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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.
Wonderful recipe! It turns out very well. Question: Is it 436 kcal per serving, or the whole thing is 436 kcal?
Hi Elisabeth! After your comment I looked into the nutrition facts for you. First of all, the nutrition label wasn’t appearing on the post, so I apologize for that. Second of all, the amount of butter in the original calculation was wrong, so I changed it. The good news? It’s fewer calories. 🙂 It’s 302 calories, per serving, and 8 servings per recipe. Glad you liked it! 😀 -Meggan
Hi, I am making this Wed for 20-25 people
I am thinking of taking the recipe doing (4x) the ingredients- what you recommend for cook time?
Hi Kim, are you going to do 4x the recipe, all in one crockpot? I don’t know the size of your crockpot but I worry it might not fit. If I were going to do that, I’d probably do 2 double batches in two crockpots. A double batch fits in a 6-quart slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 3 to 5 hours or LOW for 4 to 6 hours (or until a toothpick inserted in to the middle of the cake comes out clean with a few crumbs attached.) I hope this is helpful! If you need more info, just let me know. Thanks! -Meggan
Hi Meggan.
So excited about the recipe. I just put it in the crockpot for our office party. In my rush, I didn’t read the directions all the way through and combined the hot water with the topping ingredients. What do you think will happen to the lava cake?
Made this tonight for the first time – I doubled the recipe and used unsweetened coconut milk just because I don’t usually have milk in the house. It cooked way faster than I thought – 2 hours on high was plenty. Served with vanilla ice cream – it was delicious !
A hit for my daughter’s birthday! She wanted lava cake and I didn’t feel like making it with a fakey cakey box today. I quadrupled the recipe and split it between my 2 six-quart slow cookers. It fed 20 with vanilla ice cream, and we have a little bit left to fight over for tomorrow. I did cut the sugar by about 1/3 in both the cake and the topping since we were also having the ice cream, and I thought it still tasted great! Got lots of compliments. Thank you for this homemade version!
Hi!
I’m so excited that this is from scratch, as I don’t ever make boxed baked goods. I want to make this as my daughter’s birthday cake. Does it come out of the crockpot easily? As a whole cake? I’d like to put it on a platter, so we can put candles in.
Thank you!
Sara
Hi Sara! Before you get too excited (and I’m so sorry to tell you this), but this cake is absolutely NOT what you are looking for. The reason it’s called a Lava cake is because the bottom of the isn’t solid. It’s a thick, fudgy sauce, like lava, like a self-saucing pudding basically. You literally have to scoop it out, and it’s very runny. It’s fine on top, but the bottom is wet. You can’t move it anywhere and it will make a huge mess of your platter.
There are probably slow cooker cake recipes out there that will do you what you are looking for, but this isn’t it! So glad you asked before I inadvertently ruined your party. 🙁 So sorry Sara! Happy Birthday to your daughter. -Meggan
Hi Meggan,
Thank you for the reply. I might just make this for her anyway when it’s just the four of us, and not for her party, because she would LOVE this. I’m convinced after your description that it’s perfect for her, haha. I’m so glad I asked ahead of time and didn’t mess up her party cake! The four of us can sing “Happy Birthday” with the crockpot!
Thank you again,
Sara
Hi Meggan, I made this yesterday and it was fine in my 3.5 quart crock pot. It is a rectangular one that measures about 11×7 by 3 inches high and fit with room to spare. I had to spread the cake batter along the bottom. It was good too, will definitely be making this more often! Thanks again fo the recipe.
Hi Meggan,
I have a 3.5 quart slow cooker. Should I halve the recipe or will it fit as written? I am afraid that if I use the full amount of ingredients that it will overflow. Thanks
Hi Maria, off the top of my head I cannot say for sure. I’m happy to test it for you and let you know. However, when I do half the recipe in a 2-quart slow cooker, it’s only a couple of inches tall. So my “gut” says you will be okay doing the whole thing in a 3.5 quart. And I’ve doubled the recipe in a 6.5 quart slow cooker with no problems…. so I feel like you will be fine doing the whole thing in a 3.5 quart?? Does my logic make sense?? I’m testing recipes again next Monday, let me know if you can wait that long and want me to find out for you! Thanks!
Hi Meggan, Thanks for the reply. I am going to make it on Thursday for my daughter’s birthday. I think that I will use the full amount and I will report back to you with my results! Can’t wait to try this, it sounds amazing! Thanks.
Hi Meggan,
I made a double batch, cooked on low 5 hours with the intention of keeping it on warm (for at least an hour). It barely made the 5 hour mark before we were in to it! This cake is very good as well as easy to make. Thank you for the recipe.
Can you double this and put all of it in one 6 quart slow cooker?
Hi Ally, I’m going to make it today as a double batch and I will let you know! Thanks.
Hi Ally! I made a double batch in my slow cooker. It was done in under 3 hours (honestly I think it was done in 2 hours) on HIGH. I’m not sure if my slow cooker is super-charged or if it cooks more efficiently with more stuff in it?? But in any case it was PERFECT and I will forevermore make a double batch. Thank you for asking about this! Take care.