Molten Lava Cakes - again

Molten Lava Cakes - made July 2, 2016, recipe from Christine Byrne, Buzz Feed staff

Don’t ask me why I made molten lava cakes with Nutella in the middle again. I don’t know. Because I can, I suppose. Or I wanted to rectify the mistake I made last time in taking them out of the ramekin too soon while they were still hot and fragile and wanted to see if I could do it better the next time. So I tried a different recipe and corrected my mistake from the first one.

It actually worked (it doesn’t always). Instead of buttering and flouring the ramekins, I sprayed them with nonstick cooking spray and sugared the insides by dropping a little granulated sugar and tapping them around to cover most of the inside. After I took the cakes out of the oven, I did manage to let them sit in the ramekins undisturbed for 5 minutes. Then I loosed the sides with a small spatula, upended them onto a dessert plate and kept the ramekin in place for another 5 minutes. Take off and tada – whole cake with the molten chocolate still on the inside. 

Similar to the last molten chocolate cake I made, this one was incredibly rich and chocolaty. The cake part was a bit more dense than the other recipe I tried, almost like a flourless chocolate cake and the middle part incredibly gooey, helped along by the warm Nutella. You definitely want to have some chocoholics with you when you make this. Half a ramekin was my limit. In one sitting.

4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing custard cups
2 tablespoons sugar, plus more for the custard cups
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

PREPARATION
1. Preheat oven to 425°F, and grease two 6 to 8-ounce custard cups or ramekins generously with butter. Put a small spoonful of sugar in each cup, then turn the cup sideways and rotate it so that the sugar is coating the butter all around. Dump out any excess sugar. Place the greased cups on a baking sheet or oven safe dish.

2. Put the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave it on high for 30 seconds, take it out and stir it, then microwave it for another 30 seconds and stir it again. It should be completely melted. If there are still chunks of unmelted chocolate, microwave for another 20 seconds and stir.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, cream the room temperature butter and the sugar with an electric mixer or a rubber spatula. The mixture should be thoroughly combined, smooth, and paste-like, not lumpy.

4. Add the two eggs to the creamed butter and sugar, and beat it with the electric mixer or a whisk until everything is combined and the mixture is starting to foam, about a minute. Add the flour and salt, and again beat everything with the mixer until it’s thoroughly mixed.

5. Add about 1/3 of the melted chocolate to the mixture in the mixing bowl, then use a rubber spatula to gently fold it in. Add the rest of the chocolate mixture, and fold together until you have a uniform batter with no streaks.

6. Divide the batter evenly between the two greased custard cups, then bake the cakes in the preheated oven until the tops are just set but the cakes still jiggle slightly when you shake them, about 11 minutes.

7. Let the finished cakes sit in cups for five minutes when they’re finished baking. Then, flip each cup over on a dessert plate, and tap the bottoms of the cups so that the cakes fall out.

8. Serve immediately. If you want, you can garnish them with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and berries.