Ooey, gooey, and decadent dessert perfect for the chocolate lover. This slow cooker chocolate lava cake has a rich chocolate cake and fudgy sauce, takes only a few minutes to prepare, and then the slow cooker does all the work!
You can substitute 2% milk and water for the stout, if you prefer. Follow the instructions in the recipe notes.
Are you looking for slow cooker desserts? I have 17 Slow Cooker Desserts you NEED to try!
This molten chocolate lava cake is utter magic. Magic because it is utterly decadent and rich, magic because the frosting is created while the cake cooks in the same pan, but mostly because this delectable cake is made in the slow-cooker without a chocolate cake mix and instant pudding like so many other similar recipes!
I often question the practicalness of some slow-cooker recipes. Some of them have multiple steps at various times that require a timer to be set and me to be paying attention.
To me, that defeats the purpose of slow-cooker recipes. Slow-cooker recipes should be for the purpose of making my life easier, to still create delicious food, and focus on other parts of my life.
This molten lava cake is the reason slow-cooker recipes were invented. I’m sure of it. This cake sits in the slow-cooker for 3 hours and bakes. While it bakes it magically creates it’s very own frosting. Self frosting cake? Heck yes!
A couple of special ingredients keep this cake rich, full of flavor, and lighter in calories. You won’t find it light and fluffy like my homemade chocolate cake instead, you;ll dig into a rich, fudge-y, and dark cake. I use this cake for ice cream sundaes, coffee dates, and when I’m craving something gooey and decadent.
Key Ingredients:
- Flour. 1 for 1 Baking Gluten-free flour can be substitute for good results.
- Unsweetened Cocoa. Use a good quality cocoa for this cake.
- Sugar. Try subbing part of the white sugar with dark sugar to deepen the flavor and richness of the cake.
- Stout beer. Using a dark, rich alcohol like stout allows me to remove the milk from the cake recipe, quite a bit of the sugar, AND contributes a wonderful rich flavor to the cake. Using stout works fantastic for this slow-cooker recipe because the slow-cooking time allows that alcohol to foam and bubble to the top of the cake, mixing with the sugar and chocolate, and creating a delicious frosting.
- Nutella or peanut butter. Try making your own homemade peanut butter! It is far easier to do than you might think. You can use peanut butter (this is better for the calorie count!), almond butter, or cookie butter in place of Nutella. However, for the richest and most decadent flavor, use Nutella.
Crockpot lava cake Instructions:
- Whisk flour, 2 tablespoons of cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add 1/4 cup Stout, oil, egg, and vanilla. Give it a quick whisk.
- Gently stir the wet ingredients fully into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Add the Nutella or peanut butter and stir gently just until the large chunks are broken up. This batter is very, very thick…that is perfectly normal! Don’t feel a need to thin it out or that you did anything wrong. You didn’t.
- Press the batter into a 4 quart crockpot (a larger slow-cooker will work as well) that has been well-sprayed with cooking spray.
- In a small saucepan, whisk up the remaining cocoa powder, sugar, Stout, and water. Let come to a gentle boil on med-high heat, stirring often. optional…try using the microwave. I usually start with 1 minute and add 20 second intervals. But be careful, this can burn quickly with this method!
- Pour the liquid directly on top of the batter in the slow-cooker. Do NOT stir in your boiled stout topping. Simply pour it on top of the cake batter and leave. Really. It all works out.
- Turn the slow-cooker on low and let cook for 3 hours.
Serve with ice cream and fresh berries for a delicious dessert. For added flavor, sprinkle chocolate chips on the warm cake. That first bite will be totally decadent.
Store:
Store any leftover cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The best part is that this cake tastes even better the following day!
Slow-cooker Molten Lava Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa + 3 tablespoons for frosting
- 1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup for frosting
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup Stout + 3/4 cup for frosting
- 1 egg
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup Nutella or peanut butter
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Whisk flour, 2 tablespoons of cocoa, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt together.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add 1/4 cup Stout, the oil, the egg, and the vanilla. Give it a quick whisk.
- Gently stir the wet ingredients fully into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Add the Nutella or peanut butter and stir gently just until the large chunks are broken up. It will be very thick, don’t worry.
- Press the batter into a 4 quart slow-cooker (a larger slow-cooker will work as well) that has been well-sprayed with cooking spray.
- In a small saucepan whisk up the remaining cocoa powder (3 tablespoons), sugar (1/2 cup), Stout (3/4 cup), and water (1/2 cup). Let come to a gentle boil on med-high heat, stirring often. optional…try using the microwave. I usually start with 1 minute and add 20 second intervals. But be careful, this can burn quickly with this method!
- Pour the liquid directly on top of the batter in the slow-cooker.
- Turn the slow-cooker on low and let cook for 3 hours.
Notes
To replace the Stout in the cake you can substitute 2% milk. To replace the Stout in the frosting you can remove it and change the water amount from 1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cups.
