Lave Cake

A co-worker of mine found out that I love Lava Cake, and so he told me about one of his favourite chefs from French Food at Home, a TV show on the food network. So we went to the internet and found a recipe by Lara Calder. I just had to try it!!

Final product, as served.

Lava Cake
Ingredients
4ounces dark chocolate 
2/3 cup butter 
4 eggs 
2/3 cup sugar 
1/2 cup flour

Method
"Butter six ramekins, line with a disk of parchment, then butter the parchment (note, I buttered but I didn't use parchment paper - wasn't sure exactly how!).Very gently melt the chocolate and butter together over a water bath. Beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale, and ribbony. Beat in the flour, and finally the chocolate mixture. Pour into the ramekins and chill.
Just before serving, heat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Place the moulds on a baking sheet and bake until the top is set, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove. Let sit five minutes, before unmoulding onto plates. Serve with caramel sauce or a scoop of ice cream."

Comments

I hadn't worked with a double boiler before, but it was very easy and actually rather fun melting the chocolate. The entire recipe was pretty user friendly. I also really liked that they had to be chilled - in the future I think I'll be able to make the recipe but not have to bake them all at once (how often will I be cooking for 6?). 
 
I'm not sure if I have mentioned the issues with the gas oven I use - it heat up to the correct temperature or hold it hot enough, so recipe times are always fluctuating. This was detrimental to my lava cake... at 14 minutes they were still completely liquid on top.. so I baked them for another 5 minutes.... they weren't totally cooked the whole way through, but they certainly didn't have a much lava as I'd like. Next time I'll try baking for 17 minutes and see what happens.  

I served them with a scoop of ice cream and a few raspberries. They seemed to be a hit! The occasion was for my Aunt and Uncle visiting from England, so I had lots of taste testers. The treat was summed up as being 'more-ish'. DEFINITELY a repeat-worthy endeavour! 

Lava!