Yes, there’s a heart on that there plate. Albeit a somewhat crooked heart, but it’s there. That’s my attempt at signalling Valentine’s Day! Yes, a seasonal post. I never do that ish. At all. But there’s something about these little molten chocolate cakes that inspired me to be a little gushy about things.
For those who know me, know that I’m wholly unfazed by Valentine’s Day. Like entirely unfazed. I’m never that booed up girl who is excited for the day and I’m definitely not part of the anti-Valentine’s Day camp either. I’m definitely a part of the camp that will head to CVS on Saturday to buy half-priced candy though! Holllleeeerrrr. Even as a kid I thought it was a bit silly to spend money on these cheap little cards that you had to give to EVERY kid in the class (even if you didn’t like certain kids) so that it was “fair”. Yes, faking friendship is fair. But I digress…
This is currently my go-to dessert when I want to be a wee bit impressive. I first made it a few months back when I had a friend coming over for dinner and wanted to try out a new dessert. Funny enough I’m not a huge cake fan or a huge chocolate dessert fan so I can’t even say how I ended up gravitating towards this recipe in the first place. I think what drew me to it was the fact that it a) looks super impressive and fancy and b) it’s actually super easy to make. Plus it’s a recipe by Jean Georges which means it actually IS fancy. Needless to say this dessert went over well… so well in fact that I made the same dessert later that week for a little dinner party and the cakes were devoured.
The recipe comes from one of my fave magazines, Saveur and as I mentioned is based on Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s signature dessert. The ingredient list here isn’t complicated but it is heavy on the chocolate. Do not skimp on the quality of your chocolate. Seriously. This the time when you want to buy the “good stuff”. I followed the recipe almost exactly except that one time when I made it I was out of regular rum and used Malibu instead. It totally worked out. The “lava” didn’t necessarily taste coconutty but it did have a bit more depth. Another time I still didn’t have rum so I used Scotch instead. Totally fine! Lesson: experiment with different types of alcohol. I can’t see something like tequila working but some good ole brown liquor should do the trick.
Trust me, you don’t need a boo as an excuse to make these. Scale down the recipe and you’ll have a party for one. File this one under “treat. yo. self.”
Oh! And for the record, you can make a batch of these and keep the ramekins in the fridge for days before baking. Or you can bake one a day and have a whole week of treating yourself. I won’t say that that is what I did but I fully endorse that movement.
Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
Makes 6 individual cakes
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tbsp. dark rum
3 tbsp. heavy cream
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
¼ cup flour, plus more for dusting
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. kosher salt
3 eggs
Confectioners’ sugar
instructions
1. Place semisweet chocolate and rum in a small bowl; set aside. Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium it simmers and pour over chocolate. Let sit for a minute and then stir it, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled. Once chilled, divide the chocolate mixture into 6 portions and shape into balls. Put back in the refrigerator.
2. Heat oven to 425°. Grease bottom and sides of six 6-oz. ramekins with butter and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside on a baking sheet. Heat butter and bittersweet chocolate in a small saucepan over medium heat until just melted; remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, vanilla, salt, and eggs with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until thick and pale, 3–4 minutes. Beat in melted chocolate mixture; add flour and mix until smooth. Divide half the batter between prepared ramekins and place a chilled chocolate ball in center of each; top with remaining batter and smooth tops. Bake until just set, 15 minutes. Let cool 2–3 minutes.
3. Once cooled, run a paring knife around the edge of the ramekins to loosen the cakes. Invert the cakes onto plates and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serve right away.
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Thanks for posting this recipe.