Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake
Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake is an EASY dessert made with gluten free chocolate cake mix, instant chocolate pudding, and chocolate chips slow cooked until the center turns warm, melty, and indulgent!
Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake is an incredibly easy and gooey chocolate cake, made with gluten free boxed cake mix, instant pudding, and semisweet chocolate chips. You can just prep the cake batter and pudding, dump everything in the slow cooker, and come back to an indulgent dessert!
If you loved this recipe, you may also love my Brownie Chocolate Cake, or my Chocolate Coffee Cake!
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Minimal Ingredients – This cake is made with only a few ingredients that you may already have in your pantry, and seriously easy to throw together!
Crowd Pleaser Recipe – This comes together in the crockpot, which also keeps it warm when serving. It’s perfect for the holidays!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix. Use your favorite gluten free cake mix for this recipe. I use King Arthur’s gluten free chocolate cake mix, because I like the flavor and texture.
If you’re not gluten free, you can use a regular chocolate cake mix, just follow the prep directions on the back of the box (instead of the eggs, oil, and milk in this recipe’s cake batter).
Eggs. This acts as a binder and helps hold everything together.
Vegetable Oil. This adds fat to the cake, which gives it a really moist texture. You can also use canola oil.
If you want to lighten this up a little bit, you can use applesauce instead of oil.
Milk. You will need milk to set the instant pudding mix. It won’t work with water, because it reacts to the proteins in the milk to thicken the pudding.
For the cake mix, the box I like to use technically calls for water, but I prefer to use milk.
Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix. I like to use regular chocolate or dark chocolate pudding. This is going to be the chocolate lava sauce in the cake.
There’s a few brands of instant chocolate pudding that guarantee they’re gluten free. Use the brand you’re most comfortable with, and follow the prep instructions on the back of the box.
Chocolate Chips. I use a bag of regular semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips when I make this.
Kitchen Tools
For this crockpot chocolate lava cake recipe, you’ll need a 6-7 quart slow cooker.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake
In a mixing bowl whisk together the chocolate cake mix, milk, eggs, and oil until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the instant pudding mix and milk until well combined.
Grease the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Pour in the cake batter and smooth with a silicon spatula.
Once the chocolate pudding has set, pour it into the middle of the cake batter, avoiding the edges of the slow cooker.
Pour the chocolate chips evenly on top of the cake, covering the chocolate pudding.
Cook on High for 2 1/2 hours, or until the cake has set, and serve while still warm.
Recipe Variations
- For a Christmas version, add some peppermint extract to the chocolate cake mix, and top with crushed candy canes just before serving.
- Try a chocolate peanut butter cake version by drizzling melted peanut butter over the cake and pudding, just before adding the chocolate chips.
- Try making this with white cake mix and lemon pudding mix for a lemon lava cake!
- Use a white cake mix with a dash of pumpkin pie spice, with a vanilla pudding in the middle, and top with white chocolate chips. By switching up the cake and pudding flavors, you have an endless amount of lava cakes you could make!
Recipe Tip! Don’t worry if the pudding “lava” center isn’t covered in cake batter. The chocolate chips will melt, becoming the top layer of the lava cake.
Frequently Asked Questions
The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean. Because we know that the middle of the cake has pudding in it, you can test the sides of the cake, as far away from the slow cooker dish as you can get before you run into the “lava” section. It should take about 2 1/2-3 hours to fully cook.
Keep in mind that the crock pot lid should stay on until the time is almost up. Each time you open the slow cooker, heat escapes and the cooking time can increase.
Recipe Tip! Make sure to spray the crockpot with nonstick cooking spray or grease it with butter, because the cake will stick after it cooks.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
- Gluten Free Double Chocolate Cake
- Strawberry Chocolate Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes
Storage
Refrigerate chocolate lava cake in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Remember, chocolate pudding has to be refrigerated!
Freeze leftover slow cooker lava cake for 2-3 months in a freezer-safe container. Cool it down before freezing.
Cooking Tips
- I’m using a 6-7 quart slow cooker, which is the perfect size for this recipe. If your slow cooker is a different size, you may have to adjust the recipe or cooking time.
- Make this crockpot lava cake recipe even faster by using an electric mixer instead of a whisk to make the cake batter.
- Use a spoon to scoop the cake out of the slow cooker into a bowl, and top with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, hot fudge, or sliced strawberries and a dusting of powdered sugar or cocoa powder.
- Use the “warm” setting on the slow cooker while serving this cake. Watch the time because you don’t want to keep pudding warm for more than an hour for food safety.
- For an even bigger chocolate flavor, whisk a teaspoon of espresso powder into the chocolate cake mix. It won’t taste like coffee, but it will bring out the chocolate notes in the cake.
- For even faster cleanup, you can use a slow cooker liner and just throw it away when done. If you use a slow cooker liner, don’t mix anything together in the slow cooker, because the liner will get caught in the mixer.
Tried this recipe? ⭐ Leave a review and share what worked best for you—your tips help other home cooks get the same delicious results!
Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
For the Cake Mix
- 22 ounces gluten free chocolate cake mix, (1 box)
- 4 large eggs
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/3 cup milk
For the Pudding
- 1 box instant chocolate pudding mix, (5.9 ounce box for 3 cups of finished pudding)
- 3 cups milk cold
Equipment
- 1 6-7 quart slow cooker
- 2 mixing bowls (one for cake mix, one for instant pudding)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the chocolate cake mix, milk, oil, and eggs until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the instant pudding mix and milk until well combined.
- Grease the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Pour in the cake batter and smooth with a silicon spatula.
- Once the chocolate pudding has set, pour the pudding into the middle of the cake batter, avoiding the edges of the slow cooker. Pour the chocolate chips evenly on top of the cake, covering the chocolate pudding.
- Cook on High for 2 1/2-3 hours, or until the cake has set, and serve while still warm.
Notes
- If you’re not gluten free, you can use regular boxed cake mix. Just follow the instructions on the back of the box to make it.
- Make sure to spray the crockpot with nonstick cooking spray or grease it with butter, because the cake will stick after it cooks.
- Don’t worry if the pudding “lava” center isn’t covered with cake batter. The chocolate chips will melt over the top.
- I’m using a 6-7 quart slow cooker. If your slow cooker is a different size, you may have to adjust the recipe or cooking time.
- Use the “warm” setting on the slow cooker while serving this cake, just watch the time because you don’t want to keep pudding warm for more than an hour for food safety.
Nutrition
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