Don’t you just love any excuse to have cake?
I know I do.
Legally cake, how can you resist? I tend to find reasons to celebrate with a cake a bit too often, any reason to whip up something sugary and sweet is a good reason. So needless to say – Valentines is cake day. This year it turned out to be the same day as mother’s day and lent. Puh! I couldn’t get around to do all the required things like buying my mother flowers, making her cake, making traditional fastelavnsboller, spending some quality time and food with my man in one day alone. I don’t multitask very well. Priorities had to be made.
I spent the saturday in my sister’s house, and my parents came over for breakfast on Sunday. So I got to see my mum. Check! Later when we got home I did some reading and we went for a walk. We passed the bakery and thought of buying fastelavnsboller, or just plain buns and put them together with cream and jam at home. After all it was lent. But we decided to make buns next weekend instead. So again, check! Mother’s day and Lent was taken care of, only V-day to go. Foodwise or any-wise, actually, we didn’t really have any plans for the day. But suddenly hunger hit us and we had to go out. Neither of us was really in the mood for cooking, and I got a sudden craving for mexican food, so we went out and I had a delicious veggie quesadilla. Ok, I’m blabbing, and this seems to be going nowhere, but the thing is, on our way home I suggested to make chocolate fondant for us. What better day to put my cute heart shaped ramekins to use! My boyfriend, not to say myself, loves anything chocolate, especially lava cakes. To say this was a special Valentine treat for him or us – well, it would be a lie. I make this a little more often than I like to admit. Not every single weekend, but at least once a month. But it’s soo good! And it’s soo fast! And it looks quite impressive with very little effort, that’s always a plus! I never get tired of it. Hot chocolate goo oozing out of a baked chocolate exterior? I rest my case.
Chocolate lava cakes (Paula Deen’s Home Cooking)
Ingredients
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 stick) butter
8 oz (1 cup) chocolate chips (any type of chocolate chips will work but I recommend semi-sweet or a combination of bitter and semi-sweet)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
3 large eggs
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
OPTIONAL : 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur (Kahlua) OR 1 tsp. instant coffee powder
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F/ 200 C. Spray 6 -6 ounce ramekins or cupcake tin. In a medium microwavable bowl, melt chocolate chips and butter in the microwave for 60 seconds and then in 30 second increments until smooth (about 1.5-2 minutes total). Add flour and sugar to chocolate/butter sauce. Stir in the eggs and yolks until smooth. Add vanilla and coffee liqueur/instant coffee and mix everything until combined. Divide the batter evenly among the each cups. Place cups on top of a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. The edges should be firm but the center will be runny. Run a knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto dessert plates or you can serve each molten lava cake still in the cup.
Normally I just eat it straight from the cup, but then again, I make this a LOT. There’s usually no occasion other than a chocolate craving. But sprinkled with powdered sugar, a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream added or some red berries, this is a sure way to anyone’s heart. Valentines day or not.
I heart cakes 