Pam's Mini Molten Lava Cakes

Over the winter break, my mother had a few dinner parties and always asked me if I would be willing to bake a delicious dessert so that she could end the dinner on a sweet note. I was more than willing to oblige since I like to bake and I was going to be around.

Over these numerous dinner parties, I was able to perfect this recipe and make it my own by figuring out the best ratios for the different ingredients and the best selection of chocolate to use. Since I had spent so much time over the break perfecting my recipe, I knew it would be the perfect thing to bake for my first post.

Over the years my house has usually been the one that all my friends come to hang out at on a Saturday night. This was like other Saturdays with my good friends Brian and Nick coming over to be the guinea pigs for my Mini Molten Lava Cakes. I suppose I cannot really say they were guinea pigs since I had already worked out the kinks for this recipe.

Nevertheless they were more than willing to eat my delicious creation. As I baked and watched my little cakes rise in the oven, making sure their centres stayed gooey, they had a lively debate with my dear old Dad about politics. Can anyone say thrilling… Giving my Dad a cake was the only way to change the subject.

So here is the recipe for my Mini Molten Lava Cakes. If anyone tries them out I would love to hear how it goes!

Pam’s Mini Molten Lava Cakes

Ingredients

12 oz of Chopped Dark Chocolate*

¼ cup unsalted butter, cubed, room temperature

¼ cup White Sugar

¼ cup Brown Sugar, packed

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1/3 cup Flour

Pinch of Salt

*I found the best combination of chocolate for this recipe was one 100g bar of Cadbury Dark Chocolate and 8 squares of Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate.

1. Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit
2. Place chopped chocolate, butter, white and brown sugar into a double boiler. For anyone that doesn't know, a double boiler is a pot of boiling water with another pot that sits directly on top so that the steam from the water melts the chocolate since direct heat tends to burn chocolate and we don't want that. If you don't have a double boiler just put a microwave safe bowl on top of a pot.
3. Mix it slowly until all ingredients are melted and combined.
4. Let it cool for a little while so that when you add the eggs in they don't get cooked. I usually wait about 10 minutes. 
5. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until combined. Then you can add in the flour and mix it slowly so that it doesn't go all over the place. We want as little clean up as possible. 
6. Grease 8 ramekins, 3 oz. in size, with butter. I found that if you actually greased them with real butter instead of cooking spray the cakes slid out easier when plating. Fill the ramekins almost to the top leaving about a thumbs width of space at the top.
7. Place them on a cooke tray equal distance apart and cook for about 8 minutes. I found this to be the best time to ensure they were cooked but that they still had their lava centres. Always make sure to watch them though as all ovens differ.
8. Let cool a couple minutes before plating. Flip upside down on a plate and dust with icing sugar for a nice effect. Serve with raspberries (or any berry, I just happened to have raspberries) and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

To print the recipe click here!