Molten Chocolate Cake

Kellie and Matthew came by for dinner tonight. Kellie asked me a few weeks ago if I knew how to make a molten chocolate cake (also known as fallen chocolate cake). She and Matthew had fallen in love with the dessert when they were in New York on assignment a few months ago. I told her I did know how to make it, but it's not one of my favorite desserts. Actually, upon further reflection, I can make a bunch of desserts that I really don't enjoy most of the time: crème brulée, cheesecake, and cookies to name a few. (Greg: "What wrong with you?" Me: "I have ADD. I get bored of the same desserts.")

In any case, when she mentioned that Matthew loved the dessert too, it seemed singularly mean not to make it for them. This is actually one of my favorite recipes (even if it's not a favorite dessert) because in the eight years I've been making it, it's almost fool proof (which makes sense since I got it from Cook's Illustrated).

Kellie came by while I was whipping up the eggs so I had her butter and flour the ramekins. She was far more generous with buttering than I ever was and the final results were spectacular: the cake puffed up and out of the ramekins like perfect little soufflés -- so be profligate when buttering the ramekins! It's a really quick dessert to make; it only took me 20 minutes to prep and assemble, then a further 12 minutes to bake. In the time it took for us to finish our main course, the cakes were finished.

If you have leftovers (no, seriously), let them warm to room temperature, then warm them in a water bath (200 degree oven) for about 5 minutes. Alternatively, nuke them in the microwave for about 30 - 45 seconds to get the cake warm but don't overdo it because you want the chocolate center to still be gooey.

Molten Chocolate Cake

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), plus extra for ramekins
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
4 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon table salt
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour plus extra for ramekins

Butter and flour (or use cocoa powder) eight 6-ounce ramekins. Melt 8 tablespoons butter and chocolate in medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost simmering water, stirring until smooth; remove from heat.

Beat the eggs, yolk, vanilla, salt, and sugar until the ribbon stage - the color will be pale yellow and the volume is nearly tripled. The mixture will drop from the beaters in a heavy thick ribbon. This usually takes about 10 minutes with the hand held mixer.

Pour egg mixture over melted chocolate and butter; sprinkle flour over egg mixture. Gently fold egg and flour into chocolate until batter is completely mixed.

Pour batter into prepared ramekins. (At this stage, you can put them into the fridge for about 8 hours. They'll need to come backto room temperate [about 30 minutes] before you bake them)

Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for about 12 minutes or until the the cakes have risen over the rims. They're done when they have a thin crust and the center jiggles when you tap ramekins.

Run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake (didn't need to do that last night cuz Kellie had buttered so enthusiastically) and invert onto a plate. Let the cake cool for about a minute before removing the ramekin.

I like to serve with a dusting of cocoa powder, but confectioner's sugar and/or whipped cream is also yummy.

Comments

[Greg]

Love your new font. I'll enjoy it for the 3-4 days till you get tired of it and change to something else :-D

[Cath]

What part of "I have ADD" didn't you understand? :-) My cousin made 6 banners for me. What fun we're going to have cycling through them!