Monday, October 11, 2010

Molten Lava Cakes ...with not so much lava


Sweet Punch time again! And this month's delicacy is the molten lava cake, an incredibly sinful dessert that is chock full of butter, eggs, sugar and a smattering of flour. The cakes are baked just enough to set the exterior, leaving a hot, gooey, chocolate interior that goes oh-so-darn-well with vanilla ice cream.

Of course, I had big plans for this dessert, but as is the case at my house, every time I pop something in the oven, someone unexpectedly arrives at the door, in this case, a neighbor of mine. When I realized the baking time was done a FULL 5 minutes later, I yelped and left my startled neighbor outside and rushed to the oven, to find my molten lava interiors were not so molten anymore.

The little cakes still turned out superbly despite the unwarranted extra bake time, yielding a crumbly soft exterior with a dense and rich chocolate core. Fabulous! Thanks Sweet Punch and Divya for giving me yet another no-fail recipe, one which is so quick and easy to put together. Since the bake time is so short for this dessert,

I'm wondering if anyone has tried a make-ahead option, where you could prepare these in advance, leave them in the fridge and then bake while your guests get ready for dessert so they can be served piping hot? The only qualm I had was if the airy souffle-like texture would get ruined if made in advance. If anyone has tried this, do leave me a line =)!

Molten Lava Cake Recipe source - showmethecurry.com


Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate – 4 oz (113g)
Butter – 4 oz (113g)
Eggs – 2
Sugar – 1/3 cup (75 g)
All-purpose Flour – 1/4 cup (40g)
Butter – for greasing ramekins


1. In a double boiler, melt chocolate.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat Eggs and Sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Once chocolate is melted, remove pan from heat and add in butter. Mix until the butter melts fully.
4. Add chocolate/butter mixture into the eggs, add all-purpose flour and mix until well incorporated.
5. Butter bottom and sides of ramekins (small glass/porcelain bowls) and pour in mixture about 3/4 way full.
6. Place ramekins on a baking tray and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 C) for 10 – 15 minutes. Shorter for gooey (molten) inside, longer for stiff inside.
7. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

11 comments:

Rachel said...

Despite there being no lava, I can very well see how tender he crumb is...

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Wow u have done sooo well Ann.. Wish i can have this one more time.

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

had a gteat laugh reading your headline...the cake looks awesome though and fab clicks.

Anu Nandu said...

What was your mould? Love the little layer at the bottom - very fancy shmancy! Agree with you - they taste great even when completely cooked! I made 4 - 2 were a little molten and 2 were all cooked! Either way, these babies were great!

Joanne said...

Hmm your neighbor just HAPPENED to stop by at EXACTLY that time? Sounds like sabotage to me.

These cakes do sound delicious and I love anything that involves chocolate and the word "molten".

Joyti said...

Maybe the extra baking time reduced the lava? But anyway, you did a great job - the cake looks wonderful and the crumb looks fluffy and moist still

Vidhya said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog.I thought of answering your question with little more detail.I have tried refrigerated and non refrigerated version and both tastes alike.Only difference is the baking time, it will be longer depending on how long its been in the refrigerator.So my advice would be to do a tooth pick test to check the doneness after say 15 minutes and do a test every 2 minutes.By the way I love your blog and I do stop by here often though this is my first comment here.

Naseela said...

when i prepared these, my dad was not at home. So i kept aside one of the cakes for my dad. He returned after about 4 hrs. I simply microwaved it for 10 sec and served it.....they were as good as freshly prepared.

veena said...

lava or no lava, this cake looks incredible!!!!!!

Kulsum@JourneyKitchen said...

I 'm sure its the baking time that had to be reduced. Either way it looks delicious. I love dark choc in my molten cakes. YUM

I once tried making the batter ahead of time and stored it in the fridge. When I baked it , it was still great but the "lava" was not as flowing and oozy.

Unknown said...

Always mean to try these. I'm afraid being such a scatter brain in the kitchen I'll end up cooking them all the way through