Cooking: Molten Lava Cakes

It has been awhile since I have blogged about dessert. Fear not! I have still been baking about once a week with high levels of success. However, whenever I go to blog, usually one of the meals I have made for the week just takes over my heart and I have to share it first. Now is the time to change that and to post about the dessert I made this weekend! Molten Lava Cakes (or Hot Chocolate Fudge Cakes)! Mmmmmmmm, chocolate!

I was in the mood for a pretty lazy weekend since I had been exhausted all week (as evidenced by my 8:15 bed time Friday night). However, I hadn't seen a few of my friends in awhile and decided to have them over for dinner. That way I could be social and not actually leave my house! I love that my house has generally been seen as the place that people can come in their sweats and make themselves at home. Nowadays, it is also seen as the place people can come for a good home cooked meal. What could be better than that?!

The girls I had over are the ones I went to Puerto Rico with back in May. Therefore, I opted for a Puerto Rico inspired meal and made Blackened Tilapia, my favorite black bean dish, and steamed kale. As the main meal was pretty healthy (and I ran earlier in the day), I decided to introduce some richness with a dessert. My friend is a chocolate fiend (understatement of the decade) and I happened upon this delicious looking recipe from cooking light that I knew would please her. I had made a similar dish in my cooking boot camp at Cookology, but that dish was really rich and I liked that this was on the lighter side (as light as pure chocolate can be). I had also bought 1/2 cup ramekins 6 months ago and I was excited to finally use them. 

I had this dessert both Saturday and Sunday night since it makes 10 servings & I also have family dinner on Sunday. Saturday I cooked them for the recommended time per the linked recipe which made them into cakes with nothing molten about them (see below). They were still quite tasty. Sunday I cooked them about 4 minutes less and they turned out wonderfully gooey! 

My favorite thing is that there are five of us at my family dinner and I only have 4 of the small ramekins. I compromised by making a fifth one in my larger ramekins I use for main meals. Luckily, my dad's idea of a normal serving of dessert is about 2x the size of a normal human being (at least!) so it worked out perfectly! There is a reason I make him do the Army Ten Miler with me every year.

Daughter and Dad sized servings

Let's get cooking!

Ingredients (makes about 10 servings):

3.4oz all purpose flour (about 3/4 of a cup)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
5 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup egg substitute
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, expresso, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. I use a cheap strainer that I had lying around & it works just as well as the fancy sifter.

Cream the softened butter in a large mixing bowl.

Add the sugars (brown and granulated) and blend together 3-4 minutes.

Add the egg substitute and vanilla and mix until well blended.

Add the flour mixture a little at a time until just combined. Don't overmix.

Chop the chocolate bar into tiny pieces. I used Trader Joe chocolate for this one and it was delicious.

Using a spatula, fold the chocolate into the batter. Cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours or up to 2 days.

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 350 degrees F.

Pour the batter evenly into the ramekins (about 3/4 full). Bake in the oven for ~17 minutes.

Serve immediately & enjoy!!

Warning: You may go into a sugar coma in a state of bliss. No worries, the coma is only temporary and the bliss can be repeated. Mmmmmm, chocolate!