Molten Chocolate Cakes - Tasty Tuesday!

Various desserts come into and go out of fashion on a regular basis. For example, I've been told that cupcakes are overdone and on their way out. And I haven't seen molten chocolate cakes on a menu in a long time. Apparently I'm not the most fashionable, and that's ok. Sometimes foods are just good and fit, so we'll continue to make cupcakes for the wee ones half birthdays, and there are definitely days and times that I'll be making molten chocolate cakes.

Before you non-baker people stop reading, check it out. This recipe has FIVE ingredients. Five. That's it. And it takes seven minutes to pull the whole thing together and another ten to bake it. Seriously, you can do this. It's an easy dessert to impress someone when there's an occasion that calls for it.

Like yesterday. Seriously, warm oozy gooey chocolate? It's the perfect dessert for Valentine's Day. I've had a recipe for it for a long time, and I love making it for dinner parties. It makes between six and ten individual cakes (depending on the size of the ramekin I use), but that's no good for when I want just enough for my family. These aren't something you keep around to eat the next day, after all!

I've been playing around with it for years trying to shrink it so that I can make a smaller batch and have it actually work out. Last night? I did it. Soooo so good. I made two large ramekins, as the wee ones had already gone to bed, but this would easily stretch to three smaller ramekins and possibly four - you'd just need to shorten the cooking time.

Molten Chocolate Cakes

Ingredients:
4 T butter, melted
2 oz dark or bittersweet chocolate (72% or higher)
1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk
1/2 c powdered sugar
not quite 1/4 c flour

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Melt the butter in a very heavy saucepan. While the butter in melting, chop your chocolate so that it will melt quickly.

Remove the butter from the heat, and add the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted - making sure the butter isn't so hot that it will burn the chocolate (though I've never had this issue when making it this way). Let the butter/chocolate mixture sit and cool for a bit while you work on the next part.

Get your ramekins out, and butter the bottoms and top really well. You don't want anything sticking! I leave the butter stick in its wrapper, just peeling back the side enough to expose one of the four sides of the stick. With a secure hold, I can quickly and easily butter everything perfectly - and you can, too!

Crack one egg, carefully placing the white into a separate container to save for later (meringue? an omelet?), with the yolk going into your mixing bowl. Crack the second egg into the mixing bowl. If you aren't successful with separating the first egg, put the whole first egg in the mixing bowl - and the second egg becomes your yolk only egg. Voila, no waste - and yes, this is why I do the separated egg first!

Using a whisk, whip the eggs around until they are lightened in color and a uniform consistency - this will take less than a minute. Add the powdered sugar and whisk again until it's well beaten. Like this:

By now, your chocolate mixture has cooled a little, and you'll want to add it to the eggs. Make sure you temper the eggs first so you don't end up with scrambled eggs. Tempering is super easy - just put a little dribble into the eggs while whisking them. Slowly add a little more, continuing to whisk. After you've added about a quarter of the chocolate mixture and gotten it incorporated, go ahead and add the rest, whisking until it's all combined.

Get your flour - and when I say not quite a quarter cup, I mean about this much:

Add it to your chocolate mixture, and stir until it's just combined. Immediately pour into your buttered ramekins.

Place in the oven and bake for 13 minutes - you want the top not really jiggly and just barely starting to crack. (The spots on top show darker in the picture than they actually were; they were just shiny - don't overcook this, or you'll have just a really good chocolate cake. This is why I tell people I'm just making chocolate cake. There's either a really good surprise, or people get what they're expecting!)

When they're cooked, remove them from the oven. Run a knife around the edge to loosen them. Place your plate atop the ramekin and - using your pot holder to hold the ramekin! - flip so that the plate is on the bottom and the ramekin atop. Slowly lift the ramekin, and bliss appears.

Serve immediately. If you're planning ahead (I wasn't), serve this with a little scoop of premium vanilla ice cream. And raspberries. Or just dig in with a fork and mmmmmmmm!

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday!

I am also giving away a Progresso Souper You Debut gift pack here.

Oh, and while you're at it, I finally set up a Facebook Fan page for my blog (and corrected the link here - oops!). It's way overdue. Go like me on Facebook if you would so I can get an official username - once I get enough likes. You can also follow me on Twitter, too, if you're so inclined.