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Disappearing Marshmallow Lava Cake

Disappearing Marshmallow Lava Cake is a super easy chocolate cake that makes its own chocolate sauce as it bakes. It is the delicious dessert served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Follow these keys to success for perfect results every time.

disappearing marshmallow lava cake

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disappearing marshmallow lava cake

Key to Success #1 – Start With the Sauce

Disappearing Marshmallow Lava Cake is a super easy dessert that bakes together all in one baking dish.

You don’t even need to wait for it to cool.

The first step is to mix together the sauce ingredients.

The sauce is made with cocoa powder, brown sugar, water, and marshmallows.

Mix these ingredients together in the baking dish while the oven is preheating.

You do not need to dirty another bowl for the sauce ingredients.

Just use a spoon to stir the ingredients together.

It helps the cocoa powder activate if you use hot water but it is not required!

I would also recommend stirring in the marshmallows last.

They need to be fully moistened but you don’t want them to get destroyed while you’re stirring in the cocoa powder.

It’s not always cooperative but using hot water does help a lot.

disappearing marshmallow lava cake

Key to Success #2 – Make the Devil’s Food Cake

The next step is to make the Devil’s Food Cake mix according to package directions.

Most Devil’s Food cake mixes call for water, oil, and eggs.

Add a little vanilla extract too.

You can use a hand mixer or just whisk it together by hand.

Once the cake mix is ready, gently spoon the batter over the sauce mix in the baking dish.

Some of the cake batter may sink into the sauce and this is okay!

Just do your best to cover the sauce mixture with the cake batter.

You do not want to stir the cake batter and the sauce mixture together.

The sauce mixture is really liquidy before it’s baked but it will thicken while it’s in the oven.

This recipe is called a Disappearing Marshmallow Lava Cake because the marshmallows disappear into the sauce like they were never even there.

Again, you should make sure the marshmallows are completely moistened in the sauce mix.

I did not do that and some of my marshmallows rose to the top and you can see them on the top of my chocolate lava cake.

Disappearing Marshmallow Lava Cake

Key to Success #3 – Serve The Lava Cake Upside Down

Let me explain. What I say to serve the lava cake upside down, I don’t mean to turn the whole pan upside down.

I mean when you dip out a serving of lava cake, turn it upside down on the serving plate or saucer.

This will ensure that the gooey chocolate sauce is on the top of the cake like a frosting.

This cake should be served hot or at least warm so that the chocolate lava sauce will be ooey and gooey.

We like to enjoy this cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream then we drizzle some chocolate lava sauce over the top.

This may not be the prettiest cake but it is very delicious.

The original recipe from my grandmother’s cookbook was “Delicious Dessert Quickie.” I like that name!

It’s super quick to prepare this recipe even though it takes a while to bake. And it certainly is delicious.

I decided to change the name to Disappearing Marshmallow Chocolate Lava Cake because we have a similar recipe called Disappearing Marshmallow Brownies.

It’s more of a blondie than a brownie but it’s similar in that the marshmallows disappear while cooking.

disappearing marshmallow lava cake

Save this Disappearing Marshmallow Lava Cake to your favorite Chocolate Recipes board or your Easy Desserts board.

disappearing marshmallow lava cake
disappearing marshmallow lava cake

Disappearing Marshmallow Lava Cake

Yield: 12 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Disappearing Marshmallow Lava Cake is a super easy chocolate cake that makes its own chocolate sauce as it bakes. It is the delicious dessert served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Follow these keys to success for perfect results every time.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
  • 1 pkg Devil's Food Cake mix
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup chopped pecans, (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13X9X2-inch baking dish.
  2. In baking dish, stir together the brown sugar, cocoa powder and water. Sprinkle marshmallows over the top.
  3. Prepare cake mix according to package directions and add vanilla to the batter. Spoon the batter over the marshmallow layer in the pan. Top with chopped nuts.
  4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes. Allow to cool slightly then cut into serving-sized pieces. Serve sauce side up.

Notes

Diabetic Substitutions:

  • Try reducing brown sugar to 1/2 cup
  • Try reducing marshmallows to 1 cup
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 320Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 0gSodium: 327mgCarbohydrates: 62gFiber: 3gSugar: 41gProtein: 3g

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