A box of brownie mix made up with eggs, oil and water and spread across a greased slow cooker, scattered with a cup of chocolate chips.
Instant chocolate pudding whisked with whole milk is poured over without stirring, hot fudge is drizzled on, and two to two and a half hours on HIGH does the rest.
Why This Recipe Works
- The pudding is never stirred in. Poured gently it sits above the brownie batter and stays molten while the batter beneath it bakes — mix the two and you have one wet chocolate cake and no lava at all.
- Instant pudding rather than cook-and-serve. Instant sets by starch and cold liquid, so in a warm cooker it stays loose and glossy, which is exactly what this dessert needs it to do.
- The chocolate chips go between the layers. They melt at the boundary and thicken the molten centre in a way the pudding alone would not.
- HIGH rather than LOW. The brownie layer has to set relatively quickly, otherwise it stays in suspension in the pudding and there is no distinct cake to spoon through.
- The doneness cue is set at the edges and gooey in the centre, not a clean skewer. A skewer test on this dessert would have you cook it until there was nothing left to spoon.
Three Layers, Built In One Direction
Unlike a self-saucing pudding, nothing here changes places. What you build is what you get: a brownie cake that sets, over a pudding layer that never does.
The finish: hot fudge
Half a cup drizzled over the pudding layer before the lid goes on. It sinks a little and thickens the molten centre.
Top: instant pudding, poured gently
The pudding mix whisked with a cup and a half of whole milk for a full minute, then poured over without stirring. It stays where it lands and never sets — that is the lava.
Middle: a cup of chocolate chips
Scattered straight onto the batter. They melt into the boundary between the two layers and are a large part of what makes the centre read as molten rather than merely wet.
Bottom: the brownie batter
A standard box mix made up with two eggs, half a cup of oil and a quarter cup of water, spread across the greased cooker. This is the layer that sets at the edges and gives the dessert its structure.
Ingredient Notes
- Instant chocolate pudding mix
- One 3.9-ounce package, instant rather than cook-and-serve. Instant stays loose in a warm cooker; the cooked kind would set into a second cake layer.
- Brownie mix
- One 18-to-19-ounce box, made up with the eggs, oil and water listed here rather than the quantities on the packet.
- Whole milk
- A cup and a half, whisked into the pudding for a full minute. The minute matters — under-whisked instant pudding stays powdery.
- Semisweet chocolate chips
- A cup, scattered between the layers rather than folded into the batter. That position is deliberate.
- Hot fudge sauce
- Half a cup, drizzled over the pudding before cooking. It thickens the molten centre.
How to Make It
Grease the cooker
Lightly grease a 6-quart slow cooker.
Make and spread the brownie batter
Prepare the brownie mix with the eggs, oil and water according to the quantities above and spread the batter in the cooker.
Chocolate chips
Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the batter.
Pudding on top — do not stir
Whisk the pudding mix with milk for 1 minute and pour it gently over the brownie layer without stirring.
Hot fudge
Drizzle the hot fudge sauce over the top.
Cook on HIGH
Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until the brownie layer is set at the edges while the center remains gooey.
Rest, then spoon
Turn off the cooker and rest uncovered for 10 minutes before spooning into bowls.
Success Tips
- Grease the crock thoroughly, sides included — a sugar-heavy batter grips.
- Spread the brownie batter level so the pudding sits evenly on top of it.
- Whisk the pudding the full minute before it goes anywhere near the cooker.
- Pour the pudding over the back of a spoon so it lands gently.
- Do not stir after step 3, and resist lifting the lid to check.
Serving Ideas
Spooned warm into bowls with vanilla ice cream, taken down through both layers so each serving gets cake and lava.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The molten centre firms when cold and loosens again with warming.
Freeze
Freezing is not recommended. The distinction between the two layers is lost entirely once frozen and thawed.
Reheat
Reheat portions in the microwave in short bursts until warm. The centre comes back to a spoonable consistency within about a minute.
Frequently Asked Questions
It looks wrong before cooking. Should I stir it?
No. The unstirred pudding layer is the whole recipe — it stays molten above a brownie layer that sets. Stirring gives you one wet chocolate cake and no centre.
How is this different from the triple chocolate brownie pudding?
That one is a self-saucing pudding built from flour and cocoa, where the layers swap places as it cooks. This is a brownie mix under an instant pudding layer, and the layers stay exactly where you put them.
There was no molten centre.
It cooked too long. The cue is set at the edges with a gooey middle, which arrives somewhere between two and two and a half hours depending on the cooker.
Can I cook it on LOW?
The brownie layer needs to set fairly quickly to stay distinct. On LOW it tends to stay suspended in the pudding and you lose the two layers the recipe is built on.
