Molten Chocolate Cakle

aka Chocolate Lava Cake

This super elegant dessert is sure to impress your guests, and it’s surprisingly easy to prepare.

Not quite cake, not quite soufflé, not quite pudding, It seems as though every restaurant serves this wonderful, decadent dessert that’s all of those things and more. Some places make it in house, some order it ready assembled from food service providers. You can even find an instant make-it-at-home boxed version among the cake mixes in your supermarket’s baking aisle. And, if you want to make it from scratch, you can find lots of recipes online.

But none of them comes close to the original, created by my muse—master chef, the king of the kitchen, Jean-Georges Vongerichten. So no, this is not my recipe.

I rarely post someone else’s recipe, but as I’m using it as part of my themed bill of fare for this week’s Torah reading, Parasha Vayakhel, I want to make it readily available to those who want to follow the menu.

Don’t let the idea of making this wonderful dessert intimidate you. I’ve followed his recipe many times, always with great success.

There are a few tricks I’m going to share with you to make sure yours comes out perfectly.

1. Like most things in life, you won’t get more out of it than you’re willing to put into it. That is, you’ll want to splurge and use the very finest chocolate. Chef’s favorite, and one of mine, is Valrhona, 66% bittersweet. You can find it at Whole Foods Market or online.

2. Use a top quality, European butter, such as Kerrygold. It’s low in moisture, high in butterfat, and has a rich flavor, Make sure to only use unsalted butter. To make this dessert pareve, you can substitute vegan butter, such as Earth Balance (use the bars, not the tubs).

3. Although it’s not necessary, and not part of the original, I add a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste. To me, vanilla makes everything better.

4. Feel free to play with the recipe a bit to add your own twist and vary the taste with a touch of whatever spice complements the dinner you are preparing. A hint of instant espresso, cardamom, cinnamon, or even cayenne pepper can be loads of fun.

5. Always refrigerate the ramekins before baking. You will have the best results if they go into the oven cold. And that’s a really great thing, because it means you can prepare them in advance—even a day ahead of time.

You will need four 6 ounce, oven-safe ramekins for this recipe, such as these, or these.

Ingredients:

6 ounces high quality bittersweet chocolate, such as Valrhona, preferably 66% cacao, chopped.

½ cup unsalted butter (4 ounces) , cubed, plus more for greasing the ramekins

2 large eggs, room temperature 

2 large egg yolks, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (my addition)

¼ cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the ramekins

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ to ½ teaspoon cinnamon or cardamom, or a pinch of cayenne pepper (my addition), optional

a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of dairy or coconut whipped cream, to serve alongside the cake, optional

Method:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.

• Butter and lightly flour four 6-ounce ramekins. Tap out excess flour. (Make sure they are completely coated, with no bare spots.) Set the prepared ramekins on a baking sheet.

• Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate and butter. If you haven’t got one, you can make a very serviceable substitute: Fill a medium saucepan with water to a depth of one inch; bring to a boil over medium-high, and then reduce the heat to medium-low, to maintain a gentle simmer. Combine the chocolate and butter in a medium-size heatproof bowl, and set the bowl over the simmering water in the pot, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a simmer, until chocolate mixture is melted and smooth, about 16 to 20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and set it aside.

• Beat the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl with an electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, on high speed until thickened and pale, 2 to 3 minutes.

• Give the melted chocolate and butter another quick whisking to make sure it’s smooth.

• Quickly fold the melted chocolate mixture and the flour into the egg mixture in the bowl and beat until well combined with no streaks remaining.

• Spoon batter into the prepared ramekins (about ½ cup per ramekin) and smooth the tops using a small offset spatula. Place the ramekins in the refrigerator and chill for a minimum of 1 hour. The secret to having this recipe work is to have them very cold when they go into the oven. You can even make this a day ahead—if that’s the plan, cover them with plastic wrap.

• When you’re ready to bake the cakes, place the ramekins on a baking sheet in the preheated oven, and bake them until the tops of cakes are just set. This should take about 9 minutes—ovens vary. The edges should spring back when touched but the centers should still feel soft. about 9 minutes. (Start watching them at 7 minutes—if the centers are fully set, you’ve baked them too long and there will be no lava in your chocolate cakes.) 

• Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in their ramekins for 3 minutes. Working with 1 ramekin at a time, cover the ramekin with an inverted dessert plate. Carefully flip them over together, and let it stand for 10 seconds before lifting the ramekin off to unmold the cake. Repeat the procedure with the remaining cakes. Serve immediately.

Did you make it? Was it fabulous?