Slow Cooker Lava Cake

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

2 Comments

5 from 1 vote
12 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
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Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake is an easy, decadent dessert. Homemade rich cake with a molten center. No boxed cake mix or instant pudding!

This delicious, easy Dessert has the same gooey, Chocolatey goodness as a fancy Chocolate Lava Cake, but with half of the work and made in a slow cooker!

Sabrina’s Slow Cooker Lava Cake Recipe

You can make this recipe completely from scratch with no boxed mix or instant pudding. You get the same rich chocolate cake with a fudgy, velvety center as a regular lava cake without turning on your oven. Cooked low and slow, the lid traps the moisture, steaming it slightly for a melt-in-your-mouth moist cake that’s guaranteed to impress!

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe

Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake is an easy, decadent dessert. Homemade rich cake with a molten center. No boxed cake mix or instant pudding!
Yield 12 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Cake in a white bowl with a scoop of ice cream.
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter , melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar , divided
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder , divided
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar , packed
  • 1 cup hot coffee
  • 1/2 cup hot water

Instructions

  • Spray a 6-quart slow cooker with cooking oil spray.
  • In a large bowl whisk together milk, butter, and vanilla until well combined.
  • Add in (note the ingredients are divided here) ¾ cup sugar, flour, ¼ cup cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt until just combined and no dry streaks remain.
  • Add the mixture to your slow cooker.
  • To your same large bowl add your brown sugar, hot coffee, water, remaining ½ cup sugar, and remaining ¼ cup cocoa powder until well combined.
  • Gently pour over your batter.
  • Cook on high for 3 hours (you want the top of the cake to be dry) or on low for 5 hours.

Nutrition

Calories: 212kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 128mg | Potassium: 106mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 177IU | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 1mg

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Chef’s Note

This is a delicious dessert to make for a party. I start it beforehand so it is hot and ready to serve by the time I am clearing the table, without taking time away from my guests. This sweet chocolatey cake doesn’t need any frosting, just serve scoops of cake in bowls with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

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About this Recipe

Slow cookers are a staple for making easy family dinners, but they are also great for making your favorite dessert recipe easier, too. Just like so many savory recipes, you can toss your ingredients into the slow cooker, and in a few hours, you have a ready-to-serve, decadent dessert.

Can this be made ahead of time?

No, Slow Cooker Lava Cake is best enjoyed fresh, right out of the slow cooker because the molten center firms up as it cools.

How to Store

  • Serve: You can keep Lava Cake covered in the slow cooker on warm for up to 4 hours or at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
  • Store: Transfer to an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm in the microwave in 30-second bursts to reheat for serving.
  • Freeze: Once cooled, place the lava cake in a freezer-safe container and press parchment paper on the top to prevent freezer burn. Freeze covered for up to 3 months and thaw overnight before reheating in the oven or microwave.

Variations

  • Nuts: Sprinkle ½ cup crushed peanuts, chopped pecans, or sliced almonds over the top of the cake batter before adding the brown sugar-hot water mixture.
  • Vanilla: To make a Vanilla Lava Cake, omit the cocoa powder and increase to 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. For a funfetti cake, stir in ½ cup rainbow sprinkles or rainbow candy chips into the cake batter.
  • Peanut Butter: Add dollops of creamy peanut butter on top of the cake batter before pouring the hot water mixture over top. You could also stir in up to ½ cup mini peanut butter cups or peanut butter chips to the cake batter.
  • Chocolate Chips: For more chocolatey flavor, fold in ½ cup chocolate chips of your choice to the cake batter.
  • Cake Mix: Swap the dry ingredients with a box of your favorite chocolate cake mix to make this recipe even easier. Try devil’s food cake mix or chocolate fudge cake mix.
  • Instant Pudding: For a fudgier, chewier cake, add a box of instant chocolate pudding mix. Sprinkle the mix over the cake batter before carefully pouring the hot water mixture.

More Gooey Chocolate Lava Cake Recipes

Collage of cake plated with ice cream and prep steps

Photos used in previous versions of the post:

Chocolate ingredients in three bowls
Chocolate batter and chocolate chips in a slow cooker
Chocolate cake in a slow cooker

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Absolutely loved this — such an easy dessert that still felt special. The slow cooker made it hands-off and the molten center was exactly what I hoped for. Served it warm with vanilla ice cream and got major “wow” reactions. Will definitely make again!

    Reply