Molten Lava Cakes (Paula Deen)

Salivating? when you see this...

Chocolate cake with flowing molten chocolate lava...

I was. Plus, I was enjoying this cake to the fullest! My boy named these the chocolate soup cakes and we are loving them...

I'm pretty sure that this first photo of my molten lava cake has spoken for itself... but you can never imagine baking these can be so easy!

Baking molten lava cakes is easy peasy? Seriously, I'm not joking. Prior baking these, I always have a perception that baking chocolate puddings embedded with flowing molten chocolate sauce seems to be only a task for professional chefs. A task that requires technical skills or maybe a secret recipe. Nay! Thanks to Paula Deen! Even a home baker like me can bake these very easily...

The success of baking these puddings depends a lot on the oven temperature and baking timing and here are my recommendations:

• Baking the lava cakes in a hot oven is essential here... I mean "essential" in the sense like VERY IMPORTANT! And, I recommend baking the lava cakes at 425°F or 220°C in regardless with or without fan forced.
• If you choose to use the fan forced option to bake your lava cakes, you might wish to bake the cakes at 220°C for the first 5 mins and bake the cakes at 200°C fan forced for the subsequent timing.
• The recipe recommends a total of 14 minutes of baking but I realised that 11 minutes is sufficient for my baking. To gauge, I baked my cakes for an extra 1-2 minutes after I noticed that the top of the cakes had been fully baked with firm crusts and this method of timing always turn out to be perfect for me!

Easy peasy? You will see what I mean...

No special equipment is required to bake these cakes. Just melt and mix...

These firm crusts indicate that the cakes are baked!

Invert the cakes onto serving plates and serve!

Heavenly!

Here's the recipe mostly adapted from Food Network

Makes 6
225g chocolate with 55% cocoa, preferably Callebaut
150g butter
75g all-purpose flour
150g icing sugar

(recommend not to reduce the amount as the sweetness is just right)
3 large eggs
3 egg yolks

Preheat oven to 425°F or 220°C (with or without fan forced)

Lightly grease 6 ramekins (about 3/4 cup capacity).

Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave, or in a double boiler. Add the flour and sugar to chocolate mixture. Stir in the eggs and yolks until smooth. 

Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins. Place in the oven and bake for 11-14 mins depending on your oven temperature - see notes. The edges should be firm but the center will be runny. Run a knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto dessert plates. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Note: If you are using fan forced oven, bake the cakes at 220°C fan forced for the first 5 mins and lower your oven temperature to 200°C fan forced. Allow the cakes to bake for another 1-2 mins after you have noticed fully baked firm crusts formed on the top of the cakes. The total time required to bake the cakes should be about 11 mins.

Happy Baking
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