Cook a Traeger Grilled Chocolate Lava Cake (for 10) on a smoker or pellet grill! Easy to make dessert that tastes amazing, and is done in 35 minutes.
If you like to eat gooey lava cakes that practically “erupt” when you eat then, you are going to ABSOLUTELY LOVE this Traeger grilled chocolate lava cake! No… really! This “grilled” dessert serves 10, and tastes amazing!
Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page
Last year we were fortunate enough to get a new Traeger pellet grill. I had scrimped and saved for a couple years, and was able to buy it for my husband’s birthday and Father’s Day gift. It was also a blogging gift to me, because a smoker grill provides a new way to cook and create delicious foods!
We’ve Already Used The Traeger For Several Recipes!
I’ve been fortunate to have already gotten used to this form of grilling… user a smoker / pellet grill! Some of the foods we’ve already grilled using our Traeger include roasted whole chicken, turkey breast, pork loin roast, and rosemary wine pork chops.
We’ve also used this smoker to make asparagus, Caribbean jerk pork chops, and an amazing berry cobbler. I’ve also got a few more recipes to post, just as soon as I can get to them!
Since I was inspired by how good the dessert berry cobbler was, it excited me to find a recipe online for a lava cake, and realized I could adapt it for our grill! Traeger grilled chocolate lava cake for the WIN! Here’s how:
Prepare Traeger Grill
Make sure hopper is loaded with pellets (we used Cherry, but it won’t really matter what kind!). Turn to smoke setting, leave lid open, and let the fire get established and smoking. This usually takes 4-5 minutes.
Once fire is established and it’s really smoking, set the temperature gauge to 350° F. Close the lid, and let the Traeger preheat until it reaches temperature (about 10-15 minutes). While the grill preheats, prepare the lava cake.
Make The Traeger Grilled Chocolate Lava Cake
Using a medium sized bowl, stir together 2 cups of self-rising flour, 1½ cups of granulated sugar and 3 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder. Add milk and vanilla extract and stir well, to make a nice, thick and smooth batter. Set aside.
Batter Is Now Added To Skillet
Melt butter in a 12″ ovenproof skillet or cast iron skillet on medium heat. Once the butter has melted, remove skillet from heat source, and spoon the batter over the top of the butter.
The batter will not fully cover the butter… no worries! This is what mine looked like after all the batter had been added. Try to spoon it evenly around the skillet. Do not stir.
Sprinkle With Cocoa Sugar Topping
Take the remaining 2 cups of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, and stir together in a separate medium bowl. Once mixed, sprinkle all this mixture over the top of the batter and butter in skillet. This mixture should cover just about the entire surface of the chocolate lava cake.
Take Skillet Outside For Last Step (With Boiling Water)
For this last step, I would recommend you do this OUTSIDE, right by the grill. You will be using boiling hot water, and nobody wants to carry a huge skillet with boiling water through the house, right? Carefully and slowly pour 3 cups of boiling water over the surface of the chocolate lava cake. Do not stir.
Time To Cook The Traeger Grilled Chocolate Lava Cake!
Place the skillet onto a rack in the Traeger. Bake the lava cake at 350° for 30-35 minutes, with the lid closed. Check the cake at the 30 minute mark.
When done, the chocolate lava cake should be set on top in the middle. Since there is some liquid chocolate “lava” inside, it will not feel solid all the way through. Just cook it until it looks and feels fairly “set”. Mine ended up taking 40 minutes to finish cooking, and I was satisfied with how it looked (and felt on top).
After Cooking The Traeger Grilled Chocolate Lava Cake
The photo below show the Traeger grilled chocolate lava cake, right after I brought it inside. Oh my goodness! It looked so good! Let the cake cool for 10-15 minutes until it is warm but not boiling hot. If you look closely at the photo, you can see in a crack in the lower third of the cake a glimpse of some “lava” inside. You can also see how the top is set.
Ready To Serve The Chocolate Lava Cake!
When it is ready to serve, take a large spoon, and dip out the cake into small serving bowls. You should have enough for 10 portions! You will be amazed how much chocolate “lava” comes running (like a volcano) out of the cake.
Top each portion of Traeger grilled chocolate lava cake with a scoop of ice cream, and serve. You can see in the photo below, the cake AND the “lava” in the bowl. YUMMO! This cake tastes wonderful!
We LOVED this dessert, and wouldn’t hesitate to make it again for family and friends! I hope you will have the opportunity to make this Traeger grilled chocolate lava cake on your own smoker or pellet grill! Have a GREAT day, and be sure to check out ALL my recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page!
Interested In More Recipes?
Thank you for visiting this website. I appreciate you using some of your valuable time to do so. If you’re interested, I publish a newsletter 2 times per month (1st and 15th) with all the latest recipes, and other fun info. I would be honored to have you join our growing list of subscribers, so you never miss a great recipe!
There is a Newsletter subscription box on the top right side (or bottom) of each blog post, depending on the device you use, where you can easily submit your e-mail address (only) to be included in my mailing list.
You Can Also Find Me On Social Media:
Facebook page: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Pinterest: The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Instagram: jbatthegratefulgirlcooks
Original recipe source: thesauce.atbbq.com/cast-iron-chocolate-lava-cake/
↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓
Cook a Traeger Grilled Chocolate Lava Cake (for 10) on a smoker or pellet grill! Easy to make dessert that tastes amazing, and is done in 35 minutes.
- 2 cups self rising flour (see NOTES for substitute)
- 1½ cups granulated white sugar
- 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2 cups granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups boiling water
Load hopper with pellets. Turn to smoke setting, leave lid open, and let fire get established and smoking. This usually takes 4-5 minutes. Once fire is established and it's smoking, set the temperature gauge to 350° F. Close lid, and let Traeger preheat to 350° (about 10-15 minutes). While grill preheats, prepare cake.
Stir together 2 cups self-rising flour, 1½ cups of granulated sugar and 3 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder in medium bowl. Add milk and vanilla extract and stir well, to make a nice, thick and smooth batter. Set aside.
Melt butter in a 12" ovenproof skillet or cast iron skillet on medium heat. Once butter has melted, remove skillet from heat, and spoon the cake batter over the top of the butter. The batter will not fully cover the butter. Try to spoon it evenly around the skillet. Do not stir.
In a medium bowl, stir remaining 2 cups of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder together. Once mixed, evenly sprinkle this mixture over the top of the batter and butter in skillet. It should cover the surface of the cake. Carefully and slowly pour 3 cups of boiling water over the surface of the chocolate lava cake. Do not stir. TIP: I recommend pouring the hot water into skillet OUTSIDE, next to grill.
Place the skillet onto a rack in the Traeger. Bake the lava cake at 350° for 30-35 minutes, with the lid closed. Check the cake at the 30 minute mark. When done, the chocolate lava cake should be set on top in the middle. Since there is some liquid chocolate "lava" inside, it will not feel solid all the way through. (I ended up cooking mine for 40 minutes-perfect!). When done, remove from grill and let it cool for 15 minutes until it is warm but not boiling hot.
When ready to serve, take a large spoon, and dip out the cake into small serving bowls. You should have enough for 10 portions! You will be amazed how much chocolate "lava" comes running (like a volcano) out of the cake. Top each portion with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and serve. Enjoy!
TIP: Don't have self-rising flour? Do this: Sift 2 cups flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt together. Use this mixture to replace the self-rising flour called for in recipe.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!
What if I only have a 10 inch cast iron skillet? Will this overflow with the amount of ingredients? Is there a way to add less boiling water?
Hi, Trevor… Yes… it “might” possibly overflow if using a smaller skillet. Not completely positive of that, but your cooking time would also be longer for a deeper filled skillet. Have not made this in a smaller skillet before, so that is uncharted territory for me. Best of luck.
Just made for my family and they love it.
Good morning, Pam! Thanks for writing. I am so glad to hear your family enjoyed the lava cake. Personally, I can’t keep out of the stuff when I make it… soooo yummy! Have a great day.
Tried this last weekend and it was the hit of the meal. We absolutely loved it. Will definitely make it again.
Hi, Pam… so glad you enjoyed it! We absolutely love it, too! YUM! Have a great weekend, and thank you for writing.
I’ve read and re-read your directions and can’t find where the flour is added into the recipe. By the looks of the pictures, it appears to be in the bottom layer. I didn’t evenrealize there was flour until I scrolled to the bottom where the “recipe card” was located. Thanks for clarifying, it looks so delicious!!
Hi, Debra! WOWZERS… thank you so much for your note. I have re-edited the post and inserted the flour into the narrative in the post, as well as clarified it’s addition in the printable recipe card. How I missed that originally I have NO IDEA (hate it when that happens), but I am very grateful you caught that. Hope you have the opportunity to try this… it is ridiculously delicious! Have a great day.
Does this Chocolate Lava Cake taste smokey?
God morning, Marilyn. Thanks for writing. I have never really “tasted” a smokiness to this dessert when I’ve made it. Before I made it the first time, that was EXACTLY what I was wondering, too! All we tasted was yummy, oozing chocolate, and it sure tastes yummy! Hope you will give it a try, and trust you will enjoy this as much as we have! Take care.