baking
Lava Lava – a sinfully delightful dessert, perfect for a romantic night in, or an indulgent girls night – either ways, as long as you get to eat a few spoonfuls!
This recipe is ridiculously easy to make – and easy to remember; I have always ball marked the quantities each time through memory. The hardest part of this recipe is getting the right baking time – in order to get the perfect cake on the outside and gooeyness on the inside. Each oven is different and it’s size and heat variations affect the baking timing. You need to figure out the perfect timing in your own oven. But with my experience over the years, I can suggest it takes about 12-15 minutes for the liquid centre. (size of ramekins is also a factor)
The amount of gooey-ness is entirely personal. Some like more liquid in the centre, and some (me) like the cake to have a somewhat semi-cake/semi-liquid texture in the centre.
This recipe requires some practice, and I would recommend making a trial batch first, and testing a different time for each ramekin and cutting them open to see what consistency you would prefer.
This also means, you get to eat a whole batch by yourself!
If you pour this batter into a cake tin and let bake for 25-30 minutes, you get a beautiful, rich, and decadent cake – this is in fact, the ONLY chocolate cake I ever eat. I have yet to encounter a chocolate cake recipe that satisfies my craving better than this one. However, as it’s almost flourless, it does not stay well and needs to be stored in a proper airtight container and must be consumed within two days – not that it’s any problem!
Oh, and by the way, the batter tastes just divine!
About:
A double boiler is when you have a pot of boiling water on the stove and a bowl placed above it to melt the chocolate. This is to ensure the chocolate does not burn.
It is essential to beat the eggs and sugar really well at the beginning.
The batter can be made beforehand and kept in the fridge, and taken out just before baking.
Cook time here includes the melting of the chocolate. Add another 15 or so minutes if you are making this into a cake.
YIELDS: 8 Ramekins or one 10″ by 10″ round cake tin
The Recipe
Serves Yields: 8 | Prep Time: 30 mins | Cook Time: 30 mins
Ingredients
- 175g 70% solid dark chocolate
- 175g butter, diced at room temperature
- ½ cup castor sugar
- ⅓ cup flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla essence
- 1-2 tbsp butter or oil (for ramekins)
- 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder (for ramekins)
- Vanilla ice cream (optional)
Instructions
- Melt chocolate on a low flame in a double boiler.
- Once melted, remove from the heat. (Should take around 10 minutes)
- Stir in the butter until well melted and combined.
- Meanwhile, butter the ramekins with a silicon brush and then coat with cocoa powder.
- In another bowl, beat the eggs and sugar well until it whitens.
- Then add in the vanilla and beat another minute.
- Add in the chocolate mixture and beat until combined.
- Then add in the flour. Do not overbeat.
- Pour into the ramekins (small ramekins need 2 spoonful’s). Leave some space on the top. // OR // Pour into a lined cake tin.
- Bake ramekins in a preheated oven of 180°C for 12-15 minutes // OR // Bake the cake tin in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Ramekins must be served hot.
- The cake needs to be cooled before serving.
- To serve:
- You can serve the lava lava without the ramekin by turning it upside down onto a plate. Serving within the ramekin is just as fine, and a lot simpler.
- Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and garnish with a mint leaf.
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