Dec. 22, 2011 at 10:19pm with 6 notes
chocolatedessertmagic like unicornsrecipehappy hanukkah
For lunch today I had molten chocolate cake with vanilla bean gelato. It was ridiculously delicious: hot chocolate cake that is cooked just enough on the outside to contain the liquid center until you open it up with your spoon, and cold vanilla gelato right there next to it. A perfect combination. At an old pastry job, I had these cakes on the dessert menu. On more than one occasion a guest sent word back to the kitchen proclaiming this cake to be Better Than Sex. Whether you believe that or not, having some of these on hand on your fridge to bake off as-needed is nothing short of genius. This is something I used to do regularly and am pretty happy with my decision to return to after a five-year hiatus.  I modified a recipe in The Gourmet Cookbook, where they have it paired with a coffee creme anglaise. Since coffee is one of my least favorite tastes in the world, I just pretend I can’t see it on the page. Here is the original cake recipe from the book:  Individual Molten Chocolate Cakes Preheat oven to 400ºF. Brush molds (6 each of either 4-ounce baba au rhum molds or 4-ounce ramekins) with melted butter. Dust them with sugar, tapping to eliminate excess.  Melt in metal bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth:  7 T. unsalted butter, cut into pieces 3 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped Remove bowl from pan and cool slightly. Whisk together in a medium bowl:  3 large eggs 6 1/2 T. granulated sugar Whisk in:  1/3 c. all-purpose flour 1/8 t. salt melted and slightly cooled chocolate mixture   Pour batter into molds, filling them two-thirds full. Bake in center of oven until outer 1/3-1/2” of cake is set and center is still moist, ≈10-12 minutes. Invert onto plate, tap mold to release cake, and remove mold (still very hot, so be smart).  Notes: This lunch was shared with David. I use salted butter for everything I make. After melting the butter and chocolate in a double boiler, I use my KitchenAid stand mixer for this instead of whisking by hand. The cookbook tells you to place your batter-filled molds on a baking sheet or in a pan; since I almost never bake these off all at once, I ignore that part and just put my one or two molds in the oven alone. They’re fine. They also recommend running a knife around the edge of the mold before inverting it. This is not a bad idea, but if you prep your molds well it’s not necessary. After filling the molds, I cover them in plastic wrap and refrigerate them. Since I’m starting with a cold batter, my baking time is a little bit longer, ≈12-14 minutes Most important note of all: do yourself a favor and put a scoop of quality vanilla bean gelato or ice cream on your plate, all nuzzled up right next to the cake. You’ll thank me later. 

For lunch today I had molten chocolate cake with vanilla bean gelato. It was ridiculously delicious: hot chocolate cake that is cooked just enough on the outside to contain the liquid center until you open it up with your spoon, and cold vanilla gelato right there next to it. A perfect combination.

At an old pastry job, I had these cakes on the dessert menu. On more than one occasion a guest sent word back to the kitchen proclaiming this cake to be Better Than Sex. Whether you believe that or not, having some of these on hand on your fridge to bake off as-needed is nothing short of genius. This is something I used to do regularly and am pretty happy with my decision to return to after a five-year hiatus. 

I modified a recipe in The Gourmet Cookbook, where they have it paired with a coffee creme anglaise. Since coffee is one of my least favorite tastes in the world, I just pretend I can’t see it on the page. Here is the original cake recipe from the book: 

Individual Molten Chocolate Cakes

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Brush molds (6 each of either 4-ounce baba au rhum molds or 4-ounce ramekins) with melted butter. Dust them with sugar, tapping to eliminate excess. 

Melt in metal bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth: 

7 T. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Remove bowl from pan and cool slightly.

Whisk together in a medium bowl: 

3 large eggs

6 1/2 T. granulated sugar

Whisk in: 

1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1/8 t. salt

melted and slightly cooled chocolate mixture  

Pour batter into molds, filling them two-thirds full. Bake in center of oven until outer 1/3-1/2” of cake is set and center is still moist, ≈10-12 minutes. Invert onto plate, tap mold to release cake, and remove mold (still very hot, so be smart). 

Notes: This lunch was shared with David. I use salted butter for everything I make. After melting the butter and chocolate in a double boiler, I use my KitchenAid stand mixer for this instead of whisking by hand. The cookbook tells you to place your batter-filled molds on a baking sheet or in a pan; since I almost never bake these off all at once, I ignore that part and just put my one or two molds in the oven alone. They’re fine. They also recommend running a knife around the edge of the mold before inverting it. This is not a bad idea, but if you prep your molds well it’s not necessary. After filling the molds, I cover them in plastic wrap and refrigerate them. Since I’m starting with a cold batter, my baking time is a little bit longer, ≈12-14 minutes

Most important note of all: do yourself a favor and put a scoop of quality vanilla bean gelato or ice cream on your plate, all nuzzled up right next to the cake. You’ll thank me later. 

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