The Store-Bought Secret To Mastering The Perfect Lava Cake

There are few things more delightful at the end of a meal than cutting into a dense chocolate cake and watching with wonder as it explodes with rivulets of warm chocolate oozing down the plate. Unfortunately, recreating the experience is as unpredictable as a volcano's eruptions. Although the recipe for a classic molten lava cake calls for just five ingredients and five seemingly uncomplicated steps, getting the consistency right can be tricky. Plus, the individual cakes are made à la minute, right before it is served, which can be stressful if you're serving guests. Thankfully, there is a simple solution and all you need is store-bought instant pudding, plus a box of cake mix, chocolate chips, and a slow cooker.

Giving your dinner party an upgrade using instant pudding mix for dessert will be as impressive as if you started from scratch. Using your slow cooker will make preparing for your party easier by allowing you to plan ahead and have your cake ready to serve at the end of your meal. You'll also have fewer dishes, since you won't need to use the individual ramekins normally required for the dessert. The result will still be a warm, gooey and rich cake with ripples of chocolate running through it.

Making this delicious dessert is simple: grease your slow cooker with a cooking spray, prepare the cake mix according to the package directions and pour it into the pot. Follow that by whisking the instant pudding mix with milk until thickened and spooning that over the cake batter. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the pudding and cover the pot, letting it cook from two to four hours, depending on the size of your pot and the temperature. Some recipes suggest cooking it on low for a longer period so that the edges of the cake set but don't burn.

To serve, you can spoon some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top, drizzle on a caramel sauce or a chocolate ganache, or sprinkle it with powdered sugar. The basic recipe calls for a triple fudge cake mix and milk chocolate chips, but you can try a devil's food cake mix and dark chocolate chips for an extra chocolatey version. If you love chocolate but not too much chocolate, try another flavor of pudding like vanilla, butterscotch or banana.

After serving this delicious dessert to your guests, you may want to explore other impressive and delicious slow cooker desserts like tarte tartin, poached pears, pumpkin cheesecake, and bananas foster, just to name a few possibilities.