Molten Chocolate Cakes
These luscious chocolate cakes are the perfect ending to a romantic dinner for two. For an extra special touch, sometimes I omit the espresso powder and sprinkle liquor over the cakes right after unmolding. Whiskey, Cointreau, Frangelico, and Amaretto are all welcome here.
In my experience, the fluted Pyrex cupsunmold easier than straight-sided ramekins.
Molten Chocolate Cakes
Makes 2 cakes.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (2 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder (I like Medaglia D’Oro brand)
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Spray two small custard cups liberally with cooking spray.
- Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler over low heat, or in the microwave using 30-second pulses until the mixture is homogenous. Whisk eggs, sugar, espresso powder and vanilla using an electric hand-held mixer until thick ribbons form, about 3 minutes. If you’re doing this step by hand, use a big wire whisk and don’t stop until the mixture turns a pale yellow and forms ribbons. Fold the flour into this mixture, and then the chocolate. Divide between the two custard cups and bake for 13-14 minutes, until the tops of the cakes look well done. If you under-bake, the center of the cake will pour out the top when unmolding. Let stand for one minute before inverting onto plates. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.
this looks absolutely decadent! i love this already!
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these little cakes look heavenly, i love the tip of omitting the powder and using liquer…hubby would love these, thanks for sharing
sweetlife
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Mmmmm! Love this dessert!
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After mixing and pouring the batter into the cups, can these be held in the fridge or freezer? Or do they need to be baked immediately?
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Christina Reply:
October 21st, 2010 at 4:29 am
Yes, Melissa you can actually hold them in the fridge. Thanks for the reminder! Hold them in the fridge for 4-6 hours max, then add 1-2 minutes to the baking time. Enjoy!
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Great! I will be making these today. Happy baking!
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Look delicious! My husband would be THRILLED if I made those after dinner sometime!
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I am going to have to try making these here pretty soon!!
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we love these! In fact we love them so much that I did a blogpost about them
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
http://myninjanaan.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/molten-lava-cakes/
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Christina Reply:
September 20th, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Thanks so much, Henna! I saw your post (I can’t comment because of the wordpress.com thing), but I loved it
Thanks for writing in!
Christina
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Just made them! Fabulous!! I have a recipe that makes 4-6, this is perfect for two! I substituted Splenda for the sugar and I loved these. I mixed them incorrectly because I did not read the recipe correctly and they still were great.
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Christina Reply:
September 30th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
Thanks for writing, Diana! I’m so glad to know Splenda works in this recipe!
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We had a sweet tooth and decided last minute to make this. I didn’t have the espresso powder so made it without. It was perfect. Sprinkled a little powdered sugar on the top & we loved it!
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