Today let’s just make a small recipe for two. A Valentine special Red Velvet Lava cakes for just two. These are the rich, velvety, melt-in-the-mouth tiny cakes you can make, especially when there are no plans made, for fancy dinner out on Valentine’s day.
This recipe should not be considered as a task when baking at home. The equipment and the ingredients, are simple and are easily available. These red velvet cuties are less time consuming too.
It just took me half an hour in total from getting the ingredients together and baking them. There is another plus to this recipe, that the batter for the lava cakes can be prepared before the time and kept.
You can bake them just before they are ready to be served. The baking time needed is just 10 to 12 minutes and these are served hot with or without this gorgeous scoop of ice-cream. This is listed in the absolute indulgence category. So when you want to celebrate look here.
These red velvet lava cakes make scrumptious, impressive desserts without a lot of work and that’s the best part. I might make the same for Pranav, this valentine, as they turned out really delicious, really really handy to make. Today was a batch made for kids, and of course for the blog. And Pranav is travelling, so he got no chance to try these.
When we talk about Lava cake, its one of the easiest recipe to prepare. But can turn out little tricky at times. Especially when it comes to baking time. Don’t worry at all, we are gonna talk about all the do’s and don’ts for making a perfect lava cake at home.
1. Lava cakes come in two forms. The most common are little pudding cakes. They’re the cakes with the centres still molten and oozing—unless you bake them too long.
The second type of lava cake has a Chocolate centre instead of a batter centre. The centres are real chocolate and the baking time is not as critical when making these.
Understand that, The outside of a lava cake, is a cross between a cake and a fudgy brownie and the inside is puddling with a gooey runny velvety goodness referred as lava.
2. You can take any chocolate; dark, milk or white chocolate available to you. I have used white chocolate instead of dark chocolate, making them extra red and vibrant. But any chocolate will work just fine with this recipe. Just make sure you pick up a good quality chocolate.
A couple of months back, I had written this article on Chocolate, – Chocolate FAQs – this might be of help for you when choosing your chocolate.
3. These cake are ideally baked in ramekins. I have baked these in mugs, and cupcake trays and even in jars. Whatever you choose, just make sure its oven proof and is safe for baking.
4. Preparing the batter for these red velvet cakes is very easy.
The first step is – You will need to melt chocolate with butter, as it’s a small batch, I suggest using the microwave. Cut the chocolate into tiny bits and melt it with room temperature butter. This should take less than a minute. Use a rubber spatula to mix them both together into a velvet smooth mix. Don’t overdo, or you will siege the chocolate.
The second step — whip up the egg, along with sugar and a tiny bit of vanilla extract. A hand-held electric mixer works great. It will just take 2 minutes of your time. Beat them together till little thick pale mix.
Morphy Richards 300-Watt Hand Mixer (White)
For the dry ingredients-
I know they are called red velvet, but the main flavour of the recipe is chocolate. I have mentioned using white chocolate with butter earlier, and now we will also use some good quality cocoa powder in the dry ingredients along with all-purpose flour. Remember to sift all the dry ingredients together, so they mix well.
Hershey’s Cocoa Powder, 225g
When you have all three bowls ready, you will need to mix them together and bake.
5. I must mention that the recipe will require lots of food colouring. If you are not very fussy about getting the vibrant red, you can reduce the quantity mentioned in the recipe below.
These are the natural food colour options available in the market Sprig Natural Extracts for Colouring Food and Beverage, Paprika Orange, 15ml
6. You can eat your cakes straight out of their ramekins, but it looks even nicer to invert them onto a plate so that the cakes are actually upside-down.
Sivica Durable Porceline Ramekin serving serving bowl DWP3003
For the cakes to come out of ramekins without breaking, it is essential that you coat the ramekins with butter first then some castor sugar.
7. Baking time is the most crucial point for making lava cakes. We will bake these at 425*F/218*C.
Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until the sides appear firm– the tops will still look soft.
If baking in a muffin pan, the cakes only take about 8-10 minutes.
Allow to cool for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted plate and turn over. Use an oven mitt because those ramekins will be hot. The cakes should release easily from the ramekin.
If you used a muffin pan, use a spoon to release the cakes from the pan and place each upside down on plates.
You will know that the lava cake is done-
The edges of the cakes become firm while the centre is jiggly.
A toothpick stuck in the cake a half inch from the edge comes out clean.
Some of the cakes start to rise above the pan with sharp edges protruding. The edges don’t always protrude, but if they do, the cakes are done.
If, after examining the cakes, you decide they are not quite done, you can put them back in the oven for another minute or two.
To make ahead, prepare batter as directed; pour into prepared ramekins or custard cups. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before baking as directed.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup chopped white chocolate
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 large egg
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tbsp red food colouring gel
powdered sugar and some vanilla ice cream to serve
Method
Preheat oven to 425°F, and grease two 6 to 8-ounce ramekins generously with butter. Put a small spoonful of sugar in each cup, then turn the cup sideways and rotate it so that the sugar is coating the butter all around. Dump out any excess sugar. Place the greased cups on a baking sheet or oven-safe dish.
Bajaj 20 L Grill Microwave Oven (MTBX 2016, Black)
In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine the chopped chocolate and butter and heat in the microwave for about 1 minute, stopping and stirring every 30 seconds, until the butter and chocolate are almost melted. Continue to stir, allowing the residual heat to completely melt the chocolate and the mixture is well combined and smooth. If needed, return the bowl to the microwave for a few more seconds, to completely melt the chocolate.
Whisk the egg along with sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the red food colouring and melted chocolate mixture. Sift the cocoa and flour in a small bowl to combine. Add to the batter and stir until just combined.
Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake until the sides of the cake are set but the centres are still soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cakes rest for 2 minutes, then invert them onto dessert plates.
Serve the cakes immediately, dusted with confectioners’ sugar and with ice cream.
