Chocolate of all kinds seem to be calling out to me in their dangerously seductive tone..
And before I can stop myself, I ended up listening to the eggs in the fridge who ordered me to bake them( seriously)
wink emoticon
Presenting the result of one such evening of sweet surrender.
Oh what a wonderful surprise it was!! It is in fact ridiculously easy to make, and of the 11 times or so that I’ve made it since, it has never failed. Every time I make it, I almost expect it to fail and so I get really excited when I cut into it and the “molten” centre oozes out.
I think that’s partly why I love this. The thrill of anticipation. The element of danger (ok, not danger. The risk of failure!). The What if question about it... !
I made this with a caramel lava centre because the sight of caramel and chocolate pouring out of the cake when I cut into it makes me weak at the knees. It’s like all my favourite desserts rolled into one. Also the touch of saltiness from the salted caramel is a contrast to the rich chocolate and makes this perfect!
INGREDIENTS
- 200g dark chocolate melts (note 1)
- 100g unsalted butter, chopped
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ cup caster sugar
- 2 tbsp flour
- 12-15 caramel candies
- Cocoa powder, for dusting
METHOD:
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F.
- Place chocolate and butter in a bowl. Microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between. Stir well to combine butter and chocolate and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, generously grease moulds then dust with cocoa powder.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar.
- Add the chocolate mixture and mix until combined.
- Add flour and fold through until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Pour batter into moulds until it reaches halfway.
- Drop 1-2 caramel candy(uncut) in the centre of each. Push down gently to mostly submerge.
- Top up with remaining batter until the mould is ¾ filled. Do not overfill!
- Bake for 12-14minutes, or until the top springs back when touched gently.
- Turn out onto plate. If you dusted the mould with cocoa powder, it should slip out easily. If it does not, then run a knife around the edge.
- Serve immediately!
NOTES:
- You don't need to buy top-of-the-range chocolate for this recipe. Any decent brand will work great. It's so rich that you can't tell the difference between an expensive and mid range chocolate.
- Dusting the moulds with cocoa powder helps to ensure they come out. I use cocoa powder instead of flour so you can't see it (I used flour once and you could see white specks).
- Do not fill the mould more than ¾ of the mould.
- Ovens vary so I recommend checking the cake around 1 to 2 minutes before the prescribed cooking times. Touch the top lightly and if it springs back, it is ready.
- These are best served warm while the "lava" inside is runny. When they cool, the inside turns fudge-like and doesn't become runny again even if you reheat it. They are still delicious, like a really rich fudgey brownie.
- To make ahead, make the batter and grease and dust the moulds. Refrigerate the batter until required. Bring to room temperature, then pour into moulds and bake as per recipe directions. If you refrigerate the batter in the moulds, I find that the cake tends to stick more, making them harder to invert onto the plate.