "cancel/off" button. Switch the valve to "venting" position to release the pressure.
- When the pressure pin is down, carefully open the lid away from your face. Carefully, wearing oven mitt, remove ramekin from the IP. Cover each ramekin with a plate, flip over, tap the ramekin and gently remove. The cake should pop right out. Let it cool for a few minutes, dust with powdered sugar and serve.
R M says
I used dark chocolate chips. The cakes came out perfect but they didn't seem sweet enough. Could you increase the sugar without ruining them? or chocolate chips the reason why it wasn't sweet,? Thanks
Lisa says
Do you cover the ramekins with foil before cooking? Will the steam make them soggy?
Don says
I followed the instructions and they were perfect! I made this for my wife as she loves lava cakes. Me, not so much but I have to admit these made me a believer. Thanks.
Diana Walton says
I made this tonite for the first time for Valentines Day dinner. I was busy when the 8 minute timer went off and it sat there with a natural release for 10 minutes. The cakes came out easily from the ramekins. The cake was done and the inside was still gooey with chocolate lava. Added a few raspberries and ice cream to the plate and it was perfect. Definitely a keeper for me.
Anna says
Yay! I am so happy the cake was a success! Thank you for making my recipe, Diana!
Randy Reiff says
Love these lava cakes! The first time I made them, they weren't quite done at 8 minutes - still delicious of course! The second time, I put them in for 8 min, and then did a natural pressure release for 3 minutes, followed by the quick release. That extra time really helped! I suppose 9 min on high would have done about the same thing. These are soooo good though! Do you think I could make up a dozen or so and freeze them, then pop them out if company arrives?
Yves Yang says
I love this recipe ... its perfect ! Thank you
Sara says
Thank you for the recipe! I use a silicone trivet and it's much better than the metal trivet that came with the instant pot.
Erin says
I made this and can't figure out what I did wrong but something happened.. the cake was very spongy and no chocolate liquid inside it was cooked throughly. Any advice?
Karen says
I had the same problem, no lava! But still nice flavour. More like a steamed pudding.
Mo says
I followed the recipe exactly except one change: olive oil spray in the ramekin instead of butter. Is this was messed them up? I opened the instant pot and they didn’t look done at all—liquid resting on top but I could see some cooked inside so I put them back in for 3 more minutes. Opened it and still had a layer of liquid on top. I took them out and poured the liquid off (which of course made some of the molten inside spill out through the top of the cake). It was oil! The cake seeped oil out for a few minutes after that, with the powdered sugar on top even turning dark and wet because it was absorbing it. The cakes still tasted pretty good but I think it should be noted that spray shouldn’t be used (sorry if I missed that somewhere!) because it really ruined presentation and somewhat taste. That’s the only reason I can think that they would’ve turned out that way!
Ashley says
Very delicious! But, I followed directions precisely and my lava cakes were not cooked in 8 min. Added another 5 min and were mostly cooked, but still not fully cooked...? What did I do wrong?
G says
hello! just wondering, can I use granulated sugar or does it need to be powder?
Anna says
Hi! As stated in the recipe box, you need powdered sugar.
Sam says
Tried the recipe, and while delicious the texture of the cake was a little rubbery. Followed the directions exactly. Any ideas on what could be going wrong?
Anna says
Hi Sam! Lava cakes can be quite finicky. Most likely it was from overmixing. You really have to be gentle folding the flour. I hope this helps!
Jenna Kenison says
Can I make this with 4.5 oz ramekins or will that mess it up?
Anna says
Hi Jenna! I am afraid they will be too small unless you have three of them. Try to divide the batter equally.
val says
I only have unbleached flour at home. What will happen to the lava cake if I use it? Thanks, I'm excited to try your recipe
Stan says
I am wondering the same thing. What is the reason for avoiding unbleached flour?
Anna says
Hi Stan! Believe it or not, unbleached flour can change the final result. If you want soft and fluffy cake, with the perfect center, I recommend using bleached flour. I hope this helps!
Johanna says
I want to make this since my kids love molten lava cake, but there is three of us. If I double the recipe, and I stack the ramekins in the IP? Or do I have to cook them in two batches? I have a 6qrt IP.
Anna says
Hi Johanna! Yep, you can stack them but most likely you can fit 3 on the trivet. I hope you all guys love it!
Erin says
What size ramekins? Thank you
Dawn Peacock says
she used two 6 oz ramekins