Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Chocolate Cake

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Crockpot Lava Cake — This is an easy, no-mixer cake that’s super soft, gooey, moist, rich, and fudgy. As the cake cooks, it creates its own hot fudge sauce! For the full experience, serve with ice cream or whipped cream!

Crockpot Lava Cake — This is an easy, no-mixer cake that’s super soft, gooey, moist, rich, and fudgy. As the cake cooks, it creates its own hot fudge sauce! For the full experience, serve with ice cream or whipped cream. 

My Favorite Crockpot Dessert

This is only the second dessert I’ve made in my slow cooker and it certainly won’t be the last. It’s an easy, no-mixer Crockpot lava cake that’s super soft, gooey, moist, rich, and fudgy.

It’s a unique cake in that there’s no butter or eggs (an accidentally vegan cake) and you pour boiling water over the cake batter before turning on the slow cooker. It’s the boiling water that creates rich hot fudge while the Crockpot cake bakes.

There are other non-slow cooker recipes that utilize the same boiling water technique, including the decades-old infamous Hershey’s cake, but it was a first for me. It reminds me a bit of my Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes because it’s so fudgy and gooey.

I loved the hot fudge that formed and that was waiting for me underneath the slow cooker cake. Who can resist chocolate cake studded with chocolate chips, dripping with hot fudge, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream?

My family raved about this Crockpot lava cake and said it’s better than any you’d get in a fancy restaurant. Despite how fudgy the cake is, the texture of the crumb is surprisingly soft and light.

It’s a perfect party cake that you can easily make at the beginning of a dinner party or event and when you’re ready for dessert, the Crockpot chocolate lava cake is done and everyone can dig in. It’s a new go-to cake that will both impress guests and is a cinch for me to make. Set it and forget it.

Crockpot Lava Cake — This is an easy, no-mixer cake that’s super soft, gooey, moist, rich, and fudgy. As the cake cooks, it creates its own hot fudge sauce! For the full experience, serve with ice cream or whipped cream. 

What’s in Crockpot Lava Cake? 

To make this Crockpot hot fudge cake, you’ll need: 

  • All-purpose flour
  • Granulated sugar
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Baking powder
  • Salt
  • Milk
  • Vegetable oil
  • Vanilla extract
  • Semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • Boiling water
Crockpot Lava Cake — This is an easy, no-mixer cake that’s super soft, gooey, moist, rich, and fudgy. As the cake cooks, it creates its own hot fudge sauce! For the full experience, serve with ice cream or whipped cream. 

How to Make Crockpot Lava Cake

  1. To make this easy Crockpot cake, first stir together the dry ingredients and then mix in the wet.
  2. Turn the batter into your slow cooker. 
  3. Then, whisk together a mixture of sugar, cocoa powder, and boiling water and carefully pour it into the slow cooker. 
  4. Cover and cook on high for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

Can I Cook This Crockpot Lava Cake on Low for More Time? 

I have not tested the Crockpot chocolate lava cake recipe using the low heat setting and can’t speak to baking time or results.

Can I Make Hot Fudge Cake Without a Crockpot? 

If you want to make a similarly gooey chocolate cake recipe, I recommend making my Easy Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes instead. 

Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Chocolate Cake - Super soft, gooey, rich, and fudgy!! The cake makes its own hot fudge sauce while cooking in the slow cooker! The easiest cake you'll ever make and it tastes amazing!!

Tips for Making Crockpot Lava Cake

You can use any type of milk you’d like in this Crockpot dessert recipe. I used cashew milk, but regular milk can be used as well. For an even richer cake, use chocolate milk. 

Once you whisk together the cocoa powder and boiling water mixture, pour it over the cake batter already in the Crockpot but DO NOT stir. If you stir the sauce into the cake batter, you won’t wind up with a proper hot fudge cake. 

Lastly, note that all slow cookers vary so cook just until the Crockpot lava cake is done. Start checking at just over one hour to ensure you don’t overbake the hot fudge cake. My cake was done at 90 minutes. 

Crockpot Lava Cake — This is an easy, no-mixer cake that’s super soft, gooey, moist, rich, and fudgy. As the cake cooks, it creates its own hot fudge sauce! For the full experience, serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

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4.29 from 101 votes

Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Chocolate Cake

By Averie Sunshine
This is an easy, no-mixer cake that’s super soft, gooey, moist, rich, and fudgy. As the cake cooks, it creates its own hot fudge sauce! For the full experience, serve with ice cream or whipped cream. 
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings: 8
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Ingredients  

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
  • ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • ¾ cup milk, I used cashewmilk; chocolate milk may be substituted
  • cup vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 ½ cups boiling water
  • ice cream and/or whipped topping or whipped cream for serving, optional but recommended

Instructions 

  • Line a 6-quart slow cooker with a liner if using one. Tip – I prefer to use liners for easy cleanup and storage, see step 8. Spray liner, or base and sides of slow cooker, very well with cooking spray; set aside.
  • To a medium bowl, add the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and whisk to combine.
  • Add the milk, oil, vanilla, and stir until just moistened.
  • Turn batter out into prepared slow cooker and spread it into a smooth, even, flat layer.
  • Evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips; set aside.
  • To a medium bowl (the same one you already used is fine, just wipe it clean with a paper towel), add 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, the boiling water, and whisk to combine.
  • Carefully pour the hot cocoa-water mixture over the batter in slow cooker. Do not stir. This mixture turns into hot fudge while the cake bakes; do not stir.
  • Cover and cook on HIGH for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Start checking at just over one hour to ensure you don’t overbake (no raw egg issues to worry about). My cake was done at 90 minutes. All slow cookers vary so cook until cake is done.
  • Remove the top portion of the slow cooker (the ceramic bowl the cake is cooking in) from the base (heating element) to allow cake to cool momentarily before serving. I recommend serving with ice cream and/or whipped topping or whipped cream.

Notes

  • I have not tested the recipe using the low heat setting and can’t speak to baking time or results; nor have I tested it using smaller-sized slow cookers.
  • Cake is best warm and fresh but will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temp, noting the sauce absorbs into the cake by the second day. Storage is much easier if you use a liner because you can lift the entire liner out, cake and all, and place in an airtight container.
  • Adapted from BHG and Betty Crocker

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 336kcal, Carbohydrates: 58g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Sodium: 225mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 41g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Originally posted February 19, 2016 and reposted on February 2, 2024 with updated text.

4.29 from 101 votes (92 ratings without comment)

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Oh man…this is SO good! I’m eating mine right now! I made this as written except that I used AP flour instead of self-rising. This definitely caused the cake to be a little flatter and most of the sauce stayed on top. However, no complaints here, it’s still delicious! I cooked it in my Ninja Foodi on the slow cooker setting and it took 3 hours on high. This is a definite repeat!

    Averie, I love making your recipes when I want something super decadent and want no surprises during the cooking process. Your recipes are so solid…I’ve made many throughout the years! (I also made your cream cheese-filled blueberry cake this morning to take to work tomorrow…that looks amazing!)

    Thanks!

  2. 5 stars
    Oh man…this is SO good! I’m eating mine right now! I made this as written except that I used AP flour instead of self-rising. This definitely caused the cake to be a little flatter and most of the sauce stayed on top. However, no complaints here, it’s still delicious! I cooked it in my Ninja Foodi on the slow cooker setting and it took 3 hours on high. This is a definite repeat!

    Averie, I love making your recipes when I want something super decadent and want no surprises during the cooking process. Your recipes are so solid…I’ve made many throughout the years! (I also made your cream cheese-filled blueberry cake this morning to take to work tomorrow…that looks amazing!)

    Thanks!

    1. I am so glad you’ve been a fan of my recipes over the years and have enjoyed a lot of things! I appreciate your readership and support!

  3. 5 stars
    I doubled this recipe, using stevia for the sugar, Gluten free flour, and cut down on the chocolate chips. ย I think my crock pot is 3 or 4 quarts. ย It worked great! ย Thank you for the recipe! ย 

  4. 5 stars
    I doubled this recipe, using stevia for the sugar, Gluten free flour, and cut down on the chocolate chips. ย I think my crock pot is 3 or 4 quarts. ย It worked great! ย Thank you for the recipe! ย 

    1. Thanks for the 5 star review and great to hear that it worked well with GF flour as well as stevia for the sugar!

  5. 1 star
    The cake is good but there is no fudge. Shame to spoil the expectations for with cake with fake fudge in the pictures

  6. 4 stars
    The cake comes out lovely with a nice chocolate syrup on top. Does look like the pictures and definately no fudge. There should be dairy in the topic to turn it into fudge, so that part at least in not correct, hence dont be disappointed when you dont see fudge!

  7. 1 star
    Sorry, but this is not a good recipe. The end result is bland with awful texture. I followed the directions and used quality ingredients.

  8. 5 stars
    Came out great. Made it in my 3.5 litre slow cooker and it was cooked in 75 min. Was appreciated by all and it’s a no fuss recipe. Will make again. Thank you for a great and easy dessert idea.

    1. My guess is no but you could always make 1/2 or 2/3 of the recipe, or make the full recipe, pour in the batter until you think it’s enough, and go with that.

    1. Not sure how you’d do that in a slow cooker unless you have a super jumbo slow cooker. Or, divide the doubled batter between two slow cookers.

  9. I just made this and the fudge sauce stayed on top instead of forming on the bottom. I’m not sure what I did wrong. It was more like a steamed pudding than a cake. The sauce on top made it difficult to gauge when the cake was cooked so the edges came out overdone so that they were chewy, but in a pleasant, toffee-like way.

    Still delicious despite the result being different to what the recipe intended. Will give it another go some time and see what happens.

    1. All slow cookers (and cooks) are different so it’s hard to say exactly why yours came out the way it did. It’s definitely a very casual and not at all a fussy cake, i.e.messy but good, and it turned out pleasantly enough for you.

      1. In hindsight the cake batter was very runny and I didn’t have to spread it out at all so I think that affected the sauce. I’m not a baker so I’m meticulous at following baking recipes but I must’ve added too much liquid.

        It’s still a gorgeous recipe and so brilliantly easy! Thank you for that. Next time I make it I’ll bear the consistency in mind. Now it’s fab that I’ve got another ‘version’ of the recipe that makes a chocolate pudding

      2. I think you added a bit too much liquid based on what you said but glad you will try it again and enjoyed it!

  10. I made this for dessert tonight and, holy yum! I used a gluten free flour blend and it still came out great – the cake rose up nicely and the sauce was gooey and perfect. My boyfriend (ok, I did too) even had seconds. It is his birthday weekend, so we felt justified in the extra indulgence! A definite keeper recipe, thanks Averie!

    1. I’m so glad this recipe came out great for you since it was a birthday recipe and that gluten free flour worked just fine!

  11. I don’t comment on recipes very often but had to on this one. It’s so so easy and so good. It was a huge hit for the family, thanks so much!!