Chocolate lava cakes

We have boxes accumulating in our make-shift storage room, and I've been itching to clear them - boxes that came from new appliances, mostly. Skepticism about the robustness of the works and whether the appliances' performances are as claimed, my husband amassed the boxes that they came in just in case we had to return them.

I was eager to clear the boxes, which meant that I had to test out all the appliances first. For a long while I've checked all but one off the list. I figured it's about time I used my new mixer and tidy away the hoard of boxes that were beginning to be an eyesore.

To make lava cakes, you can simply use a bowl and whisk. However, bringing in the mixer wouldn't be an overkill.

The lava cake is a classic example of a mistake turned into a miracle. It came into existence when a chef took his chocolate sponge cake out from the oven too soon, and revealed a cake that was nevertheless warm and tasty.

I made this trice; the first batch was baked for 11 minutes at 220 degC and didn't have nice flowing lava centers as intended. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a moist and super chocolaty cake that wasn't bad at all! (Ice cream makes all things better...)

The second one was baked for a shorter duration of 8-10 minutes at 220 degC, and this gave centers that were partially liquefied. This was almosttt there, but not quite as desired.

My third attempt was an adaptation of Gordon Ramsay's recipe for Chocolate Fondant. The baking temperature was much lower (160 degC) than what I've used previously, which is probably why I've been getting less lava than I hoped for. I mean, it's his recipe, I had a feeling it was gonna be perfect.

And so it was.

Yields 4 cakes.

What?

• Butter, for greasing ramekins
• Cocoa powder, for dusting
• 170 g semi-sweet chocolate
• 115 g unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• Ice cream, for topping (IMO, not optional...)

How?

1. Butter the ramekins and dust with cocoa powder. Set the ramekins aside.
2. Break the chocolate into smaller pieces. Melt the chocolate and butter using the double boil method. Stir until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and egg yolks, salt and sugar until thick. Fold in the melted chocolate mixture, followed by the flour.
4. Spoon the batter into prepared ramekins.
5. Bake for about 11 minutes a preheated oven at 160 degC. The edges should appear firm, but centers are still soft. Let the cakes cool for 1 minute before gently inverting them onto serving plates.
6. Serve warm, topped with ice cream.

Note: The batter can be make ahead (up to step 4) and refrigerated for max. two days. Allow the batter to come to room temp before baking it in the oven.