Chocolate Lava Cakes

Chocolate Lava Cakes

by Stella Zedman

These delightfully decadent lava cakes, oozing with rich melted chocolate, are simply sublime. Best of all, you can prepare the cakes ahead of time and pop them in the oven at the last minute, then serve them warm with whipped cream and raspberries.
Ingredients

* 5 squares (1 oz./28 g each) semisweet chocolate
* 1/4 cup (50 mL) butter
* 2 eggs
* 2 additional egg yolks
* 1/4 cup (50 mL) granulated sugar
* 2 tsp. (10 mL) vanilla
* 1 tsp. (5 mL) instant coffee powder
* 1 tbsp. (15 mL) all purpose flour
* whipped cream and berries as an accompaniment

Cooking Instructions

1. Grease four 3/4 cup (175 mL) custard cups or individual souffle dishes.
2. In a small saucepan, melt together the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
3. In a mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, additional egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and instant coffee powder until very thick, about 5 minutes. The mixture should be thick enough to form a ribbon when you lift the beater from the bowl. Gently fold in the flour and the chocolate mixture, mixing just until combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared baking dishes, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until about one hour before you're planning to serve dessert. (You can prepare the batter as much as 24 hours before serving -- great for do-ahead entertaining.)
5. Remove baking dishes from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before baking.
6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
7. Arrange baking dishes on a large pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the top is just barely set. (A toothpick poked into the center of one of the cakes will come out with batter attached.) Let cool for 5 minutes, then very carefully loosen the sides of the cakes by running a knife blade around the inside surface of the dish and turn them out onto individual serving plates.
8. Serve immediately with whipped cream and, if desired, fresh strawberries or raspberries.

Servings: 4
How kids can help

Older kids (10 and up) can melt chocolate (with adult supervision) and beat batter with an electric mixer.
Spoon batter into prepared dishes.
Help garnish and serve finished lava cakes.