First off, there is indeed a reason why I’m sharing a recipe that’s completely not “from scratch” and that’s cooked in the microwave, of all things. Every Memorial Day, friends come up from Florida to celebrate with us and we’ve gotten in the habit of finding the most hands off recipes on the net and reproducing them for one of our dinners to see if our guests notice the difference. Last year, we did the embarrassing 60 Second Mixed Berry Cobbler that our friends LOVED. This year, I picked a chocolate lava cake recipe that uses a brownie mix and is cooked in the microwave. Was I doubtful this would work and would actually be edible – YES!!!

The main reason I picked this recipe is that it could be made way in advance and just cooked (microwaved) at the last minute. The addition of an extra egg over what the brownie mix calls for creates a more cakey brownie, so closer to a true chocolate lava cake. Was this the best version of this popular dessert I’ve had – nope. Was it pretty good considering the 2 minutes it took to make and the 5 minutes it took to cook – yes. I cooked 4 cakes at a time, but each cake would cook for a minute if microwaved as a single serving.

While cooking, each cake puffs up like a soufflé and once it comes out of the microwave, it deflates leaving room for a scoop of ice cream in the jars. Using good quality ice cream does improve these babies.  

PARTY TIP: You can make the cakes up to step 4 below, cover each jar with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Just bring to room temperature before continuing to step 5, the cooking part.

Ingredients:

• 1 brownie mix (I used Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge in a family size for 9×13 pan) prepared to package directions
• 1 large egg
• 16 Dove Milk Chocolate Promise individual chocolates
• Vanilla ice cream

Directions:

1. To the brownie batter made to package directions, add the egg and stir to combine.
2. Coat 8 (6 oz) canning jars (or other microwave-safe small containers) with cooking spray.
3. Spoon about 1/3 of a cup of batter in each jar – it shouldn’t be more than half full.
4. Place 2 of the Dove chocolates in the center of the batter in the jars and cover them with batter.
5. Microwave on full power for 1 minute per cake. I cooked 4 cakes at a time for 2 ½ minutes total.
6. Serve the cakes, topped with a scoop of ice cream, while still warm.

Makes 8 individual servings.

I used this recipe as inspiration.