Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake

Name: Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake
Prep time: 7 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 17 min
Ingredients: 1 cup dark chocolate chips; 1/2 cup butter; 3 eggs; 1/2 cup sugar; 1/4 cup flour; 1 teaspoon vanilla; mint leaves ((optional)); raspberries ((optional))

By Erica Walker Published on: February 12, 2021 127 Comments

4.39 from 31 votes

Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe

Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake is rich, gooey and done in 30 minutes! Perfect quick fix for when those chocolate cravings hit.

This rich, decadent lava cake is sure to satisfy any chocolate craving. It is one of our favorite things to make in the Instant pot and the perfect dessert for Valentine’s Day or any other special occasion!

Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake

Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake comes together in just a few minutes, and made with simple ingredients. This is the best dessert to whip up when it’s late, you’re wandering around the house craving something sweet and a handful of chocolate chips from the pantry just isn’t going to cut it. It just as easily can be a centerpiece dessert after a special Valentine’s Day dinner. Super versatile, gooey, and so yummy, this is one of my favorite indulgent treats!

What’s In Lava Cake?

Lava cake ingredients are actually very simple. Chances are, you probably have everything you need in your pantry right now! Here’s what you need:

Chocolate Chips
Butter
Sugar
Eggs
Flour
Vanilla

You will love how quickly this ooey gooey cake comes together with these easy-to-find ingredients. Anything additional such as raspberries, caramel, or even ice cream are purely optional.

Getting The Right Consistency

Do you like your chocolate lava cake with more melted chocolate lava flow or do you like your cake gooey, but a little more in tact? The center “lava” consistency depends on the amount of time it is cooked. In the picture above, I cooked the lava cake in the Instant Pot for 8 minutes. In the picture below I did 9 minutes with a 1 minute slow-release.

Tips for Instant Pot Desserts

Dessert in the Instant Pot or a pressure cooker can be tricky. Trust me, this recipe came about after three failed attempts. With Instant Pot desserts you need to be fairly exact with your cooking times. You also need to consider that cooking times will be different at different elevations.
When cooking dessert or anything in the Instant Pot, you need to make sure you have enough liquid. To make this easier, I like to place the steam rack in the instant pot first. Then, I like to add a couple cups of water to the bottom. Lastly, I place the dessert containers on the steam rack. This places the dessert cups up out of the water and makes them easier to remove from the Instant Pot when they are finished.
Since this recipe makes 4 dessert cups, you will have to place 3 cups on the bottom and one cup over the top (as seen in the picture below). Don’t worry, they will all still cook perfectly, even if they are stacked!
I cooked these Chocolate Lava Cakes for 8 minutes and did a quick release. I live at a fairly low altitude so this time was perfect for me. If you are at a higher elevation, you may want to add a minute to the cook time or allow to slow-release for a minute or two. Just don’t let it slow release for too long or it will over cook and the middle won’t be nice and gooey. You will also want to serve these within just a few minutes of being removed from the Instant Pot to get that perfect center.

Substitutions or Additions to this Recipe

For this recipe I like to use dark chocolate because I think it makes it extra rich. You are adding sugar to the batter so it will still be plenty sweet. If you simply won’t use dark chocolate or if you don’t have it, you can also use semi-sweet.
If you aren’t a fan of having fruit with chocolate, instead of adding raspberries, you can drizzle a little salted caramel or whipped cream to the top.
This recipe uses VERY little flour. Only a quarter cup! That is great news for those who are wanting to make a gluten-free version. Just swap out the flour for your favorite GF flour and you are good to go! If you have a good GF flour, you won’t even be able to tell the difference because the flour amount is so small. Namaste flour from Costco works great or if you have a homemade flour blend that you like, that will work great too!

More Decadent Chocolate Desserts

How to Make Instant Pot Lava Cake

Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake

4.39 from 31 votes

Print Pin Rate

Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake is rich, gooey and done in 30 minutes! Perfect quick fix for when those chocolate cravings hit.

Prep Time: 7 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total: 17 minutes

Serves: servings

Ingredients

1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
mint leaves (optional)
raspberries (optional)

Instructions

Place chocolate chips and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, remove from microwave and stir.
Place back in the microwave for another 30 seconds and stir until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, flour, and vanilla together until smooth.
Pour chocolate mixture into egg mixture and stir well to combine.
Spray four 6-7-ounce ramekins with cooking spray. Fill each ramekin 2/3 of the way full with batter. Put steam rack in the bottom of the Instant Pot and add 1 cup of water.
Place ramekins on the steam rack, placing 3 of the ramekins directly on the rack and one over the top and in the center of the 3 ramekins (as seen in photo above).
Place lid on Instant Pot and place tab to "sealing". Manually set the time to 8 minutes on "high" pressure (see notes above for consistency times). Quick release the pressure and carefully remove ramekins from Instant Pot.
Serve with ice cream and add mint leaves and raspberries for garnish.

Equipment

Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Nutrition

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Instant Pot, Lava Cake

Recipe by: Erica Walker

Tried this recipe?Mention @favoritefamilyrecipes or tag #favoritefamilyrecipes!

127 Comments