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!

Cooking: Blueberry Crumb Bars

I have not traditionally been a baker - I  have too little self control to have baked goods in the house. However, in the past 5 or 6 weeks since I broke down and bought a kitchenaid stand mixer, I have managed to bake at least once a week to make the investment worth it. It has been life changing! I love baking, and I found that I love sharing my baked goods with others (primarily my coworkers) more than eating them myself. A week ago, I saw this recipe on my favorite baking blog and just had to try it! Luckily blueberries were on sale.

A lot of what I have made has been very rich (start strong!). I couldn't tell from the blog, but this recipe is actually much lighter than what I have been making (less than 200 calories if you cut it into 20 servings!) and is quite delicious. It feels more like a coffee cake/breakfast dessert. I am not a huge blueberry fan but this recipe won me over. Also, while this recipe is lighter, it was still just as big a hit with my coworkers!

Cooking: Lemon Curd Pie w/ Graham Cracker Crust

Two weeks ago, the awesome admin at work (hi May!) had shoulder surgery. The recovery process has not been so much fun. Whenever I see someone sad/upset, I respond either with humor or food. Given we both love sarcasm, I have given her enough sass (and still continue to). For once, I decided to also go the food route. A few days after surgery, I asked her to send me a recipe & I would bake her something. The next day, she sent me a message "how about something with lemon curd, it's my favorite!" I had never even heard of lemon curd before, so I though "Challenge Accepted!"

Once I looked it up, I realized it sounded like something that would be really good as a pie filling (or on scones). My favorite crust by far is a graham cracker crust, so I thought this recipe would be a great way to try both at one time. My other coworker (who May affectionately calls Hoover for his healthy appetite) has requested next time I make a giant graham cracker block. I kind of agree with him. Graham Cracker crust is amazing pretty much just on its own. I am also itching to make a key lime pie with this crust.

I made a major mistake when I first attempted this recipe and I had to start from scratch. The lemon curd recipe called for you to heat the lemon curd filling until it thickened over the stove but it didn't have any images to go along with the description. I did not 1) look up a picture of what it should look like before cooking, and 2) read the reviews to learn useful tips. Both horrible, horrible mistakes I will never make again. Especially if I want to save my Sunday nights for relaxing.

My first attempt, I only cooked the lemon curd to this consistency:

When I read the reviews & realized it should be thicker, I attempted to pour the filling back into the pan and ended up with this result:

Please don't make the same mistake! Follow the recipe below & look at the pictures as a guide. Also, click the links to the original recipes & peruse the comments. There are also interesting tips for different use of the lemon curd (like on scones!). 

Warning: this is a RICH pie. Small pieces are recommended. Also, the pie is addictive. So you might need more than one small piece. This was a BIG hit at work.

Alright, let's begin!