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choco lava cake

Everybody loves chocolate, and what better way to indulge in what you love than with a molten chocolate cake served in individual ramekins or molds. Also called lava cakes, these usually have undercooked insides, which make them look molten or like lava. Other bakers choose to create the lava center with the use of a chocolate ganache that they place in the middle of the batter before baking. This recipe is one with the undercooked middle.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed
  • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature, separated
  • 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • Additional 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat your bakery oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Prepare your ramekins or molds by buttering the sides and bottom generously, then with some white sugar, coat the inside evenly. Set aside and prepare the batter.
  3. Using a double boiler, heat the semi-sweet chocolate with the butter, and mix continuously until all the butter and chocolate is melted and the result is a smooth mixture. Remove from the heat and set aside.
  4. Prepare the egg yolk mixture. With the use of your electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and slowly add in the granulated sugar while doing so. Keep beating this mixture until you get pale yellow egg yolks that are fluffy and thick.
  5. Add the vanilla extract to your egg yolk mixture, then drizzle in the chocolate mixture while beating on slow.
  6. In another bowl or mixer, beat your egg whites until soft peaks form. To make this easier, add the cream of tartar to the egg whites. Add in the one tablespoon of white sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks are formed.
  7. Fold in the egg white mixture carefully into the chocolate mixture. Make sure you do not overmix or deflate the whites while doing this.
  8. Divide the batter and pour into four prepared ramekins.
  9. Bake your cakes in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on your cakes so that the inside remains undercooked while the outside is crusty.
  10. Remove the cakes from the oven and let these cool slightly. You can dust the top with cocoa powder or some powdered sugar. Serve warm.