My Kitchen * Lava Cakes

WHEN WAS CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE INVENTED?

A chef in New York City, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, is credited with inventing chocolate molten lava cake in 1987.  Vongerichten removed a sponge cake from the oven too early and realized that while the center was still runny, the outside of the cake had a texture and taste that were desirable.

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 large whole eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons flour

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Butter your ramekins( or use large muffin tins)
3. Melt the butter and chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30 seconds increments until smooth.Let the chocolate cool then add in the powdered sugar, whole eggs and yolks and mix.Sift in the flour and mix until just combined.Add the batter evenly to the ramekins. let Bake 12-14 minutes. Let them rest a few minutes before turning over.

Tips :

Ramekins:  which are also called souffle cups.  The size of the ramekins matters because it affects the depth and width of the lava cake which will affect the cooking time.  For this recipe, I used four 6 oz. ramekins.  If you have smaller or larger ramekins, you can use them, but you will need to adjust the baking time accordingly. 

You can use large muffin tins instead of ramekins.  The muffin cups in standard muffin pan/cupcake pan are 4 oz., smaller than our 6 oz. ramekins, so you will want to divide the batter between 6 muffin cups instead of 4 and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Cooking spray: Use cooking spray WITH flour and not just cooking spray (it will say on the front label if it has flour in it.  This ensures your chocolate lava cakes slip out easily.

Top with powdered sugar, chocolate or berries.