Not sure there is a better dessert on this planet than this recipe for Dark Chocolate Cherry Lava Cake. If you love dark chocolate and cherries together then this recipe is the one for you! I had bought a large bag of fresh cherries on sale for only $0.98/lb. at our local Winco. I LOVE fresh cherries and this is the time to buy them on sale! Remember to check out our FREE GROCERY DEAL comparisons on our website.
If you are like me though, after a couple days my family tends to stop eating the fresh cherries and I have several cups leftover. I knew I wanted to make something special with these extra cherries and of course, chocolate was the natural accompaniment.
Can you believe I have never made a lava cake before? Where have these been all my life?! I was shocked at how simple these were to make. I am pretty sure I will be making these on a regular basis. I love how they are individually portioned and look so fancy–but yet are SO easy to make.
I’m sure you could even be creative if you don’t have cherries on hand. You could totally use fresh blackberries, blueberries or strawberries. If you have to, you could even leave the fruit out, but that was my favorite part! The sweet, chocolate cake that’s the texture of a rich brownie, with the hot fudge center and the soft, juicy cherries is heaven on earth.
Ingredients
- 8 oz. dark chocolate chips
- 3 oz. milk chocolate chips
- 15 Tbs. butter
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 whole eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- Vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place a large pot on the stove and fill half way with water. Bring to a boil. Place a metal or glass mixing bowl over the water filled pot. Add the butter and chocolate chips into the bowl and whisk until melted.
- Remove the melted mixture in the bowl and place on the counter. Whisk in the vanilla, powdered sugar and salt until smooth. Once the mixture has cooled for a couple minutes whisk in the eggs and the yolks. Once smooth then add in the flour and mix until smooth.
- Place an additional 2 Tbs. butter in a bowl and soften in the microwave. With a pastry brush, brush the butter on all of the inside portions of 9, 6 oz. ramekins. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and fill 2/3 of the way with the chocolate batter.
- Wearing gloves, cut 40 fresh cherries in half and remove the pits. Place 5 half pieces of cherries into the center of the batter. Sprinkle about 4-5 chocolate chips on top of the cherries. Gently press the cherries so most of the batter is covering the cherries.
- Place the pan with the cakes into the oven and bake for 13 minutes, or until about 1/2 inch of the batter is cooked on the edges. Make sure the center is still soft and jiggly.
- Remove the pan from the oven. Let the cakes sit for 5 minutes. With a sharp knife, cut around each of the cake ramekins. Turn over each one onto a serving plate. Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the upside down cake and serve warm.
