If you’re craving a gooey, fudgy chocolate treat without all the refined ingredients, we have a treat made just for you! Our Slow Cooker Chocolate Maple Lava Cakes are one of our favorite easy desserts featuring Lifeway Kefir, along with dark cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and fresh berries. It’s an indulgent dessert you can feel good about, since it’s made with high-quality ingredients packed with nutrients like Lifeway Kefir.
The Benefits of Cultured Dairy for Better Health:
Research continues to show the importance of eating healthy foods, including cultured dairy such as kefir, for optimal digestion and gut health, a strong immune system, and to support the microbiome. Fermented foods like kefir hold important value in this line of research due to the link between the gut-brain axis and overall health. Specifically, kefir has been shown to help diversify the microbiome, improve digestion, reduce inflammation, support healthier blood sugar levels, and improve satiety since the bioavailable protein it contains triggers the release of GLP-1.
Lifeway Kefir is packed with a variety of vital nutrients important for overall health, including bone and muscle health; these include vitamin D3, K, calcium, and vitamin B12. Along with our probiotic-rich kefir, Lifeway also offers artisan-made Farmer Cheese, a creamy, high-protein cheese made with live and active cultures to support healthy muscles and a healthy microbiome. Lifeway Farmer Cheese is easy to spread, free of gums and thickeners, and contains no added salt or sugar for optimal health benefits.
Ingredients
For the Cakes:
- 1 cup whole-grain oat flour or gluten-free flour equivalent
- 1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder (Dutch-processed cocoa; not regular cocoa powder)
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1 cup Organic Whole Milk Vanilla Kefir
- *or use our Organic Whole Milk Plain Kefir
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
For the Lava Pudding/Filling:
- ½ cup more dark cocoa powder (Dutch-processed; not regular baking cocoa)
- ¾ cup coconut sugar or date sugar (or unrefined light brown sugar)
- 1 cup boiling hot water
Directions
- *Prep: Spray a 4-6 quart slow cooker with non-stick spray or use a slow-cooking liner. You can also use an Instant Pot and set it to the slow cook mode (don’t use the pressure-cooking mode).
- For the cake: Mix the oat flour, 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and sift together to mix until combined. Pour in Lifeway Kefir, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, and stir well to mix completely into a cake batter. Pour this into the prepared slow-cooker. Sprinkle in chocolate chips on top.
- Next, mix up the lava pudding/frosting ingredients: In a medium bowl, add ½ cup more dark/Dutch-processed cocoa powder, coconut sugar, and sift to combine. Pour the 1 cup hot water on top and mix completely. Make sure the water is boiling hot because this is what dissolves the sugar and cocoa powder into a fudgy frosting. Pour this on top of the prepared cake batter in the slow-cooker completed in step 1. The mixture will look very watery, but don’t worry; it bakes up into a rich, fudgy, cake-like pudding.
- Turn the slow cooker to medium-high heat and cook/bake for 3 hours or until slightly firm. If your cooker does not have a medium setting, cook on high for 1 hour, then 2.5 more hours on low or just cook on low for 3-3.5 hours if you prefer. If using an Instant Pot, set it to the slow-cook mode and cook for 3 hours; do not the pressure-cooking function as the slow-cooking mode is what makes this cake soft and fudgy.
- Once the cake is baked up and the lava pudding on top looks dissolved, turn off cooker, remove the cake, and scoop some into a bowl and serve with whipped cream and berries. We love this with fresh strawberries or raspberries on top.
- *For leftovers, (if you have any!), let the cake cool completely and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
