The cake doesn’t really soak up the sauce… it is more like the sauce swathes the cake in a rich, sticky blanket of yumminess. Between the hot sauce, the crunchy pecans, and the velvety cake you have a major  convention of flavor and texture going on in your mouth.

If you cook it a little less (like I will next time) you will also have the gooey middles of the cakes. I am not sure that you can find something a whole lot better for the time and effort it takes to make these (hardly any). You can start them just before you serve the main course and have them on the table by the time the bread is gone. Seriously. This one’s a keeper.

Make these in muffin cups that have been sprayed with baking spray or individual custard cups.

Chocolate Cakes with Praline Sauce

• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup dark cocoa
• pinch of kosher salt
• 12 oz chocolate, chopped. Mix bittersweet, dark, semisweet, or milk in any combination.
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, melt one and allow to become golden brown
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Melt the chocolate and the one stick of butter together, whisking often
3. Remove from heat and add the browned butter
4. Sift the dry ingredients together three times
5. Beat the eggs and yolks until light
6. Beat in the sugar
7. Carefully whisk in the chocolate and butter combination
8. Divide between 8-10 muffin cups
9. Bake for 12 minutes (gooey) or 15 minutes (moist and rich)
10. Cool for no more than 2-3 minutes and unmold onto dessert plates

Praline Sauce

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 2 tbs heavy cream
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup pecans, toasted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Melt the butter, salt, and brown sugar together until no longer grainy, stirring often.
2. Add the cream and stir well
3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla
4. Sprinkle pecans over the cakes and pour the warm syrup over all

Makes 8-10 servings

images: marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

First of all…I have to admit that I dropped the camera.  Now when I want to take a picture I have to hold the thing closed with a finger while trying to get the shot without shaking.  Easier said than done… Hopefully I can either get that fixed or get a new camera soon.

Anyway, I was amazed.  Chocolate lava cakes look so complex but they are so amazingly easy!  If you have not tried them..this is seriously a dessert that you can have on the table in under 30 minutes and people will think you are incredible.

Which of course, you are.

I used a couple of recipes to create this one.. epicurious has a few.  SOme have alot of butter…some have alot of chooclate..I wanted rich chocolate flavor as well as melt in your mouth butteriness.  So I used butter and chocolate..and cocoa powder. And this is what I cane up with.  Do not over cook them…and remember they will continue to cook when they come out of the oven.

I used muffin tins lined with greased silicone cups.  It made 11.  I think if you use custard cups then you can figure on 6 and add 5 minutes to the cook time.

Chocolate Lava Cakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter

8 ozs bittersweet chooclate chopped

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cocoa

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Mix the butter and chocolate and melt together until smooth in the microwave.  Let come to room temperature.

Beat the eggs until thick and lemon colored.  Add sugar a little at a time beating well.

Stir in melted chocolate.

Mix the flour and cocoa and fold in.

Spoon into greased custard cups or muffin tins.  For muffin tins bake for 10 minutes (custard cups 15 minutes) or until set.  Turn out immediately and eat while warm.

These are very, very rich and chocolatey. I added whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

Is that all there is?

Yep. It is that easy!

image:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights