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Have you tried the Carnival Cruise Line Warm Chocolate Melting Cake? Now you don’t have to hit the high seas to indulge in this decadent chocolate melting cake at home.
Featured with this recipe
- Ingredients in Carnival Chocolate Melting Cake
- How We Got Carnival Cruise Line’s Recipe
- Reader Reviews of this Recipe
- Baking Tips for Chocolate Melting Cake
- Frequently Asked Questions about Carnival Chocolate Melting Cake
- More Decadent Chocolate Cake Recipes
- Get Away Today
- How To Make Carnival Chocolate Melting Cake
- Carnival Cruise Line Warm Chocolate Melting Cake Recipe
Carnival’s famous melting chocolate cake is the most popular dessert on a Carnival Cruise. The rich, chocolate cake has a warm, pudding-like chocolate center that is to die for! If you don’t believe us, see all the rave reviews from our readers in the comments below.
On a cruise, this decadent dessert is served in individual greased ramekins that are the perfect size for one serving. This chocolate cake recipe tastes just like the original recipe (because it IS the original recipe!) but you can make it in the comfort of your own home. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dusting of powdered sugar or whipped topping.
Ingredients in Carnival Chocolate Melting Cake
This is one of the easiest chocolate desserts to make, and yet it looks and tastes super fancy! It resembles a lava cake, with delicious melted chocolate, a fudgy chocolate mixture in the center. Here’s what you need:
- Dark chocolate chips – use any chocolate chips you like, but I find the dark or semi-sweet chocolate really enhances the luxurious flavor.
- Butter – melted butter, about cube and a half.
- Eggs -four large or five medium eggs. Make sure the egg mix is at room temperature before adding the next ingredients.
- Sugar – about ¾ cup white, granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract – not a lot: just ⅛ teaspoon
- Flour – a quarter cup
- Optional toppings: ice cream, whipped cream, powdered sugar, strawberries, caramel sauce, raspberries, other fresh berries, nuts.
How We Got Carnival Cruise Line’s Recipe
Our sister, Elise, just got back from a cruise to the Caribbean with her family. As soon as she stepped on land she called me and said, “We need to figure out the recipe for the Melting Cake they served on the ship. It was to die for!” Literally, moments later I was on the phone with GET AWAY TODAY telling them about my sister’s cruise and they said “We have the recipe for that cake! A couple of our cruise specialists got the recipe from their last cruise!” I am not even kidding, that same day I went and got the ingredients to make it. Let me tell you – it was fabulous! We are sharing this ACTUAL recipe with you! You can enjoy this delicious cake anytime!
Reader Reviews of this Recipe
“Holy cannoli, this is delicious. I’m hesitant to admit that I’ve made it three times this week… but you all deserve to know. I didn’t have ramekins so I put the batter in muffin tins and reduced the time to 10 minutes. I thought it’d make for better portion sizes but my husband and I ended up eating three at a time anyways. Thank you for this life changing recipe, but darn you for making me come face to face with my lack of self control. Five stars for sure.”
BEKAH
“Chocolate lovers! Hear me and make this recipe. You will not be sorry.”
JAYNE
“It is the best thing I ever had ever! It is so good I had it every night on my cruise recently. I highly recommend it! Sinfully delicious! Yum!”
CHARLENE
Baking Tips for Chocolate Melting Cake
- Do not overbake! It is supposed to be spongy and cake-y on top but gooey and melty in the middle.
- After 14 minutes, be sure to keep checking it. You don’t want it to be cake-y all the way through, nor do you want it to be too runny.
- Use your good judgement for doneness because oven temps and elevations are different for everyone. If you are worried about it, keep doing the “toothpick test” every minute or so.
- If you put the toothpick all the way down to the bottom and the bottom half of the toothpick DOESN’T come out clean, you did it right.
Frequently Asked Questions about Carnival Chocolate Melting Cake
Yes! You can substitute gluten free all-purpose flour in this recipe. The rule of thumb I use is substitute the flour 1:1 and add one teaspoon of xanthan gum.
We wouldn’t recommend it. They are much better when they are warm out of the oven.
Lava cake is a thick fudgy batter spooned into ramekins and baked so the center still remains liquidy. Molten cake is made with a more traditional batter that is poured into a greased pan and baked until the center is just barely set.
READ NEXT: 33+ Dessert Ideas
More Decadent Chocolate Cake Recipes
Get Away Today
As I mentioned earlier, I was on the phone with GET AWAY TODAY trying to book a last-minute vacation for my family and they told me this month (October) is National Cruise Month! That is why Get Away Today was so gracious to share this Carnival Cruise recipe with us. If you are looking for a fun place to go on vacation or if you are even just thinking about going on vacation, click HERE to see the deals that they can get you!
By the way, can I just say I LOVED working with them on booking our vacation for next month? They definitely make you feel like a VIP no matter what your budget is! You can call them personally and they will answer any and all of your questions and give you EXPERT advice. They will help you find the perfect vacation for you and your budget. It makes me feel more special saying that I have a “travel agent” rather than saying “I found a deal online”. They can find better deals than what you can find on other travel sites and you can actually talk to a real person to structure your vacation. Call them. Tell them Favorite Family Recipes sent ya! And tell them how much you love this chocolate cake!
We also use GET AWAY TODAY for booking Disney Vacations…
and trips to Universal Studios!
How To Make Carnival Chocolate Melting Cake
Carnival Cruise Line Warm Chocolate Melting Cake
Video
Equipment
- Whisk
- 7 ounce Ramekins
- Sauce pan
Ingredients
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
- ¾ cup butter
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup flour
- powdered sugar, for dusting
- ice cream, for serving
- whipping cream, for serving
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt chocolate chips and butter in a small saucepan. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together.
- Add vanilla and flour. Whisk until flour is well mixed in.
- Once the chocolate has cooled, combine it with the egg mixture.
- Fill 4 (7-ounce) ramekins about three-fourths full with chocolate batter. Bake for 14 minutes.
- Check to make sure the edges of the ramekin are cooked and the top of the cakes appear to be cooked as well.
- Once cooled, sprinkle the cakes lightly with powdered sugar.
- Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.
Notes
- You’ll need 4 (7-ounce) ramekins to make these, not a regular cake pan.
- Watch these babies closely. Do not overbake! The cake is supposed to be spongy and cakey on top but gooey and melty in the middle, the consistency of pudding, not too runny. If you put the toothpick all the way down to the bottom and the bottom half of the toothpick doesn’t come out clean, you did it right.
I wanted to thank you for writing up this recipe. I have made this three times in a muffin tin like a comment or below mentioned. Your recipe worked perfectly at 375 degrees for 12 minutes. I made 12 baby cakes filled up 70 percent high in a silicone baking pan (silicone is necessary to pop them in one piece!). I first tried 10 minutes but that made them deflate and explode. 12 was perfect, 13 was too cakey and not custardy enough in the center. I have also refrigerated them and reheated them in the microwave – not as good, but I can only eat so much in one sitting lol!
I haven’t made it yet. When I was on a cruise over 10 years ago the chef got me the recipe. I lost it. I do remember it called for 11 eggs! I remember that because it seemed an odd number. Obviously it must have been double this recipe at least. Looking forward to trying this one. Thanks.
Thank you
Haven’t made it yet,but it sounds so straightforward I can’t wait to try it.
This is the easiest and most delicious cake we’ve ever had. A dollop of fresh whipped cream and it’s heaven. Thank you
Easy and absolutely delicious. So delicious in fact that my husband would have eaten all four portions had I not intervened 😋. Making more right now😁
I’ve made these before and they are delicious. Would it be possible to mix this ahead and put it in the ramekins and then cook them later? I would refrigerate until cooking time, of course. I want to do them for Christmas dinner but would like to be able to pop them in the oven while the main meal is being served.
I think that would work!
Hi Perry,
Did you try this and did it work? Hoping to do this for Valentine’s dinner 🙂
Don’t use chocolate chips. Invest in real chocolate bars. Carnival’s recipe from a chef’s private seating is slightly different and has 7 eggs.
That is great to know! Thanks so much for your tip!
I was given the recipe while on a cruise and I remember it having 11 eggs. I wish I hadn’t lost it. I would have had to cut it down and make less so this might be ok. I do remember it using chocolate and not chips
My favorite cruising dessert!!! I asked for recipe…they shared…but it was for 200!?!
I forgot to leave stars on my comment!
This recipe is right on! I had to use Nestle chocolate, which was only 53% coacoa, but they came out DELICIOUS. I am in Texas and left them in for 18 minutes- that was too long. I think for me 15 minutes would have been perfect. I was trying to wait for the top to look done, but they continue to “cook” even after you take them out. They were still amazing!!! My boys devoured, so this will be a staple in my kitchen. Thanks!
The recipes doesn’t state when to add the vanilla. Luckily the video shows when to add….to the eggs and sugar prior to flour. Maybe should update recipe. Can’t wait to try!
Thanks for catching that! I just revised the recipe to reflect that.
Holy cannoli, this is delicious. I’m hesitant to admit that I’ve made it three times this week… but you all deserve to know. I didn’t have ramekins so I put the batter in muffin tins and reduced the time to 10 minutes. I thought it’d make for better portion sizes but my husband and I ended up eating three at a time anyways. Thank you for this life changing recipe, but darn you for making me come face to face with my lack of self control. Five stars for sure.
Can this be done with GF flour and if so, what kind would you suggest? Thanks!
You can substitute gluten free all-purpose flour in this recipe. The rule of thumb I use is substitute the flour 1:1 and add one teaspoon of xanthan gum.
Can you cook these ahead of time and pop them in the microwave when ready to serve
I wouldn’t recommend it. They are much better when they are warm out of the oven. Thank you for asking!
Did you use all purpose flour or self rising?
All-purpose!
They are still excellent. Since it’s just my husband & me I always do this.
I haven’t been on a cruise (yet!), but I have to have this cake! Thanks for sharing the recipe in such detail!
Chocolate lover’s! Hear me and make this recipe. You will not be sorry.
It’s been a while since I made a melting cake but I am sooo ready to use this recipe this weekend!
So delicious! Thanks for the recipe
It is the best thing I ever had ever! It is so good I had it every night on my cruise recently. I highly recommend it! Sinfully delicious! Yum🤩🤩🤩
Haha, people book cruises just for this cake!
I liked it, but a bit too eggy for me. Is there a way I can reduce the egg flavour?
I don’t know if you would get the same result if you used an egg substitute. If you search “eggless lava cake” online, you can find vegan recipes for a similar melting cake without eggs.
I finally went on a carnival cruise and ordered the carnival melting chocolate cake and feel in love with them never tasted something so good going to try to make them here hit you know the saying never going to taste like someone else does I hope so cause it going to he a while before I can save enough money to go again on another cruise thanks for posting the recipe.
Let us know what you think of them! We think they taste the same. Just close your eyes and pretend you are in the Caribbean 🙂
I was working in a Carnival cruiseline for almost 10 yrs. I got married and i decided to stop to be with my child. I love to bake and i’ved been trying to find the recipe of this melting cake which i saved in my hard drive but couldn’t found. I am so happy when i saw this recipe. Im so excited to try. Thank you for posting this recipe
I am so excited to hear how you think it compares! Please come back and let us know!
Hi!!! I would love to know if it tasted the same as on the ship when you made it at home!?!? I’ve made some other carnival melting cakes that tasted great-but did not resemble carnivals melting cake! Please tell me 😍😍😍
It tasted BETTER than it did on the ship! I live in TN. I have an electric stove. I also couldn’t find 7oz ramekins so I used 9oz, and this recipe filled four nearly perfect. I sent my husband and son to the store for chocolate chips, they bought Nestle Toll house dark chocolate. I made certain the eggs were room temperature and followed the directions EXACTLY. 15 minutes later we had a perfect version to share with the kids (who didn’t get to go on the cruise). My husband says they were better❤️
Can you use almond flour instead of regular flour, and instead of sugar Swerve??
I am not familiar with Swerve. Are you looking for GF substitutions?
Low carb diet, but I am going to try the recipe with the flour, just use Swerve instead of the sugar.
I have never had these. Just wondered – are these served right out of the oven, or should you wait until they have cooled off to serve? Thank you!
My son had this for dessert every night when we were on our cruise. I just loved it as well. So glad you posted the recipe, now I can try to make it at home.
Let us know what you think! Oh man, we LOVE this stuff!
Just made this with my daughter and it is delicious. Being English we served it with custard, delicious!!! Thank you for sharing, Mazza and Anni-Mae.
Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it!
We just got back from a cruise on the ship “Carnival Freedom” and my husband took a tour of the ship and asked for the recipe which they gave him in the Galley and the one I have has no mention of vanilla. This cake has the flavor of Coa Coa gravy that my mother in-law used to make and everyone loved it! I will use the recipe I have and see how it turns out. Thanks for sharing I think everyone needs some of this in their life! 🙂
Give it a try and let us know how you think it compares! How fun you just got back from a cruise!!!
We too have been on Carnival many times and absolutely love this dessert. What type of butter are you using, real, margarine, no salt, sweet? Thank you so much for posting the recipe.
Real butter. I like to used the salted sweet cream butter. Hope this helps!
I used Scharffen Berger 62% petite baking squares, semisweet and these were awesome, but they took almost twice the time to bake. I went the 14 min then about 9 more till they were perfect.
I tried this yesterday but a different recipe and it got over cooked. I live in Colorado so there is high altitude. What do you suggest for temp wise? Also my ramekins are four ounce.. And do we have to put the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture that’s in the pan? Can I actually put the chocolate mixture in the egg mixture? And mix it until it’s evenly spread right? I’m so not a baker but I’ve been craving carnival cruise molten lava cake for two years… Please and thank you!!
If you are at a high altitude you might actually have to cook it LONGER… I would keep the temp the same unless your oven typically bakes hot. If your ramekins are smaller you will need to reduce the time. Yes, you can put the chocolate in the egg mixture. 🙂 Hope all this helps!
My ramekins are only 4 ounces. Should I adjust the recipe and/or the cooking time???
If it were me, I would probably decrease the time a little bit (probably not too much). Just keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn’t get over-done.
Do you not bake these in a water bath?
Nope. Just straight in the oven 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! I went on a New Year’s Carnival cruise for my honeymoon, last year, and our waiter knew to bring this every night…I have, literally, never tasted anything better!! I can’t wait to try it! 🙂
I’m excited for you to try it. I think you’ll love it!
What brand of dark chocolate chips do you use???
I love Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips. 🙂
Can I make one big one? Short on ramekins at the moment and really want to make this!
Try this recipe instead: https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/slow-cooker-molten-chocolate-and-caramel-cake/
It is a similar cake, but made in a slow cooker. You can leave the rolo candies out and it’s just as good!
Just curious when to add the vanilla? I made this and it turned out delicious but then I realized I had pulled the vanilla out and then never added it because I missed it in the instructions. I’m assuming you add it to the eggs and sugar but I wanted to double check for next time. Great recipe, thank you for sharing!
Yes, you will want to add it with the eggs and sugar
I, too had these on my recent cruise on the Triumph. I found the recipe on Pinterest but it is exactly like this one. I baked them at 375 for 17 minutes. While they looked gooey in the middle they weren’t.
I found another recipe that claims to be authentic but it states to bake at 390 (What? I don’t have that temp on my oven) and the amounts of ingredients are way different. I think I’ll bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
Neither of the recipes tells you how much to fill the Ramekins. I have 8 oz. cups. Should I fill 1/2 or 3/4?
I’ll change my rating if I can get it to turn out right.
You want them to be about 2/3 full– check them often after 14 minutes using the toothpick test.. You do NOT want the toothpick coming out clean. You want about half of portion of the toothpick that was stuck in to be gooey
I made this for Valentine’s Day yesterday but my husband said the chocolate didn’t taste the same. On Carnival it was a lot richer tasting and my husband thinks they used chocolate syrup in it as well. I remember it was too rich for me but he had it every night. The recipe calls for dark chocolate but doesn’t specify, sweet, semi-sweet, no sugar, etc. nor does it specify the cocoa content such as 60% which is what I used as opposed to Scharffenberger which is 90% cocoa. All of this makes a big difference to the end result as 90% would produce a much richer but less sweet chocolate. As far as I was concerned, it was just right for me but not for him although he liked it.
Our next cruise is on Princess to Hawaii in April so I won’t be able to ask them until next January when we cruise to Puerto Rico. I used Giardelli’s bittersweet chocolate which is 60% cocoa which is not that strong. I did leave the pudding in the oven a little too long (my oven is a bit out of wack) but there was still plenty of gooey chocolate to eat. My hubby said to only put one egg in it instead of two as it waters down the chocolate. At 1000 calories a pop I’m not sure I’ll be making this that often anyway!
The same thing happened with my husband! Did you ever find out what kind of chocolate they use? Did one less egg help?
Just made this for my wife, as an early Valentine’s Supper! She said that it is Restaurant quality, and definitely reminded us of our Cruise. ( where we had way too many )
Thank you for this posting
You win the best husband ever award! I’m so glad you and your wife like the recipe!
Do you need to grease the ramekins?
You don’t need to but you can if you would like!
After the chocolate has cooled and you add in the egg mixture to the chocolate, what do you do? Do you combine the chocolate and egg mixture with the flour mixture? Maybe I missed it but it seems like there is a step missing somewhere.
Yes, in the first step you add in the flour mixture ..
Just wondering if anyone has any experience making this dessert Gluten Free and how you go about it?
Okay, I have a recipe that I got off of the Carnival website a couple of years back and it is not the same as this recipe at all, but it never seems to work quite right, so I’ll definitely be giving this recipe a try!
I would like to know if this dessert can be made in a regular cake pan ?? I would love to make this for family gathering but feel the ramekins would be to hard to transport..please help
It won’t turn out the same– for the right consistency it has to be in ramekins 🙁 you can try it though and let us know how it turns out!
I agree that I don’t think it would work as a full size cake but I have seen a recipe for such. I just don’t remember where. Google it or go to Pinterest and you may find it.
How many ramekins does this recipe fill?
It makes 4
I have made Ina Garten’s Brownie Pudding a few times, and it might be similar: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/brownie-pudding-recipe.html. You bake in a full size casserole dish. It’s really good.
No comment just a question can this dessert be made made in a regular cake pan instead of the ramekins ???? would love to make this and take to family gathering…
I don’t think it would be the same if you made it in a cake pan. The consistency you wouldn’t be right. You are welcome to try it though! If you do, please come back and let us know how it turns out
What size ramekins? Small or large?
6-7oz. is the perfect size. 🙂 So I guess– medium sized?
Very nice looking :-Full Melt chocolates are organic fair trade premier brand of medicated chocolate bars.
full melt chocolates are too delicious.
🙂 🙁
This is one of my favorite desserts! Being a self confessed chocoholic. On my last cruise with Carnival (September 2014) we asked our server if he knew the nutritional information for the melting cake. He came back and told us that each serving , not including the ice cream, was almost 1000 calories. It’s a 1000 calories of pure heaven as far as I’m concerned.
wowza! I hope it’s not that much. save you calories for they day! So worth it! 😉
I had chocolate melting cake every night of my Carnival Cruise recently to the Caribbean and came home lost 5 pounds! I didn’t starve myself or deprive myself in anyway. Those shore excursions and so much to do on the ship even on sea days (which we had 2 extra because of weather :/ ) I walked 3-5 miles and skip the elevators, always opt for the stairs, you waste A LOT Of time waiting for elevators and on shore days we walked anywhere from 5-9 miles. Of course depending on your excursion…. but if you go to see any ruins, even shopping most things include a walk. When you’re on board take advantage of the running track and the wonderful Caribbean air. Running in 75 degrees was blissful, especially when I came home and it was 18 degrees! Love that cake, thanks for sharing!!
How fun! We just got back from a Royal Cruise and I was so excited when I found I didn’t gain any extra pounds lol
You are right, all that walking and swimming helps burn the added calories!
We had a sugar free version just this week on a cruise. Do you have the sugar free recipe?
We don’t have a recipe, but I think you can get there with some substitutions! You can use sugar free chocolate chips and an artificial sweetener like Stevia!
I just got back from a Carnival cruise to Alaska 2 weeks ago. This was the best dessert on the ship. I ordered it 3 times. I can’t wait to surprise my husband and make this!
THANK YOU for posting this recipe. I made these for desert after Easter dinner and they were PERFECT. I doubled the recipe and had more than enough batter to fill 8 ramekins. Tasted just like the ones I have had on board. I used Baker’s semi sweet baking chocolate. An easy recipe that is a sure fire success!
Karen– so glad you liked them! Aren’t they EASY?! I find myself making them more than I probably should 😉
Did you just double all ingredients or just specific ones in the recipe?
Drooling over this chocolate cake. How delicious. My lil one would love these
I am wondering what kind of flour should be used?
Just regular enriched white flour
Is this self rising or what?
I’m not sure what you are asking– but yes it rises in the oven
She was asking do you use plain or self-rising flour? We enjoyed this cake every night on our cruise. We will be making this for Christmas…
just plain flour
…I was Was needing to know if I can completely make them the day before and just heat them in microwave when I want to serve them
I can’t say for sure because I have never tried it this way but my gut instinct is telling me “no”. If you microwave them I am guessing you won’t get that gooey delicious center. Hope this helps!
Is that self rising or plain flour
We just use plain flour 🙂
Is it possible to make these ahead of time, and then pop in the oven during dinner? I just came back from a cruise and just knew I’d find a recipe for them somewhere.
hmmm haven’t tried that but it might be ok if you kept it covered and refrigerated until ready to bake!
Yes the re-heat fabulously in the micro for 30 seconds. I’ve made them the day before for dinner parties. You’d never know…
I had these every night when I was on my carnival cruise! can’t wait to try the recipe.
What kind of flour plain or self rising
We use unbleached white flour, not self-rising flour. Thanks for asking!
We have been on 3 cruises and I found several recipes and changed them a bit to make my own. I’m anxious to compare and see how close I got to it. Thanks.
I also have traveled on many cruises and carnivals melting cake is the best. I asked the maître d for the recipe and he gave it to me! Haven’t made it yet.
I just posted on fb my excitement of this recipe as well-but I did also want to say that we also booked with getaway today (just thinking it was the best deal we could find) and they completely took care of everything-and were simply THE best! You really do basically get a travel agent without the travel agent costs. We will definitely be using them in the future as well. Thanks again for posting this recipe and for getaway for sharing it! 🙂
Aren’t they the best?! We love working with them!!!
My neighbor just gave me this recipe saturday, they had just got home from a cruise, and they were given this recipe from the Chef’s table. the only differet is theirs said 1.5oz sugar, where as yours is 6oz. I think I will try your recipe, you just never know…. I enjoy your blog, come here weekly.
You are my hero!!! I have been on 6 Carnival cruises and I always order the chocolate melting cake every night. I have been trying to find this recipe!! They serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but I always ask for chocolate and they bring out two scoops. Thank you for posting this!!
Yay! I am so excited that YOU are so excited. I am not kidding, I have made this 3 times in the last 3 days. haha I am tempted to book a Carnival cruise just so I can have this every night!