Tips and Substitutions

Sealing Ring Odors

I make a lot of curries and highly spiced dishes in the Instant Pot and one thing I’ve found is that the Instant Pot sealing ring retains the smell of whatever I cook. I’ve tried all kinds of tricks and although the smell can be reduced, they aren’t eliminated.

To solve this problem, you can purchase a second silicone sealing ring that you can use just for desserts. You can find multi-packs of sealing rings with different colors to keep track of them easily.

Equipment

You’ll also need some oven-proof dessert cups. I use small 3 1/2 inch ramekins but you could also use glass Pyrex custard cups. They’re a bit of a tighter fit, but you might already have them in your kitchen cabinet.

I use 6 oz. ramekins in a 6 quart Instant Pot Duo or Instant Pot Ultra for this lava cake recipe; if you’re using different size or type of containers or pressure cooker, your cooking time may need to change.

This recipe uses the Pot-in-pot method to cook the lava cakes, so you’ll need to use the trivet that was shipped with your Instant Pot.

Coffee Flavor This lava cake recipe uses instant coffee granules and I think it adds a nice counter-balance to the chocolate. But I’m a coffee drinker and love to get my coffee fix! My kids, on the other hand, are not coffee drinkers and they like these chocolate lava cakes without the coffee. If you don’t care for coffee either, you can easily leave it out.

Chocolate

It’s important that you microwave the chocolate correctly: at medium (50%) power, in small bursts, stirring well every 15 seconds, and stopping when there are still a few pieces of chocolate still left, allowing the remaining chocolate to melt in the residual heat, stirring until smooth.

Overheating the chocolate can make this recipe not turn out right.

Cooking Time

This Instant Pot lava cake recipe can be tricky for some readers. The reason could be altitude-related or slight variations in the measuring of ingredients. Or it could vary based on the model of Instant Pot.

I’m sorry I can’t give any more guidance, so you might need to experiment a bit. The Instant Pot company changes the design frequently and each iteration can cause recipes to turn out differently.

If you’re making this Instant Pot lava cake recipe for the first time, you might want to try 7 minutes and if the lava cakes are undercooked, pressure cook them for another 1 to 2 minutes.