Gooey Chocolate Cakes
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Wow, another successful Dorie recipe (not that I am the least bit surprised). I was treated to two in one week, with the Daring Baker’s Perfect Party Cake earlier in the week, and these Gooey Chocolate Cakes for dessert on Sunday. Thanks to Leigh of Lemon Tartlet for choosing such a fabulous recipe!
I scaled this recipe into one-third of the original and made them in two individual 6-oz. ramekins (the smallest size I have). I have a “standard” molten lava cake recipe that I have been using for years, but I have to say, I think these have it beat. I am not as big of a fan of the runny middle that is characteristic of the classic lava cake, and as a result usually end up overbaking mine so as to firm it up a little. Dorie’s recipe is absolutely perfect because the middle is just as the name implies – Gooey! It’s very soft and, well, gooey, yet not runny. I am in love!
You really have to be a chocolate lover to appreciate these cakes (no problem with that in this house!). There is just a smidge of flour and sugar in the recipe, so be prepared for the total onslaught of bittersweet chocolate flavor. These pair perfectly with ice cream and some fresh berries.
Next week: Fresh Orange Cream Tart
Last week: Caramel-Topped Flan
Gooey Chocolate Cakes
Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (4 ounces coarsely chopped, 1 ounce very finely chopped)
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
6 tablespoons of sugarDirections:
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. butter (or spray - it's easier) 6 cups of a regular-size muffin pan, preferably a disposable aluminum foil pan, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Put the muffin pan on a baking sheet.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together.
3. Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the coarsely chopped chocolate and the butter in the bowl and stir occasionally over the simmering water just until they are melted - you don't want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk until homogenous. Add the sugar and whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and, still using the whisk, stir (don't beat) them into the eggs. Little by little, and using a light hand, stir in the melted chocolate and butter. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle the finely chopped chocolate over the batter.
5. Bake the cakes for 13 minutes. Transfer them, still on the baking sheet, to a rack to cool for 3 minutes. (There is no way to test that these cakes are properly baked, because the inside remains liquid.)
6. Line a cutting board with a silicone baking mat or parchment or wax paper, and, after the 3-minute rest, unmold the cakes onto the board. Use a wide metal spatula to lift the cakes onto dessert plates.
(Source: Dorie Greenspan "Baking: From My Home to Yours" pages 261-262)
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These were delicious, weren’t they! Glad they topped your other recipe!
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So…you used 1/3 of an egg yolk and 2/3 of an egg? That’s awesome. I thought splitting an egg yolk in half when I halved the recipe was a hassle!
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Your cakes look lovely!! They really were delicious!
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Wow, the fresh raspberries really took your version of the recipe into spring. Maybe I’ll add strawberries to mine for my sister’s April birthday. Thanks for the great idea!
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bridget – haha yeah. I actually used a scale to get it precise – I just beat 2 eggs together and used 1/3 of it and did the same with the one yolk. Part way through I did think that I was crazy, but I didn’t want tons of chocolate sitting around! Haha.
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I so love this group! With recipes like these, how can things go wrong? They were my first “gooey” cakes and I thought they were perfectly chocolatey. Yours look excellent!
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What beautiful pictures. They make you want to grab a fork and dive in!
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Nice job- these look droolworthy!
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These cakes look DELICIOUS! I can’t wait to try this recipe! Your blog is my favorite, although very dangerous. How do you stay so thin
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Mmmm raspberries, chocolate and ice cream. Its the perfect meal. Great idea with using the scale. I’ll have to try that next time b/c I am staring at gooey chocolate goodness right now, trying to decide if it would make a good breakfast. Oh man. I am screwed. haha
Clara
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Nicole – You are too sweet, thank you very much, I am glad you enjoy my blog so much! I actually (believe it or not) eat healthy about 85% of the time, and allow myself dessert indulgences, but eat pretty small portions. Rarely do we go through an entire dessert here – I either scale the recipes so there are only a few servings (like I did with this one) or the leftovers go to work with my husband. Sometimes if something will freeze well, I’ll wrap individual portions and freeze it so we can have dessert later on in the week.
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This looks so good with the raspberries on top! Your pictures are so pretty
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Very Lovely Gooey Cakes! They turned out great and your presentation looks so yummy!
CB – Chocolate….It’s not just for breakfast anymore!
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Weren’t these fabulous?? Too bad raspberries are still pretty expensive here at the moment because that looks like a winning combination!
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Great pictures! I love raspberries and chocolate.
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the perfect complement to chocolate: vanilla ice cream.
looks great Chelley!
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I totally agree with you about the molten bit, I’m not a fan either, so the gooey centers worked just fine for me. Your cake looks delicious, and you’ve reminded me what mine was missing…berries! Great work!
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You’ve really got some great goo going on there! I think your cakes look fabulous! Mine were more fudgy than gooey, but they did taste delicious, especially with a drizzle of muscovado toffee sauce and some clotted cream!!
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I can never finish anything chocolate. Although, your scaled down version means the hubs could have 1 1/2 while I had half of one!
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Your cakes look yummy! I love the raspberry’s you added.
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YUM! My sad little cakes would have loved to be sunggled up with some ice cream and berries- that looks AWESOME!! Great job :O)
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Looks sooooo fabulously good with the raspberries! Nice job!
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Beauitful cakes! I love the presentation in the photo!
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looks good!
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I love that you loved them! Your pics are lovely too babe! Great job Chelle!
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I’m with you… this is going to be my go-to recipe for the molten/gooey chocolate cake from this point forward.
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MMMM, they sure do look gooey and chocolatey!
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Gorgeous! This is definitely a keeper when I’m in the mood for chocolate!
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Mmmm, I love anything that is gooey then add chocolate and you have something very special. Love it!
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Those raspberries look amazing, just the thing to lighten up these cakes. Nice work Chelle!
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They look wonderful! I have yet to make “lava cakes.” But when I do I will for sure use this recipe!
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looks delicious! great idea to serve with raspberries!
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This turned out amazing looking! Yummy!
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your gooey cakes look great – i wish i had some ice cream to enjoy with mine like you did. it was a bit too chocolately for me w/o the ice cream to complement it
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Oh yummy! I have a recipe kind of like this on my blog I am going to make, I add caramel, chocolate syrup and the hard chocolate shell to mine. Looks yummy!
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Baking these as we speak for valentine’s day dessert tomorrow! Planning on popping them in the microwave w/ vanilla icecream. Yum!
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Hi Michelle,
Does the batter rise/expand while being baked?
Thanks.
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Michelle on January 29th, 2013 at 1:07 pm
Hi Diana, Yes, it does.
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Hi Michelle,
How come you prefer to use disposable aluminum foil pan? Does it cook better?
Thanks.
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Michelle on February 4th, 2013 at 12:29 am
Hi Diana, Only because this is for 6, and usually regular muffin tins have 12 cup capacity. Sometimes empty muffin tins can cause the ones that are filled to bake unevenly.
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Hi Michelle,
Is the center of the cake meant to be runny like a chocolate fondue or dryer like a cake?
Thanks.
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Michelle on February 4th, 2013 at 12:30 am
Hi Diana, It should be very soft and runny, almost like pudding.
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