Molten Lava Cake (5 ingredients, 15 minutes)
Adapted from Mark Bittman's Molten Chocolate Cake recipe, perfect for two and made in 15 minutes with only 5 ingredients. Select the best quality you can afford for each of the five ingredients, and your chocolate cravings will be satiated.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces high quality dark or bittersweet chocolate Scharffen Berger is my preferred and favorite
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter Isigny Sainte-Mère is my favorite when I can find it in local grocery markets.
- 1 egg large
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1 tsp flour
- 1 egg yolk reserve the egg white for another recipe or breakfast
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (or 232 celsius).
- Place a medium sauce pan with 1-2 inches of water on the stovetop. Place a mixing bowl on top of the sauce pan (to act as a double boiler). Turn to medium to high heat.
- Add the chocolate and the butter to the mixing bowl of the double boiler placed on the stove top. Just let it slowly melt while you mix up the rest of the ingredients.
- In a mixing bowl with a hand whisk, whisk 1 egg and 1 egg yolk (use the egg white of the second egg for another recipe or set aside to enjoy in the morning for breakfast). Add the sugar and whisk for at least one minute until the mixture is light and runs like a light yellow ribbon from your whisk when held above the bowl.
- Check the chocolate. Once the chocolate and butter have melted, stir to combine and remove from the stovetop.
- Add a small drizzle of the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and combine with the whisk. Continue to this gradual adding of the entire egg mixture to the chocolate and until it is all combined.
- Add the one teaspoon of flour to the chocolate and egg mixture. Mix to combine. The batter is complete!
- Select two small ramekin or ramekin-like oven-proof baking dishes. Butter the containers, and then dust each with flour, tapping out all excess flour.
- Place parchment paper onto a baking sheet, and place the prepared two ramekins on the baking sheet. Add the batter to each dish, filling to about 3/4 full.
- Place in the oven for 5-7 minutes (test your oven as each oven will be slightly different - by testing, I mean enjoying your mistakes, because the best way to test is to cut into them and see how running the inside is - a delicious dilemma).
- Your goal is to have a lovely moist center and an exterior that is baked and secure.
- Remove from the oven. Using a towel or hot pads, place a place on top of each of the ramekins (one at a time), and flip. The ramekin or container you have cooked the cake in should easily be removed.
- Upon cutting into the cake, you should have a running center with cake exterior. Enjoy immediately with cream or ice cream or gelato and a favorite hot cuppa.
- OPTIONAL: You may make the batter ahead of time (a day or half a day ahead). Place the batter into the refrigerator (covered with plastic wrap), and remove just before you want to use it making sure the batter is brought back up to room temperature before placing in the baking dishes and placed in the oven to cook.