Sparks from the Kitchen

So a few of us with these blogs swap recipies. This swap’s theme was ‘special occasion’.  I was given this cake recipe from this blog. I’d had little lava cakes before and liked them. 

I have to admit I’m not really a fan of cake or of chocolate so chocolate cake ranks pretty low with me-I’m more of a pie and vanilla fan really but these were really tasty and I enjoyed them much more than my anti-cake self usually does.  They really are great for a special occasion and pretty easy to make.  I got out all of the ingredients and measured everything so that when I was ready I could just whip them up after dinner. There’s not much to them really.

Chocolate Lava Cakes

Ingredients

• 10 tbsp butter
• 40z dark chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• non-stick cooking spray

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400. In a double boiler melt the butter and chocolate chips and stir until smooth.  Set aside (off of hot water and stove) to cool for 15 minutes.
2. In a large bowl beat the sugar and eggs until thick and pale yellow. Beat in the flour making sure it’s completely incorporated then beat in the chocolate.
3. Spray ramekins with cooking spray.  Pour the batter into the ramekins until they’re 3/4 of the way full.
4. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake for 13-17 minutes until the top of the cake sets. Remove them from the oven and let them stand for 10 minutes.
5. Run the edge of a thin knife around the cake being very careful to not pull the cake-just to release the cake from the dish. Place a plate on top of the ramekin and slowly invert to place the cake on the dish.  Serve with marshmallows or ice cream or whatever else you like with liquid chocolate.

Notes: The original recipe called for parchment paper rounds on the bottom of the ramekin.  I discovered that you dont need those but if you still want to use them be my guest.  To make parchment circles take one of the ramekins, set it onto the parchment and trace the bottom iwth a pencil. Then take scissors and cut just inside of the pencil line. Make sure it fits into the bottom of the dish. Trim as necessary.  To  make 4 at a time take a square of parchment, fold it into 4 (be sure that the small folds are large enough to cut the circle out of) place the completed circle on it and cut around. 

This recipe makes 5-6 cakes. Unless you have that many people to eat them making that many at once is silly. I made 4 as a test and refrigerated the left over batter. 2 days later I fired up the oven, left the batter on the countertop for a while to warm up and made 2 more (it was at this point that I realized that the parchment paper rounds mentioned above were unnecessary as I didn’t use them).  It took a few more minutes to cook as the batter was cold but they were perfect.  Since it was the night before Valentine’s Day using my heart plate was appropriate.

If you do not have a double boiler take a pot, put about 3 inches of water in it then place a glass bowl over the rim of the pot and then follow instructions above. It works the same way. IMPORTANT: the water must not touch the bottom of the bowl.

Source: http://www.aseasonedgreeting.blogspot.com/2012/08/molten-lava-cake.html

Thanks for hosting the swap Sarah from http://tasteofhomecooking.blogspot.com