Molten Lava Cakes

This photograph really could be more appetizing.  Sorry.  Blame it on being tired at the time.  Terrible photography aside, this is one of our favorite desserts.  Serve it to your honey for Valentine's Day!  It's the perfect romantic dessert, and it's easy to prepare, which makes it perfect for serving up a gourmet dinner for two at home.  It also works well for company, because you can direct your attention to your guests rather than to slaving away for a perfect dessert.  

These cakes are a lot more brownie-like in that the texture of the cake itself is crisp on the edges and fudgy inside.  And then in the center is a perfect amount of molten chocolate.  Let me show you how it's done.

Start by melting together chocolate and butter.

Keep the heat low and slow.  You can do it in a double boiler on the stove top or microwave at 15-30 second intervals.  When the butter is melted, turn off the heat (or take it out of the microwave) and let the butter work together with your mixing spoon to work a little magic on the chocolate.

Just stir it well until it's smooth and glossy.

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Next, beat together the eggs and sugar until it's a creamy yellow color.  You can use pasteurized egg product if you're worried about raw eggs in your chocolate lava.

Pour in your (cooled) melted chocolate...

and mix it in!

Finally, a little flour.

Mix.

Prepare buttered ramekins.  With this recipe, you can just do as many as you need at the time, because the batter keeps well in the fridge for later use.

I'm using a large scoop for equal portioning.  You can also use a measuring cup.

Fill the ramekins to within 1/2" or so of the top--you need some space for them to expand.

At this size, they bake for about 10-12 minutes.  You could also do muffin cups (use papers for easy removal), and they only take about 8 minutes.

Either way, pull them out when they look like this:  crispy tops cracked open, revealing gooey chocolate goodness below.

To remove, (still warm!) gently go around the edges with a knife and turn it out onto serving plates.

Molten Lava Cakes

1 cup butter

1 1/3 cups chocolate chips

5 eggs (or 1 1/4 cups egg product)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

Melt butter and chocolate chips together and allow to cool to room temperature.  Beat eggs and sugar until creamy and pale in color.  Beat chocolate mixture into egg mixture.  Add flour and mix well.  Optionally, chill several hours or overnight.  Bring batter to room temperature before dividing into very well greased or buttered ramekins or muffin tins.  Bake at 425.  6-8 minutes for regular sized muffin tins; 10-12 for 7 oz ramekins.  Makes 4 large or 8 small cakes.