I’m not going to lie, it didn’t feel all that romantic when developing this recipe. In fact, it was more frustrating. This was actually going to be peanut butter Chocolate Lava Cake but unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out as planned. I had this lovely picture in my head that if I put a teaspoon of peanut in the moulds with the batter before cooking the cakes, it would go all nice and runny with the molten and will just ooze out and look amazing. Unfortunately, it’s never quite that simple. It didn’t melt at all, it just stayed as a clump, and it seemed to mess with the cake batter as it was cooking. So I had to scratch the peanut butter idea but hey, chocolate lava cake on Valentine’s day is still awesome right?
Do you people hesitate when it comes to flipping something, like a cake for example? I think a lot of people hesitate at first, but when you just do it with confidence you think to yourself “oh, that was easy”. Yeah, I totally wish that was the case for me with these lava cakes. So I had to deal with problem number 2….yay!!I greased, then dusted the ramekin moulds with cocoa powder, and I thought that would be enough to stop the cakes from sticking. But when I tried to flip them, they didn’t come out. Then I shook it a bit, still didn’t come out. Then I lightly tapped the ramekin on the plate, still didn’t come out. I smacked the back of the ramekin and then half of the cake came out with molten spewing all over the plate. YUMMY!
So just before I thought to myself “we live to fight another day”. I had an epiphany and it was “why doesn’t anyone use non-stick baking paper!?” Well, it couldn’t hurt to give it a shot, and it ended up saving me! If you ask me, it will make your life so much easier. There is no chance that the cake will stick, they’ll be easier to flip, the moulds will be easier to clean. There are just so many benefits. So I highly recommend using non-stick baking paper. Basically, just follow the recipe.
So as I mentioned, making this recipe was a bit of a bumpy road but got there in the end. I really hope you enjoy it. If you choose to make this recipe for your Valentine, tell me how it all went and if she/he liked it. It would be nice knowing that I was able to help make someone’s night extra special (wink wink). Have a wonderful Valentines day and I’ll send another post your way soon.
- Ingredients: (makes 5-6 little lava cakes)
- Cooking spray
- 110g of butter (plus a bit extra for greasing your moulds)
- 110g of dark chocolate chips
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ¼ cup of caster sugar
- 10g of cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- Pre-heat your oven to 230 degrees Celsius. (450 degrees F)
- Grease your ramekins or your muffin tray moulds with the EXTRA butter. Cut some grease-proof paper into squares big enough to fit in your moulds. Scrunch the paper squares, then open them up again, from there they should fit snugly into your moulds. Once the paper squares are in the moulds, give them a quick spray with the cooking spray to ensure that those lava cakes don't stick.
- Put the chocolate chips and butter in a large bowl, then heat in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds at a time stirring on each occasion. Do this until the chocolate melts (don't just blast it in the microwave, because if chocolate gets too hot, it wont melt).
- Use an electric beater to beat the eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar together in a large bowl. Beat for a good 6-7 minutes until the mixture goes light, foamy and triples in size.
- From there, add your chocolate and butter mixture in 3-4 intervals, stirring through on each occasion.
- One the batter has been mixed well, add the cocoa powder and your vanilla, then stir through one last time.
- Ladle your batter into the moulds and fill about 3 quarters of the way up. If you have made any mess around the edges of the moulds, quickly clean it up with kitchen paper. If you are using ramekins, put them on a baking tray first. Otherwise get your cakes in the oven and cook for 8-9 minutes.
- Once they are done. Carefully flip them out of the ramekins onto a plate, then peel the paper away. If you cooked your cakes in the muffin molds, you can grab the paper to gently lift the cakes up, place upside down on the plate, then again, peel the paper away.
- You can put a scoop of ice-cream on top if you wish, then serve straight away while hot.
If chocolate lava cake doesn’t float your boat for this Valentine’s day, you may want to take a look at this Valentine’s Strawberry Madeleines recipe.
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