Valentine’s Day- Happy couples may call it an occasion to express their love and devotion. While cynical singles may call it an over-hyped “Hallmark holiday” . However I personally think the most overlooked part of this day is the fact that it is socially acceptable to consume an obscene amount of chocolate. Now that’s a holiday everyone can get behind! So naturally I was inspired to make this classic Chocolate Molten Lava Cake.
What I love about this dessert is that the most common mistake you can make is overcooking. In which case the “lava” will not pour out. This is what Bob Ross would call a “happy accident” because even if there is no lava, it is still a delicious chocolate cake. You can prepare this very simple recipe ahead of time and just pop it in the oven minutes before you are about to serve, so it’s “lava” hot.
Okay, so there is one catch to this perfect dessert…. This recipe requires a specific kind of bowl called a “ramekin”. And although it sounds like a bookshelf you may get from Ikea, it’s actually just a fancy french name for a small ceramic (sometimes glass) dish that is used for baking or individual portioning. Or if you are like me, 99% of the time this serves as a salsa bowl. So hey, it’s not a complete loss if you buy this type of bowl just for this recipe. I’d recommend having as many ramekins as lava cakes you intend to serve.
Although this decadent dessert doesn’t need necessarily need a sidekick; It doesn’t hurt to serve with ice cream, raspberry sauce, chocolate sauce or just confectioners sugar.
Onto the recipe:
Chocolate Molten Lava Cake
Ingredients
- 2 Whole Eggs
- 2 Egg yolks only (no egg whites)
- 6 oz Bittersweet baking chocolate (Ghiradelli brand recommended)
- 1 Stick Unsalted Butter
- ¼ cup Sugar
- 1 Pinch Salt
- 2 TBSP Flour
- 4 Ramekin Dishes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 Degrees
- Prepare Ramekins - grease the interior of the ramekin thoroughly with soften butter. Then lightly dust greased ramekins with flour. Remove any excess flour, or else you risk having a chalky exterior on the final cake.
- Chop the chocolate with a serrated knife to chip into small uniform pieces, cube butter into ½ inch place both into a double boiler (or if you don’t have a double broiler, position a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water). Stir often to melt evenly. Remove bowl from heat as soon the mixture is melted. Place onto a towel to cool and remove any condensation from the bottom of the bowl. Careful to not let any water/condensation into the chocolate mixture.
- In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, gradually adding the sugar. Whip on medium speed for 2 mins.
- Once the chocolate mixture is cool enough to handle, slowly add chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. If you add too quickly it you risk deflating the egg mixture. Once thoroughly combined, stir in the flour and salt until combined.
- Pour in mixtures into the ramekins (about 3 oz in each).
- (If you aren't ready to serve yet, at this point you can put the prepared ramekins into the refrigerator for later in the day. But let it return to room temperature before you go to the next step)
- Put filled ramekins into the oven for about 8 mins. They should be raised on the edges, with small bubbles, but still sunken in the middle. (The longer they cook the less "molten lava" they become)
- Take Ramekins out of the oven. Place a plate on the top of the ramekin and then flip the plate/ ramekin over plate-side down. The lava cake will loosen from the ramekin and be left upside down on the plate.
- Optional (serve with powdered sugar, or fresh fruit, or ice cream, or whipped cream, or raspberry sauce, ect)
