Warm Chocolate Melting Cake Recipe: If you know, you know
Serves 4 Cruise-Lovin’ Humans
If you’ve been on a Carnival Cruise, chances are you’ve tried the infamous Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. If you haven’t, we’re about to transport you to chocolate nirvana, because we’ve got the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake recipe that will bring this treat to your home.
What is Warm Chocolate Melting Cake anyway? It doesn’t sound that special, right?
The name doesn’t do it justice. They should call it “Gooey, Divine Dark Chocolate Souffle from Heaven” (cue angels singing)…or something equally descriptive.
No matter how many courses you’ve had in the main dining room on your Carnival Cruise, the Carnival Warm Chocolate Melting Cake is an irresistible end to any meal. Even for a non-dessert eater, like myself. It comes in a small, easy-to-polish-off ramekin, and you may find yourself ordering two. Maybe.
The best way to describe this dessert is that it resembles a cross between a souffle and dark chocolate fudge. It’s small, but mighty and it’s best served with a few “accessories”. We’ll get to those later.
goo·ey/ˈɡo͞oē/adjectiveINFORMAL
- soft and sticky.
- mawkishly sentimental.”you can love somebody without going all gooey”
The rich, dark chocolate center is perfectly soft and gooey (we’re gonna say gooey a lot today friends), and Carnival cruisers in the know have their favorite ways to give it a little pizzazz.
When we tried this Warm Chocolate Melting Cake recipe at home for the first time, we were SURE it wouldn’t turn out the same as it does on the ship. There’s NO way a novice home chef (like myself) can create something with cake-like edges and a perfectly fudgy center. Impossible. And it only has 5 ingredients? No way, it can’t be the same as the one on Carnival Cruise Ships. Alas it’s true! All you need are 5 basic ingredients, a few kitchen essentials and VOILA, chocolate nirvana!
But, to my surprise, this Carnival Warm Chocolate Melting Cake Recipe came through – big time. The center was ever-so-fudgy, and the flavor was identical to what we tasted on the ship. My husband and son agree that this is remarkably similar to what we’ve tasted on Carnival Cruise Ships, and they are dessert connoisseurs.
Have your cake and “accessorize” it too
Your Warm Chocolate Melting Cake will likely be served with a tiny ramekin of vanilla ice cream, meant to be carefully combined, bite by bite with the dessert. We don’t recommend putting the ice cream on top of the melting cake, or you could end up with melty vanilla ice milk. But if that’s your jam, go for it!.
This is not a drill
Okay, here’s where it gets serious friends. Are you ready for the ultimate Carnival Warm Chocolate Melting Cake Recipe hack?
Peanut butter.
Yep, Carnival cruisers swear by this little “third wheel”. I mean, the ice cream SHOULD be enough, but you’re gonna have to trust me here. See, the peanut butter brings this salty vibe to the ice cream and dark chocolate party. Don’t worry- your waiter won’t think you’re weird if you ask for it on a cruise. They know Carnival Cruisers have this little secret figured out and they will gladly bring you the PB!
One or two tablespoons is all you need to get that savory-meets-salty courtship goin’. The perfect bite looks a little bit like this: peanut butter, melting cake, ice cream, in equal parts.
Oh, and if you’re cooking it at home, almond butter is just as satisfying. Chunky, smooth, salted, unsalted- totally your call. Just try it. For the love of all things dessert! If this sounds good to you, just add a little addendum to your Warm Chocolate Melting Cake recipe that says; Peanut Butter!
How to make this dessert a little extra FAB
Okay, I know you’re ready to get into the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake recipe, so feel free to scroll down to the recipe to jump right in. Stick with me if you want some finer tips on how to get this thing right.
Some small tweaks will make all the difference in your end result, so if you have the time, pay attention to this stuff.
The Ramekins:
The ramekins (cute little dishes you can bake stuff in) we used in this recipe were a bargain buy at Home Goods. I can’t find the exact product, but we’ve hunted down some good options for you. The nice thing is, there’s no need to go on a shopping spree if you don’t want to. You can use just about anything oven safe for this recipe (glass, ceramic, etc), as long as you’re in the 6-8 ounce capacity.
You can use 4, 6 our 8 ounce ramekins for this recipe. If you use a 4 ounce ramekin, you might consider making 5 or 6 melting cakes, instead of the 4 cakes the recipe makes. These don’t “fluff up” much, so you’re probably not at risk over overflow, as long as you leave about 1/2 inch at the top of the ramekin.
These cuties were my first choice, but I didn’t buy them because they were 4 ounce, AND because I didn’t need quite so many.
These classic ramekins come in 4 or 8 ounce sizes and a few different colors.
All the Kitchen Goodness:
Shop our kitchen store to explore more fun baking-goodies, and aqua blue kitchen tools.
Getting the Batter Right:
One thing we learned quickly when testing this recipe is it’s best not to use electric beaters or a stand mixer. The speedy mixers work too much air into the batter, and give it a fluff that takes away from the end result.
Instead, you can use a hand whisk, and mix the egg and sugar mix in a metal or glass prep bowl. Whisk the eggs and sugar JUST until the sugar is dissolved. When you add the flour, get most of the lumps out, then add your chocolate/butter mixer. No need to over-mix.
Egg-scuse Me
The eggs in this recipe need to come to room temperature, for best results. Set them out on the counter-top for a few hours while you prep everything else. Medium size eggs are best. Jumbo eggs may result in a more cakey end product.
The Chocolate
This recipe is so forgiving. You can use a chocolate bar, chocolate chips, or dark baking chocolate. The sweet spot for us are these Ghirardelli Jumbo Chocolate Chips. If you prefer a SUPER dark chocolate taste, go for bittersweet or dark chocolate. Like milk chocolate better? No worries, use milk chocolate chips. It’s all good.
Cooking Time
The cooking time in the original Carnival Warm Chocolate Melting Cake Recipe tells you to bake for 14 minutes. On my first try with this, it took 19 minutes to achieve the firm edge, and gooey center, but on our second attempt, 15 minutes did the trick. Watch it like a hawk, and use a toothpick inserted 1/2 inch from the edge to test the doneness. You want it gooey in the center, cake-like on the outer edge.
Carnival Warm Chocolate Melting Cake Recipe – Let’s do this!
Ingredients
- 6 oz dark chocolate
- 6 oz butter
- 4 eggs
- 3 oz sugar
- 2 oz flour
- Powdered sugar (for garnish, optional)
- Ice Cream (vanilla preferred, for garnish)
- Peanut Butter (optional, for garnish)
Instructions:
- Bring eggs to room temperature & measure other ingredients.
- Melt the chocolate and butter (this can be done on the stove or in the microwave) until just melted, and stir until smooth. No lumpy chocolate or butter, but you don’t want it simmering. Once melted, set aside. We recommend slowly melting the mixture over a double boiler, or in a shallow pan with water on low heat. If you choose to microwave, watch it closely.
- Mix the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl with a whisk for a few minutes, then add the flour. Combine until most flour lumps disappear. We suggest a hand whisk. Electric beaters introduce too much air.
- Add the egg mix to the melted chocolate and mix. Stir until all ingredients are blended well.
- Pour the mix in a greased mold (or ramekin). We used 4, 6 ounce ramekins, and greased them with cooking spray.
- Bake directly in the oven, in a shallow pan filled with ½ inch water at 390 degrees F for 14 minutes-19 minutes. Inside should be somewhat gooey, not entirely set, but outside 1/2 inch of the cake should be fully cooked.
Additional Notes:
Make sure the eggs are at room temperature and chocolate is warm enough while making the mixture. Serve with ice cream and peanut butter garnish if desired.
Serves four cruise lovin’ humans.
Before you go
How did yours turn out?
We hope you found this Carnival Warm Chocolate Melting Cake Recipe helpful! Once you give it a try, let us know how it turns out for you, and if you added any special flair to your recipe! You can DM us over on Facebook or Instagram, and don’t forget to send a photo!
We were inspired to make this recipe when Doug Parker over at Cruise Radio put a fun time lapse video on his YouTube Channel. Check this out, it’s quick and fun to watch.
Some of our favorite tools used to make this recipe:
- Whisk from Target.
- 4 Ounce Ramekins.
- 8 Ounce Ramekins.
- Nesting Mixing Bowls.
Oh, and you can shop my kitchen too! We put together an Amazon storefront featuring things we’ve collected over the years. My favorite Le Creuset Caribbean items can be found in this storefront, as well as my most-used kitchen gadgets. Can you tell I love Caribbean Blue?
Welcome to the CruiseTipsTV Test Kitchen
We loved bringing this recipe to life in our home kitchen, and can’t wait for you to give it a try:
Did you know we create food slideshows on just about every ship we cruise on? Here are a few fun Carnival food slideshows to get you in the cruise mood. You’ll see the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake at the [2:20] minute point in this first video:
More fun Carnival Cruise Line Stuff:
- Carnival Panorama Highlights.
- Meet Carnival Kitchen!
