Lightning-fast lava cake for two 💕
A simple way to love your Valentine—and the planet
Heya lovelies, and welcome to a Valentine’s Day edition of Cool Beans! Whether or not you celebrate the Hallmark holiday, it’s pretty much a requirement that you eat chocolate on February 14. We like to reserve this indulgence for special occasions as best we can, since chocolate has one of the biggest emissions footprints of any foodstuff. The only way we’ll ever mess with a delicious tradition is to make it gentler on the planet, so that’s what we’re doing this week—with cake.
Date-night delight
As a professional baker, folks ask me all the time how to make sweet treats sans animal products. I’ll tell you what I tell them: It’s way easier than you think. With so many great nondairy butters and milks out there, sometimes it’s just a matter of one simple swap. In many instances, you don’t even need eggs. Case in point: This ooey-gooey lava cake for two uses zero specialty anything; in fact, everything you need is already in your pantry and fridge, which means you can whip it up anytime you’re craving something rich and luxurious.
Lava cake is one of those rare retro things that never seems to go out of style. It can also look impressive, even if it doesn’t take a lot of work. It’s the perfect sweet treat if you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen or (gasp!) forgot that it was Valentine’s Day. It goes from bowl to belly in less than 20 minutes—or you can use the microwave and be done in 5. The secret is skipping fussiness like making a ganache to create your molten center; instead all you gotta do is submerge a spoonful of peanut butter, squares of your favorite chocolate (I used Tony’s Chocolonely, which is tops in Earth-friendly choco rankings), peanut butter cups, or caramel. Zhuzh it up with orange zest, chopped nuts, or some toasted, shredded coconut if you wish.
Lava Cake for Two
Yield: 2 servings