Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Double-chocolate Lava Cakes
serves 6Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Heat oven to 400°F.
Lightly grease and flour six 1- to 1¼-cup soufflé dishes or six 10-oz custard cups.
Place soufflé dishes or custard cups in a shallow baking pan and set pan aside.
Make the batter
In a heavy small saucepan, melt butter and semisweet chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool.
Meanwhile, prepare praline sauce, cover and keep warm until needed.
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed for about 5 minutes or until thick and lemon colored.
Beat in cooled chocolate mixture on medium speed.
Sift flour and cocoa over chocolate mixture; beat on low speed just until combined.
Divide batter evenly into prepared dishes or cups.
Bake and serve
Bake 10 minutes.
Pull cakes out of oven.
Using a small spatula or table knife, puncture the top of each partially baked cake and gently enlarge to make a dime-sized hole.
Slowly spoon about 1 tbsp praline sauce into the center of each cake.
Return cakes to oven.
Bake 5 minutes more or until cakes feel firm at the edges.
Cool in dishes on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
Using a small spatula or knife, loosen cake edges from sides of dish or cup and slip cake out upright onto individual dessert plates.
Stir ⅓ cup toasted pecan halves into the remaining praline sauce.
If necessary, stir 1 to 2 tbsp hot water into remaining sauce to thin.
Spoon warm praline sauce on top of cakes.
Top with pecan halves and sweetened whipped cream.
Serve immediately.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Pecan | 1 half (4g) | 20 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Sauce | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Vanilla + cocoa powdertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,189 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Vanilla + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Whipped with yolks to create air and structure that lifts the batter.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and emulsify the batter, helping it set into a tender crumb.
- Semisweet chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavor and the molten center when the cake is baked briefly.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Gives the cake enough structure to hold its shape around the liquid center.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps whip the eggs to a thick, stable foam.
The step that matters
Baking the cakes for only 10 minutes before adding the sauce. The edges must set while the center stays soft. Underbaking leaves the batter collapsing, while overbaking sets the center and loses the molten lava effect.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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