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The Official Cannabis collection · sheet 35No 35 · Lava CakeHistory

History

The history of Lava Cake

Lava Cake crosses Thin Mint GSC, the GSC sub-type that won Best Hybrid at the 2014 NorCal Medical Cannabis Cup as Thin Mint Cookies, with Grape Pie, a Colorado-bred cross that Weedmaps credits to Cannarado Genetics, as it does Lava Cake.1,2,3,4 No source we opened dates its release; the earliest test in our lab data is from Sep 2019, and most come from Nevada.5

Timeline

  1. 2003Ken Estes popularizes Granddaddy Purple, later a parent of Cherry Pie, one of Grape Pie’s parents.6,7,8
  2. 2014Thin Mint Cookies, the Thin Mint GSC parent of Lava Cake, wins Best Hybrid at the NorCal Medical Cannabis Cup.1,2
  3. 2018Grape Pie takes third place in the indica category at the Karma Cup, per SeedFinder.9
  4. Sep 2019The earliest state lab test of Lava Cake flower in our dataset.5
  5. 2020–2022475 of the 535 tests in our data date from these years; across all years, 365 come from Nevada labs.5
  6. 2022In Washington, Freddy’s Fuego hunts and releases Landslide #4, from Lit Farms’ cross of Lava Cake #11 (Tahoe Hydro Cut) and Fleetwood Mac #100.10
  7. Jul 2024The latest test of Lava Cake flower in our dataset.5
  8. Feb 2025Leafly’s David Downs calls Cannarado Genetics, the breeder Weedmaps credits with Lava Cake, Colorado’s biggest breeder.4,11
  9. Oct 2026Weedmaps shows Lava Cake flower at 66 store listings in 12 of 27 markets, most around Detroit.12

Where it took hold

Most tested Lava Cake comes from Nevada: 365 of the 535 state lab tests in our data, against 107 from Michigan and 58 from Washington.5 Among the 426 tests that name a producer, 17 different producers appear.5 On menus it is most common around Detroit: 18 of the 66 store listings Weedmaps showed on Oct 4, 2026.12

A parent of newer strains

Breeders kept working with it. Jungle Boys crossed it with Jungle Cake for Jungle Lava, DNA Genetics with Gelato Sorbet for DNA Cake, Lit Farms used the Lava Cake #11 cut for Landslide, and Leafly credits PB Souffle to Phinest and Cannarado; SeedFinder counts 21 direct descendants.10,13,14,15,16

The disputed parts of the story

  • Breeder: Weedmaps credits Cannarado Genetics; Leafly’s strain page names no breeder, and SeedFinder files the original under unknown breeders and leaves it off its list of Cannarado strains (see genetics).4,16,17,18
  • Version: 707 Seed Bank sells a different Lava Cake, Thin Mint Cookies × 707 Chemdawg.19
  • Names: Weedmaps lists Black Rock Lava Cake and Lava Cake #11 as other names, and Leafly’s Landslide page mentions a “Tahoe Hydro Cut” of Lava Cake #11; no source we opened explains either name.4,10
  • Date: no source we opened gives the year Lava Cake was bred; the earliest dated record we found is a state lab test from Sep 2019. AllBud says it was named for its flavor but gives no date.5,20

Sources

  1. Leafly, Just desserts: the Cookies and Cakes family genealogy (David Downs) (2024-04-09). Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  2. Leafly, Thin Mint (aka Thin Mint GSC, Thin Mints, Thin Mint Cookies) strain information. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  3. Weedmaps, Grape Pie strain page. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  4. Weedmaps, Lava Cake (aka Black Rock Lava Cake, Lava Cake #11) strain page. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  5. Cannlytics (CC BY 4.0), cannabis_results: public state lab results (filtered and aggregated by Official Cannabis). Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  6. Leafly, Granddaddy Purple (aka GDP) strain information. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  7. Leafly, Cherry Pie strain information. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  8. Leafly, Grape Pie strain information. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  9. SeedFinder, Grape Pie (Unknown or Legendary): strain info. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  10. Leafly, Landslide strain information. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  11. Leafly, David Downs’ sickest weed genetics picks of 2025 (2025-02-18). Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  12. Weedmaps listings, compiled by Official Cannabis, Weedmaps flower menu snapshot, 27 US markets, Oct 4, 2026. Accessed Oct 4, 2026. Latest capture Oct 4, 2026.
  13. Leafly, Jungle Lava strain information. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  14. SeedFinder, DNA Cake (DNA Genetics): strain info. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  15. Leafly, Peanut Butter Souffle (aka PB Souffle) strain information. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  16. SeedFinder, Lava Cake (Unknown or Legendary): strain info. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  17. Leafly, Lava Cake strain information. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  18. SeedFinder, Cannarado Genetics: breeder info and strain list. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  19. SeedFinder, Lava Cake (707 Seed Bank): strain info. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.
  20. AllBud, Lava Cake marijuana strain information and reviews. Accessed Oct 4, 2026.