Saturday, April 7, 2012

An ooey gooey Chocolate Lava Cake that's vegan and gluten-free

I've been scanning my brain and my cookbooks this past week searching for ideas about what to make for Easter dessert.  While the default option is always chocolate, I wanted to do something a little different, and yet I didn't know what exactly that would be.  So, when I went out for dinner recently at a "regular" restaurant and my friend ordered the Chocolate Lava Cake, a lightbulb clicked on in my head.  Hmmm... could I make it vegan AND gluten-free AND decadent?


I remembered that my mom had given me a recipe for a Molten Lava Cake that she had veganized and which I made for dessert at my Great American Meatout party a couple of years ago.  But the recipe called for soy milk, and I've recently been cutting back on the amount of soy I've been consuming, so I decided to give it a try with almond milk and soy-free Earth Balance.  This is a three-part recipe, but it comes together really quickly, and even though it looks like you've made a mistake after Step #3, don't fret!  The result will be fabulous.  Or at least that's what I'm hoping as I sit here waiting for the timer to beep.


In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients.


Melt some Earth Balance margarine and mix with wet ingredients.


In a separate bowl, mix topping.


Combine wet and dry ingredients, and stir.


Pour batter into pan and sprinkle with topping.


Pour hot water over the top.  (yes, I know it looks weird)


Success!  Ooey gooey bubbly Chocolate Lava Cake!

Gluten-free Chocolate Lava Cake
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
3/4 cup vegan sugar
2 Tbl cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup vegan milk (I used almond)
2 tsp melted Earth Balance margarine
3 Tbl maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup vegan sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix next 4 ingredients.  Combine wet with dry and mix until smooth batter.  Pour into ungreased 9x9 pan.  Combine vegan sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl, then sprinkle over top of the batter.  Pour hot water over the top, but do not stir!  (this will look like a big mistake, but trust me... this will all work out in the end).  Immediately place baking dish in preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until sides and tops are firm and center is bubbly like lava.  Best served immediately (who could possibly wait?), but it will get more solid and pudding-like in consistency when cooled.  This also reheats nicely.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! I can't wait to try your Chocolate Lava Cake. It looks yummy.

Unknown said...

You'll love this recipe! It's runny like hot chocolate syrup when it first comes out of the oven, then it sets up as it cools and gets more pudding-like in consistency. Either way, it's really delicious!

Anonymous said...

I was planning to make this tomorrow and just realized the gf flour quantity says 1.2 cups. Is this correct or should it be 1/2?

Unknown said...

ahhh... good question! I checked my handwritten recipe: it's 1/2 cup of gf flour. Thanks for the catch - I'm going to edit the recipe!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the quick response! I am looking forward to it. Look easy and super yummy!

Unknown said...

You're welcome! It's hard to go wrong with this recipe since no matter what happens, you'll still end up with ooey gooey chocolate decadence. Thanks for your comment. Enjoy!

Unknown said...

I made your recipe for my son's birthday on Sunday and it turned out fantastic even when I messed up and put mint extract instead of vanilla. It was definitely minty since I even over measured the 1 tsp. I would recommmend less than 1 tsp of mint if you want to try a twist to the recipe. The birthday boy said the mint was great but his brother's thought it was too minty. I am going to try it again this weekend with the vanilla. Thanks so much. Yummy!

Unknown said...

Thank you for your comment and for making the recipe, Tricia. I'm glad you and your son liked it! I've never tried it with the mint extract, so now I'm intrigued. :-) I hope you enjoy the vanilla version!