Wednesday, February 15, 2012

valentines: molten chocolate cake

I was going to make my souffle cupcakes with white chocolate cream for my special valentine's dessert, but as I'm not very observant, I ended up having 2 kinds of chocolate and 0 kinds of white chocolate in the pantry. And as much as I wanted to make my boyfriend an incredible dessert, I wasn't going to the grocery store at 5 pm on v-day. So I spent about 20 minutes prowling the interwebs for a good chocolatey recipe (little did I realize that our dinner would be straight out of Chocolat) and found this one for a molten chocolate cake. First of all, it was delicious and I was very proud of it. Second of all, it was very easy. Third of all, I sort of expected that lava centered melted explosion to happen, but that is not this cake. It is denser and moister in the middle, so I can see the "molten" part, but if you want the chocolate to come pouring out, I don't know. Find a different recipe, I guess. My boyfriend suggested that you have to stick a hershey's kiss or something in the middle, but I haven't tested that theory yet.




*I make 1/2 the recipe for 2 servings, below is the full recipe


1 stick unsalted butter, plus melted butter for brushing
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
6 ounces dark chocolate (70 percent cacao), chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling


Preheat the oven to 425°. Brush four 6-ounce ramekins with melted butter. In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa powder with 1 tablespoon of the flour; dust the ramekins with the cocoa mixture, tapping out the excess. Transfer the ramekins to a sturdy baking sheet.

In a medium saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter with the chocolate over very low heat, stirring occasionally. Let cool slightly.

In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the granulated sugar with the eggs and salt at medium-high speed until thick and pale yellow, 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the melted chocolate until no streaks remain. Fold in the 1/4 cup of flour. [We ended up having a lot of time left to cook dinner and this was already ready, but I knew I wanted to serve it warm. I let it sit out for a while and then refrigerated it for a while, and there didn't seem to be any problem - just in case you find you need to do the same. It's definitely key to serve it warm. And probably with whipped cream or ice cream, even though it is crazy dense and filling.]

Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins. Bake in the center of the oven for 16 minutes, until the tops are cracked but the centers are still slightly jiggly. Transfer the ramekins to a rack and let cool for 5 to 8 minutes.

Run the tip of a small knife around each cake to loosen. Invert a small plate over each cake and, using pot holders, invert again. Carefully lift off the ramekins. Dust the warm cakes with confectioners’ sugar and serve immediately.

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