Chocolate melting cakes

When Bryan went out west with our two other roommates, he brought back two souvenirs: a Cuban-styled hat and a chocolate cookbook. I would weigh the chocolate cookbook as more valuable than the hat.


However, the first thing we decided to do was try one of the recipes. After little debate, we neglected the chocolate cheesecake and chose "Individual chocolate melting cakes." Here is the picture that the recipe book provided...

It looks delicious, right? We planned on executing this recipe, minus the raspberries because Bryan does not eat them. We bought powdered sugar to sprinkle lightly on the chocolate melting cakes to fill the void created by a lack of raspberries.


If you follow this recipe, read the whole blog post before you attempt. For this recipe in particular, we recommend some changes.


The following is what the recipe calls for (we recommend some alterations):


six 4-ounce ramekins


The center of the melting cake (chocolate spewing out in the top picture)

• 2 oz. of Ghirardelli 60 percent Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate baking bars

• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Cakes (the outer shell for the spewing chocolate)

• 4 oz. of Ghirardelli 60 percent Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate baking bar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into pieces
• 2 large whole eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cake flour (don't try to make your own cake flour unless you have hours of free time, this is a worthy investment)
• Raspberries and whipped cream for garnish

The first thing you want to do is create the center/chocolate spewing out of cake. To do this, in the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, melt two ounces of chocolate with the 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Whisk gently until blended.


We left the chocolate and heavy cream mixture in the bowl we used to simmer it in, and stuck it in the refrigerator for two hours.


Once two hours have passed, preheat the oven for 400 F. Spray six 4-ounce ramekins or custard cups with cooking spray. (Lightly spray the ramekins, otherwise you will have greasy, chocolate melting cakes.)


After two hours have passed, and with your hands (we used a spoon) form the chocolate and heavy cream mixture into six balls. Do not put the balls back into the double boiler top or heatproof bowl because you will need it for making the cakes.  Place them in another bowl and put the bowl back into the refrigerator until ready for use.


Next, in a large bowl with an electric mixer, or a beautiful red Kitchen Aid, whisk the whole eggs, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla on high speed for about five minutes, or until thick and light.


Now, in order to make the cakes, in the top of the double boiler or heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, melt four ounces of chocolate and the chopped of stick of butter, stirring occasionally until smooth.


When the mixture in the Kitchen Aid is ready, fold the melted chocolate mixture and 1/4 cup of cake flour into the egg mixture until just combined.


Spoon the cake batter into the six ramekins. Then place a chocolate ball into the middle of each ramekin.


Stick the ramekins in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the cake is firm to the touch. 


Remove from the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes. Then run a small, sharp knife around the inside of each ramekin, place an upside-down plate on top, invert, and remove the ramekin. (We had trouble with our first one. It came out a little messy.)

Garnish with raspberries and a dollop of whipped cream. In our case we didn't use either and forgot the powdered sugar so it looked like this...

This is where we have run into problems with the dessert. Can you see the yellow on the left side of the melting cake? It looks like the egg settled down in the ramekin when we poured the mixture in. We suggest subtracting one whole egg from the recipe. It would reduce the egginess that you taste, hopefully without altering the chemistry (though we have yet to try it again).  You should also consider using 10 oz ramekins instead of 4 oz ramekins, due to large expansion of the cake.  This was a delectable dessert, and was fairly easy to make.  Give it a whirl!