The first time I ate a Chocolate Lava Cake was at Roy’s on Maui in 1990. Roy was somewhat of a celebrity chef in Hawaii. Back then there were only a few celebrity chefs; Wolfgang Puck, Jonathan Waxman, Michael McCarty, and Alice Waters to name a few.
The food at Roy’s was good, but it was the dessert, the chcolate molten lava cake, that I kept going back for. I wrote to the restaurant and asked for the recipe. They obliged!
Over the years I have tweeked the recipe a little here and a little there. But it just wasn’t right. It wasn’t perfectly right until I found this recipe in the New York Times.
Valentine’s Day is around the corner. Along with an extra special dinner that night for my 4 favorite valentines, I plan on adding this dessert to the menu.
Moulten Chocolate Lava Cake
adapted from here
yield: 9 half cup servings
ingredients:
4 oz. unsalted butter
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons sifted flour
unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting
instructions:
• preheat oven to 450*.
• butter the molds or ramekins with room temperature butter. dust with sifted cocoa powder. set aside
• in a glass bowl over simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate. mix until smooth.
• in the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar until smooth.
• add the chocolate and mix thoroughly.
• add the flour.
• pour into the prepared molds about 2/3 of the way up.
• put the molds onto a baking sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes (no more).
• using a small knife, loosen the lava cakes from the mold and turn out onto a plate. dust with powdered sugar and top with fresh whipped cream or ice cream.
Susan Salzman writes The Urban Baker blog to explore her dedication to good food in the hope of adding beauty to the lives of her family and friends.