You probably already have the ingredients to make a lava cake in your air fryer - here's how to whip up this easy dessert

One viral TikTok video has revealed how to make a lava cake in your air fryer - it only takes 10 minutes and you probably already have the ingredients in your cupboard.

If you're looking for a way to simplify family meal times, then investing in one of the best air fryers is one way to do it. These handy kitchen appliances cook food faster than an oven, they're easy to clean and there are so many foods you can cook in an air fryer too. Once you've made the investment, it's time to start looking for the best air fryer recipes - and social media is a great place to start.

TikTok and Instagram are awash with hacks and tips for making some food favourites in an air fryer, and the latest video we're obsessed with comes from Planet Food, who have shared a recipe for making chocolate lava cake in an air fryer. They've got more than 788 thousand followers on TikTok for their "Fun, easy recipes & hacks", so you already know this is going to be a good one.

In the video, Planet Food uses common store cupboard ingredients - such as butter, flour, cocoa powder, eggs and chocolate chips - to make this tasty dessert. Theirs has peanut butter in the middle, but if you're not a fan of nuts you could try Nutella or just chocolate chips instead.

After pouring the cake mixture into the ramekins, they air fry the batter for just 10 minutes to get the "perfect gooey centre". The recipe makes four portions of chocolate lava cake - so it's a great one to try at family dinnertime. 

How to make a chocolate lava cake in an air fryer

@thisisplanetfood

♬ Yummy - IFA

Ingredients

• 110g butter, cubed (plus extra for greasing)
• 175g chocolate chips
• 75g icing sugar
• 25g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 25g all-purpose flour
• 2 large whole eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Grease 4 ramekins with butter.
2. Add the butter and chocolate chips to a bowl and melt in the microwave for 30-second intervals.
3. Once fully melted, add the icing sugar, eggs and egg yolks, and the vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
4. Then fold in the cocoa powder, flour, and a pinch of salt.
5. Fill each ramekin halfway with the mixture, then top each with 1 tbsp peanut butter (or you could use Nutella) and a few chocolate chips.
6. Top up each ramekin with the remaining batter and air fry for 10-12 mins at 190°C.
7. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

The video proved popular with Planet Food's followers, with one user commenting, "ahhhhhhhh I need", while another said, "YUM".

One fan of the hack also asked which air fryer Planet Food used, to which they responded, "We have a Ninja Kitchen UK one and we LOVE it". 

Here at Goodto, we tested the Ninja air fryer ourselves and gave it a 4.5-star review. If you're thinking of investing in one of these kitchen gadgets, we recommend it for busy families.

Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 - RRP £169.99 | Ninja

This 5.2L family-size air fryer by sought-after brand, Ninja Kitchen, is easy to use and cooks whole potatoes in just 30 minutes - making it an efficient choice for families during the midweek dinner rush. Choose from six different functions; air fry, dehydrate and roast to name a few - a great multifunctional choice.

• Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 - View at Ninja Kitchen

Our Features Editor, Ellie Hutchings, recently put the Ninja Air Fryer Max to the test. She said: "You can cook whole meals for several people using this air fryer - and you can even bake desserts in it too. The range of cooking modes means there are pretty much limitless options in terms of what recipes you can try, so I can see myself using the Ninja air fryer really regularly."

Read our full review of the Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160UK here

If you're looking for more tasty treats you can make in your air fryer, check out our recipes for air fryer lemon-lavender doughnuts and air fryer French toast. We also found a three-minute hack for air fryer cinnamon doughnuts and even put the air fryer s'mores hack to the test.