Moelleux au Chocolat (Melt in the Middle Chocolate Cake)

4.96 from 24 votes

Moelleux au Chocolat (Melt in the Middle Chocolate Cake)

This has to be one of the best melt-in-the-middle chocolate cake recipes I have ever made. Moelleux au Chocolat - think of it like a giant, rich, and gooey dark chocolate lava cake. It tastes amazing warm from the oven with cold cream…Although the leftovers served chilled from the fridge are pretty difficult to resist too!

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Dessert and Cakes

Cuisine: French/Global

Servings: servings

Author: Margie Nomura

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks; cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
8 oz good-quality 70% dark chocolate roughly chopped; about 1 cup
2.6 oz cocoa powder about 3/4 cup
Pinch of salt
7 large eggs
9.3 oz superfine sugar (caster sugar) about 1 1/3 cups; divided

To serve:

Heavy cream (double cream) or ice cream or custard

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan). Generously butter a 9-inch (23 cm) round springform pan with butter and line the base with parchment paper. Set aside.
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a bowl. I usually do this in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring well each time until smooth.
Or you can make a stovetop double boiler: Place it in a heatproof bowl over a pan of "just" simmering water, ensuring the bottom of the bowl doesn’t come into contact with the water (or the chocolate will burn).
Once you've got a smooth, glossy mixture, pop a sieve over the bowl and sift in the cocoa powder and salt. Stir until smooth. Set aside.
Separate the eggs, putting the whites into the bowl of a stand mixer and the yolks into another large bowl.
Add 4 3/4 oz (135 g/about scant 3/4 cup) superfine (caster) sugar to the egg yolks and whisk using an electric mixer for about 2 minutes - or until pale, light and thick.
Meanwhile, using the stand mixer (or you can use the handheld mixer - it just needs to be really clean otherwise the egg whites won't whisk in the way you want them to), whisk the egg whites until you have soft peaks. Gradually add the remaining sugar, whisking until the egg whites are stiff and glossy.
You should now have 3 bowls that need to be mixed together. First, pour the melted chocolate mixture into the egg yolks and stir gently. Then add 2 spoons of the whisked egg whites into the chocolate mixture and stir quite vigorously so it is well incorporated. This is often called the ‘sacrificial spoon’ as we don’t worry too much about keeping the air in at this stage.
Next, gently fold in the remaining egg whites, taking care to keep in as much air as possible. You shouldn’t see any of the egg whites after you’ve folded it together.
Pour 2/3 of the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the cake is well risen and puffy, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Leave to cool completely in the pan.
Meanwhile, pour the remaining 1/3 of the cake batter into a medium bowl and set aside, or cover with plastic wrap and pop into the fridge if using much later. This will become the molten chocolate top layer of the cake.
Preheat the oven, once again, to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan) and line a baking sheet with parchment baking paper. Set aside.
Once the cake has cooled completely, remove it from the pan and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Add the reserved 1/3 of the cake batter on top of the cake - you can pour it or, if it has been in the fridge, gently spread it using a palette knife.
Bake the cake for about 10-15 minutes, or until you see a thin crust on the top, but the middle is still soft and jiggly underneath. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Cut into slices and serve warm with heavy (double) cream, ice cream, or custard. You can also serve it chilled from the fridge.

Video

Notes

Make-ahead and storage

Make ahead: Once you’ve cooked the bottom layer, you can leave it to cool completely, cover, and chill in the fridge for 1-2 days. Then simply spread with the chilled final 1/3 of cake batter and bake as stated in the recipe when you are ready.

Leftovers: Leave the cake to cool completely before covering and chilling in the fridge for up to 3 days.

More quick tips

Collapsed cake: Don't panic if the cake collapses in the middle when you take it out of the oven; sometimes these cakes are called chocolate "slump" cakes for this reason. They don't contain any flour, so they can collapse a little, but that's part of their charm. For the cake, you are going to fill the middle with the remaining batter anyway, so you won't notice after the second bake!

Conversions: To be helpful, we've provided conversions if you are in America and like using cups, but we should say, for accuracy, we really do recommend weighing. It's the British way of doing it and is the most accurate way to get the best cake. We've tried to make your life easier, though for the best cake, please use the weights provided!

Serving suggestions: this decadent Moelleux au Chocolat is perfect on its own. It is really decadent with a drizzle of double cream or custard, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I also love to serve it with fresh raspberries or cherries. Alternatively, berry coulis is also delicious.

Superfine (caster) sugar: This recipe has been tested with caster sugar, not granulated sugar. If you can't find caster sugar, blitz granulated sugar in a blender to a finer texture.

Dark chocolate: If you find dark chocolate a little bitter, you could try using a chocolate with a lower percentage of cocoa solids, such as 54%/semi-sweet.

Nutrition