Chocolate Lava Cakes

I am so excited about this recipe I have to start the post before they are even finished cooking!! The last chocolate lava cake recipe I tried was from Cooking Light. They were just OK. They called for espresso powder and I found they were just a little too... dark. The flavor was kinda smokey. Don't get me wrong, we ate most of the cakes the batch yielded, but I knew there had to be better.
Tonight's recipe came from my new favorite blog. I found it while trying to refresh my memory on an old favorite salmon recipe. The pictures are gorgeous, the recipes simple and encouraging, and the whole thing made me completely miss cooking. As you may have noticed (or forgotten due to my looooooong absence), I have had a new teaching position this year. (Did I even mention? 4th grade math.) It has been exhausting (beyond any teaching job I've had before, with the exception of student teaching and the semester with mono).

Brian has done all of the cooking since I got the job.

I think I have made breakfast two or three times on the weekends. And there was a chicken pot pie (which he learned how to make and made the next time). And something else more recently... that I can't remember.

So when I stumbled on this blog tonight, I was... engrossed. Perhaps obsessed. Every few entries was another "ohhh, I want to try this one" or "Oooooh, look at this picture!!" So while Brian finished making our salmon dinner, I read about lemon poppyseed cake and latkes and chocolate lava cakes. After dinner I seemed restless. When queried as to what was the matter, I whined, "I miss cooking." Brian asked if I wanted to make dessert. He had trouble reading my reaction, as I limped my tired feet back to the couch to check the still open laptop. Did I have the ingredients for those magically looking molten chocolate piles of heaven?? Butter... check, Brian restocked tonight. Eggs... check, exactly the right amount. Flour... always. Semi-sweet chocolate... I buy the chips in bulk at Costco. Powdered sugar... I always have powdered sugar, in case there is a frosting emergency. And whipped cream. Hmmm. Maybe?? There was a can at least... maybe?? Brian checks; there is! HOORAY! I leap into action.

Everything on the counter.

No powdered sugar.

I realize then that I have not baked since we arrived in August. Well, French Toast while the family was still here. But not a cake. Nothing with icing. All the powdered sugar I remembered was in Massachusetts. Not North Carolina. I had decided it was cheap enough to not bother packing, and left it for the roommate (who also bakes). That would save me worrying about a powdered sugar explosion in the moving boxes.
Then I got the job. And stopped cooking, for reasons of sanity. Lesson plans, assessments, paperwork, new acronyms, filing systems, 53 fourth graders (at last count, if the "he moved" rumors prove false). o.0

Brian, seeing my disappointment, ran to the store. Is that love or what? (I joke sometimes I can't tell if it is of the dessert or me, but we all know. <3

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
from Rachel at homesweetandsavory

4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
½ cups butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 whole eggs
2 whole egg yolks
6 tbsp flour
Whipped cream
Extra chocolate for topping

Preheat oven to 425˚.
Spray 4 ramekins liberally with cooking spray and place on cookie sheet.
Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. Whisk until chocolate is also melted.
Stir in sugar until well blended.
Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.
Divide between cups.
Bake 15 minutes until sides are firm and centre is soft. Let stand 1 minute.
Top with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.


I did not modify this at all, as Rachel's recipe looked fantastic. I think my batter was a little less moist than hers, and her tops look more like my brownies in the middle, but all around I am drooling at the smells from the oven. I'm at the agonizing "let it cool for one minute" phase.


Combine the chocolate and butter. (I don't think this looks like enough chocolate... I will fiddle with my balance next time since I had possible moisture issues due to measuring errors (?) with the chips. I have been reallly tired today.)


Even if the chocolate doesn't look completely melted, take it out at 1 minute or less. It will blend in with the hot butter, and you don't want to mess with burned chocolate. I took it out after 45 seconds since the chips are smaller than chopped chocolate.


Whisk to blend butter and chocolate. Resist sticking your finger in the chocolate at this point. Pure chocolate and butter tastes so decadent you might not finish the recipe.


Add powdered sugar, stir in. Then add flour and stir in. (I was too impatient for seperate pictures. XD)


Put batter into spouted cup for easy pouring.


Rachel says to coat with cooking spray until you think it is enough and then add more. She must be right, these popped right out without any trouble.


Filled ramekins. This was about 1/2 cup batter per dish.


This cake was so molten it couldn't wait to be served.


Enjoy!


It was quite good in the end. I think there are a few things I need to tweak next time. Mine seemed drier at the batter stage, roughly judging by picture, and I think I should have trusted that. Next time I will use baker's chocolate instead of semi-sweet chips to get a more accurate measurement of chocolate and if it looks dry I will trust it and add a little oil.