Good Eats Challenge Week 13: Chocolate Lava Cakes

In honor of being back at work at the chocolate shop I thought it was only fitting to make something chocolaty from the Good Eats cookbook (this was last Friday I've just been too busy to post). If you love chocolate, Alton Brown's recipe is sure to satisfy your cravings. It was super easy to make and with some quality chocolate ingredients definitely good eats.

Here she is

Ingredients

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 oz sugar
• 1.5 oz  flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• Butter, to coat muffin tin
• 2 tablespoons un-dutched cocoa powder
• 1 cup vanilla ice cream
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Step 1: Weigh out chocolate and chop finely.

Since I had Askinosie's single origin cocoa powder on hand, I bought 8 oz of the same origin of their dark chocolate. These happen to be Venezuelan. I really feel the key to truly excellent chocolate deserts is good chocolate. The store bought stuff is fine if you are making something with lots of other flavors in it but since this cake is all about the chocolate I say splurge and get something really good.

Step 2: Place a small metal bowl over a saucepan with simmering water. Melt the chocolate and butter in the bowl. Stir in vanilla.

Step 3: In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour and salt. Sift these into the chocolate and mix well with electric hand mixer.

 Step 4: Add eggs one at time, fully incorporating each egg before adding the next. It is a good idea to crack your eggs into something before adding them to the mixture just to avoid shells. 

Step 5: Beat at high until batter is creamy and lightens in color, approximately 4 minutes. 

It should go from this

To this

Then chill mixture. (I would suggest chilling in the muffin pans. This way they are easier to dish and you can pop them straight in to the oven before serving). 

Step 6: Coat the top and each cup of the muffin tin with butter. Dust with the cocoa powder and shake out excess. 

Spoon mixture into pan using a 4-ounce scoop or ladle. If you have one of those dishing ice cream scoops it would be perfect for this job. 

Step 7: Bake for 10 to 11 minutes. Outsides should be cake-like and centers should be gooey.

While muffins are in oven, melt the ice cream in a small saucepan. Stir in the espresso powder. Serve over warm muffins.

Don't you just want one right now? These will fly off your table.

Norman wished he could get in on the action too but no chocolate for dogs! These would be great for a dinner party since you can make them ahead of time and then pop them in the oven right before desert so they are fresh and piping hot. If you are curious about where to get good chocolate you can get it here (where I work) or if you have a Whole Foods in your area you can probably get your hands on Valrhona or Guittard. Both are excellent chocolate makers and well known in the chocolate and pastry world. 

Cheers!