Healthy Molten Lava Chocolate Cake for 2
Happy Valentine’s Day! This healthy Molten Lava Chocolate Cake is a perfect dessert to share with someone special for a stay at home Valentine’s Day dinner. Or just for any night of the week really, since this version is healthy and guilt-free!
Healthy Molten Lava Chocolate Cakes- with a secret ingredient!
This Molten Lava Chocolate Cake is made with a secret ingredient that makes it extra healthy. Butternut squash! Butternut squash is one of my favourite vegetables to sneak into desserts. It has a mild taste and a nice creamy texture. And it is highly underrated as a superfood: high in fiber, potassium, vitamin C and it has more than the recommended daily value of vitamin A in just one serving. And it’s delicious!
This recipe works well with pumpkin too, if you don’t have any butternut squash and have some extra pumpkin to use up. Even canned pumpkin in a pinch!
Sugar-free Sweeteners
You can sweeten this molten lava chocolate cake with any of your favourite natural sweeteners: erythritol, xylitol or monk fruit all work great. Or if you want a paleo version, raw honey works great.
I use powdered erythritol (Swerve) which is delicious, but slightly less sweet than sugar or other sweeteners. If you use sugar or xylitol or monk fruit you can probably get away with using less since they are pretty sweet. When you make baked goods with natural sweeteners it’s best to let them cool for a couple of hours before eating them to make sure everything sets up.
One Recipe Two Ways! Skip the baking and make Chocolate Fruit Dip
If you leave out the eggs in this recipe and skip the baking, you can eat the batter as a healthy chocolate mousse, or as I like to enjoy it- as a Chocolate Fruit Dip for your strawberries! Also another great Valentine’s Day dessert idea!
Besides snuck into these Molten Lava Chocolate Cakes or Chocolate Fruit Dip, my next favourite way to enjoy butternut squash is Roasted Butternut Squash Fries. I just cut it into french fry shapes and roast it in a hot oven (425 degrees) for about 20-25 minutes. So good! Or if you like spicy food, try my Spicy Butternut Squash Curly Fries!
Try dipping your Butternut Squash Fries in my Homemade Sugar-Free Ketchup – you can find the recipe on my post for Fully Loaded Cheeseburgers.
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butternut squash puree
- 2 eggs (or 4 egg whites)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1/2 cup sugar or sweetener (I use powdered erythritol)
Instructions
- Peel your butternut squash and cut it into chunks.
- If you have an Instant Pot, you can cook on manual for 4 minutes (quick release).
- Or you can roast it in the oven at 425 for 20 minutes.
- Mash the squash and measure out 1/2 cup puree for the recipe. The leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a week or so. (You can either eat it as a side dish or make another healthy molten lava chocolate cake!)
- Combine ingredients well and pour into a 4" ramekin or springform pan.
- Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
Can I replace the squash with pumpkin in the same amount?
Are you sure it is 1/2 cup of Cocoa? That seems like an insane amount.
Hi Kari,
Yes you can use pumpkin instead of squash for sure. And it is 1/2 cup cocoa! It is an intense dark and delicious chocolate flavour. 🙂
Could you use zucchini squash instead?
I haven’t tried this so I am not sure. I know it works with pumpkin too, if you don’t have butternut squash.