Molten Chocolate Cakes
This recipe comes from the New York Times, and features wonderful fluted metal ramekins that give the cakes a lovely shape!
I prefer to dust with confectioner's sugar, as I feel that helps the cakes release much better than flour.
I prefer to dust with confectioner's sugar, as I feel that helps the cakes release much better than flour.
1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus more for ramekins
4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped into fine pieces 2 eggs 2 egg yolks 1/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons flour confectioner's sugar |
Put the butter in a medium bowl and melt it in the microwave. Add the chocolate to the hot butter and stir until melted.
Crack 2 eggs into a bowl, and add 2 more yolks (discard the extra whites). Add the sugar, and beat or whisk until light and thick, about 1 minute. Add egg mixture and 2 teaspoons flour to the melted chocolate; beat until combined. Butter four 4-ounce molds or ramekins and lightly dust with confectioner's sugar (make sure not to miss any spots, or the cakes will stick). Tap out the excess sugar. Divide the batter among the molds. (At this point you can refrigerate them for up to 3 hours; just bring them back to room temperature before baking.) When you’re ready to bake, heat the oven to 450. Put the molds on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the cakes have puffed up a bit, the tops are barely set and the cakes still jiggle slightly when shaken, 7 to 9 minutes (better underbaked than overbaked). Let sit for 1 minute. Put a plate on top of the ramekin and (with a potholder to protect your hand) carefully invert the cake onto the plate. Let it sit for 10 seconds, then lift up the ramekin. Serve immediately, with ice cream, sorbet or whipped cream. |
Modified from here
Notes:
Notes:
- These are a good example of the molds to use. The metal helps to transfer heat faster than a usual ceramic ramekin, meaning that the outside edges of the cake cook much faster than the inside.
- The second time I made these, I made them ahead then popped the ramekins in the fridge until I needed them. I forgot to let them adjust to room temperature before cooking them, so I thought I'd just compensate by leaving them in for an extra minute or two. Instead, the very bottoms of the tins, insulated by the cookie sheet, didn't cook in time, and when we inverted the cakes, the top left a cute little hole through which you could see the molten interior! It really looked like a volcano! I will try to replicate this next time.