Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

Prepare the moulds

Heat the oven to 220 C (425 F). Brush four 150 ml ramekins or dariole moulds generously with soft butter, then dust with cocoa powder, tapping out the extra.

• a little, for greasing butter
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

✅ Done when: moulds are evenly coated with cocoa, no bare buttery spots

Melt the chocolate

Melt the chocolate and the remaining butter together in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, or in short bursts in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Cool for about 5 minutes.

• 120 g dark chocolate
• 100 g butter

✅ Done when: mixture is smooth, glossy and no longer hot to the touch

Whisk the eggs

Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and salt together for 2-3 minutes until pale and thick.

• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 60 g caster sugar
• 1 pinch salt

✅ Done when: mixture is pale, thick and leaves a ribbon trail when you lift the whisk

Combine

Fold the chocolate mixture from step 2 into the whisked eggs, then sift in the flour and fold gently until no streaks remain. Divide the batter evenly between the moulds (you can chill them now for up to a day).

• 30 g plain flour

✅ Done when: batter is uniform with no streaks and moulds are evenly filled

Bake

Put the moulds on a tray and bake at 220 C (425 F) for 10-12 minutes, until the tops are set and slightly cracked but the centres still wobble.

✅ Done when: tops set and lightly cracked, centres still wobble when the mould is shaken gently

Turn out and serve

Let the cakes rest for 1 minute, run a knife around the edge of each mould, then turn out onto plates. Serve straight away with vanilla ice cream and raspberries.

• to serve vanilla ice cream and raspberries