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This Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake is a game-changer: Warm, gooey chocolate cake (made from scratch!) nestled in a river of thick fudge sauce. Make this easy, luscious dessert right in your crockpot. Top with ice cream, whipped cream, or both for an extra special treat.

Meggan’s notes
Many Lava Cakes start with a cake mix and a box of pudding, but I don’t usually keep those around much. As a classically-trained chef with plenty of pastry experience, I wasn’t settling for anything less than a from-scratch chocolate lava cake.
I also thought the idea of doing it in a slow cooker was so great! Fun, unique, interesting, and EASY. So fire up your crockpot and try out this self-saucing chocolate cake. It’s amazing!
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients

At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Cocoa powder: Look for the unsweetened baking cocoa powder, not the mix for making hot chocolate. Both natural and Dutch-process cocoa powder will work in this recipe.
Step-by-step instructions
To make the cake batter:
- Coat a slow cooker with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. In a second bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, and vanilla.

- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredient in to the well and whisk until smooth.

- Pour into the bottom of a slow cooker.

To make the topping:
- Whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder until evenly combined. Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the slow cooker.

- Pour the hot water over the top of the batter and topping. Do not stir.

- Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 5 hours, or until a toothpick inserted in to the middle of the cake comes out clean with a few crumbs attached.

- Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, spooning the chocolate sauce from the bottom of the slow cooker over the top. Garnish with maraschino cherries if desired.

Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 6 cups of Lava Cake, enough for 6 servings, 1 cup each. If you’re serving this at a party with other desserts, you can probably feed 10 to 12 guests.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.
- Keep it warm: If your crockpot switches to “warm” after it’s done cooking, you can leave it in the crockpot on the “warm” setting for at least 2-3 hours without changing the cake. For example, I cooked the cake on LOW for 5 hours, then left it in the crockpot for 2 more hours on the “warm” setting, and it was still perfect.
- Double recipe: Double the ingredients and it will still fit in a 6-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 5 hours or LOW for 4 to 6 hours (or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean with a few crumbs attached.)
- Half recipe: Half the ingredients fit nicely in a 2-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours or LOW for 3 to 4 hours (or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean with a few crumbs attached.) A perfect dessert for your romantic Valentine’s Day meal.

Frequently Asked Questions
No, that’s not a good idea. At the request of a reader, I tried it out. The “sugar topping” is actually the underlying fudge layer. If you make just the cake, it is not sweet enough, the chocolate flavor is lacking, the whole cake is dry, and it might even burn in the bottom of your slow cooker. I suggest making the cake as written, sugar topping and all.
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Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake
Ingredients
For the cake batter:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (see note 1)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/3 cup butter melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the cake topping:
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 1/4 cups hot water
For serving:
- Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream
- Maraschino cherries optional
Instructions
To make the cake batter:
- Coat a slow cooker with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. In a second bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, and vanilla.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredient in to the well and whisk until smooth. Pour into the bottom of a slow cooker.
To make the topping:
- Whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder until evenly combined. Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the slow cooker.
- Pour the hot water over the top of the batter and topping. Do not stir. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 5 hours, or until a toothpick inserted in to the middle of the cake comes out clean with a few crumbs attached.
- Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, spooning the chocolate sauce from the bottom of the slow cooker over the top. Garnish with maraschino cherries if desired.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Cocoa powder: Look for the unsweetened baking cocoa powder, not the mix for making hot chocolate. Both natural and Dutch-process cocoa powder will work in this recipe.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 6 cups of Lava Cake, enough for 6 servings, 1 cup each.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.
I love that you this recipe does not use a boxed cake mix like many of the other recipes for lava cake do! I even removed 1/4 cup of the sugar from the cake ingredients because I figured it would somehow make it “healthier”, haha. Didn’t miss the sugar and served it with vanilla ice cream:) Perfect, excellent, delicious!!!!!!! Thank you for this easy recipe.
Would I need to make any changes for a round 5 qt crock pot? Last time I made it I used a 7 qt oval crock and it was delicious. I want to make it again but have to use a different crock pot.
Hey there! I think you should be fine making the recipe as-is in a 5 quart. Making it in a 7-quart, it’s nowhere NEAR the top so there is no danger of overflow. And, it should take about the same amount of time. I need to make this again myself!
4 hours on high seems like a long time… Not a typo?
Hi Charlene, it’s not a typo. However, it possible the cake would be done sooner than that. I did a quick search and Betty Crocker says their version takes 3 to 3 1/2 hours on HIGH. So, I will test it again and see if it’s done in 3 hours. Sorry for the confusion!
Can this be put in a pan that fits inside the slow cooker? I have a GoWise pressure cooker/slow cooker combo. It’s round and pretty deep.
Hi Kathy, I don’t see why not. I’ve never tried it, but I feel like it would work just fine. Hard to mess this one up! Thanks for reading!
Did you use a smaller or larger size (diameter) slow cooker?
Hi Brittany! I use a fairly large one but it’s oval in diameter. It’s a Cuisinart digital crockpot. It’s pretty big. If I can help with anything else, please let me know!
I was able to double the recipe without changing the cooking time. I made this for a family reunion and it was a big hit. Everyone loved it!
Good info, thank you!! I REALLY want to make this again soon, now I know I should just go ahead and double the recipe. 🙂 Glad everyone enjoyed it! Thanks Barbara!
Will definitely make soon. Do you think you can test out a white chocolate version???? Yummm
Sure, what not! Thanks for the idea. 😀 I’ll put it on the list! I have to figure out gluten-free pizzelle first but this can happen right after that. Thanks Tracy! -Meggan
Hi, I’m making this right now. My mom is coming from Michigan to visit my family in Minnesota. She will be at my place in about 4 hours off the Amtrak train, so it will be all cooked when she gets here. I’m so excited for her visit. I have not seen her since Christmas.
Hi Naomi! Thanks so much for your note. My sister lives in Michigan (the Hudsonville area) and I have family and best friends in Minnesota, so I know that route well! I hope you both enjoy the cake. I might have to make it myself this weekend, sounds so perfect right now at 8:30 on a Friday morning. 🙂 Have a fun weekend!
I made this a gluten-free vegan cake by substituting the flour with gluten-free all purpose flour, the milk with almond milk and the butter with Earth Balance margarine and it worked a treat! The only difference was the cooking time; it only took 1.5 hours and it was done! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
What a fabulous idea! Which almond milk did you use (unsweetened, vanilla, etc.)? I have a reader who is GF and I will definitely pass this along to him. 🙂 Thank you so much Miriam!
Oh yes, Meggan. You’re absolutely right – I really DO need this in my life! In fact a big splodge right about now would be fabulous! 🙂
Meggan, you’re a genius! I can’t tell you the last time I used my slow cooker, but this recipe makes me want to bust it out ASAP:) Great recipe xx