Seven Days Without Chocolate Makes One Weak

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Desserts are like mistresses. They are bad for you. So if you are having one, you might as well have two.                                                                                                                                                      ~ Chef  Alain Ducasse

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I’m a sweet guy. When I go out to eat at a new place, the first thing I do is check out the dessert menu. Ha, did you think I was talking about being nice? Well, that too, but I’m also a sucker for sweets, I can’t help myself. And no matter how much I eat before it, there is always room for dessert. I have no shame in admitting this here, but after a big meal, the server asks if there is any room for dessert, I sometimes have to hold back. But the only reason is I don’t want to embarrass the wife, if it was just me I’d tell that server, “damn straight there’s room! Bring on your finest freezer burnt ice cream and luke warm ‘freshly baked’ brownie!” But no, I show restraint, especially when they come back with, “oh, full huh? [harhar – stupid server laugh]” Dude, you don’t know me…

I’m crazy about a good dessert. I know you can’t really be surprised by having the same cheesecake all the time or a Pizookie, but damn if they don’t make you happy on the inside. I get a little too crazy sometimes though. I feel fairly comfortable with you guys so I’ll go ahead and confess something… Sometimes, when sharing whatever dessert with my wife, I get a little touchy. Like if she takes too much crust off a cheesecake, or if she eats more brownie than ice cream, therefore throwing off the brownie to ice cream ratio that is left when she is done, I go on the offensive. I love my wife, which is why when she does things like that I give a playful jab with my fork or spoon, you know, as a little warning. Sometimes she disregards my subtle hints, so I have to get drastic and move the plate out of her reach and put her on timeout while I fix the imbalance she caused. This in turn leads to her threatening to shove her utensil of choice into whichever part of my body she feels would prove her dominance best. That’s usually when I realize I’ve broken an unwritten law: Taking (most of the time) chocolate away from a woman.

But I digress...

Well here I am, giving it back. With this insanely easy recipe, we don’t have to go out and deal with pissed off servers and overpriced and/or overcooked food. We could stay home, in our underwear, and enjoy our own Molten Chocolate Cake.

Yeah, I said it… Molten… Chocolate… Cake.

Just rolls off the tongue. Like ...Lava


Silky, gooey... Chocolate Lava.

It’s one of the most decadent, rich, and visually appealing desserts today. If you’ve never had one before, you should be paraded down a crowded street to be poked and laughed at. Seriously, what have you been doing with your life? Well no matter, there are no more excuses. No more, “It’s too difficult to make” or “I have no kitchen experience”. A 10 year old can probably follow the recipe and make this. So get off it, and get cracking! There’s huge payoffs that come with knowing how to make one of these. Depending on the situation, it’s practically guaranteed praise at dinner parties, or unconditional love and devotion from your significant other or maybe even another date with a special someone (you still have to play your cards right, I can't do all the work). So just trust me and you can thank me later:


Molten Chocolate Cake     (adapted from here)

               1 cup ~ Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
 ½ cup (1 stick) ~ Butter, cubed
    1 tablespoon ~ Cocoa Powder
               1 cup ~ Powdered Sugar
       1 teaspoon ~ Vanilla Extract
      ½ teaspoon ~ Cinnamon
              2 each ~ Eggs
              2 each ~ Egg Yolks
              ½ cup ~ All-Purpose Flour

Simple stuff, eh? If you want to throw in your favorite liqueur, just replace the Vanilla with what you’d like. This recipe is going to make about 4 individually sized cakes.

I used some Soup Crocks that I’ve had for a while now. The recipe filled up the crocks a little less than halfway which is more than enough because they were pretty big around. You can find something cheaper, but this is just to give you an idea. They’re great for entertaining, not to mention the presentation compliments the special feel the cake brings to the table.

Another note before you get unimaginably excited to make this: Molten Lava Cakes usually get their signature lava-ness by taking them out of the oven before they’re fully cooked. This means there is a slight chance the eggs in the batter may cause you to experience the molten lava more than once, if you know what I’m sayin’. If you’re the type to eat your eggs over easy you probably don’t care about stuff like this, but if you’re pregnant or are really cautious about consuming raw eggs, then I’d regretfully skip this one and wait till I can do a safer recipe. Or you can go somewhere else to find one and risk hurting my feelings.

All that said, my wife is allergic to eggs and she was perfectly fine after eating this! So it really is up to you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

• Enough talk! Heat your oven to 415°. Put the Chocolate Chips and the butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Whisk until the chocolate is smooth and completely melted. Then add the Cocoa Powder, Sugar, Vanilla, and Cinnamon, and whisk till incorporated. Let it cool down a bit before you add the eggs unless you’re practicing for a chocolaty breakfast in the morning. You can take this time to butter your ramekins, soufflé cups, muffin pan or whatever it is you’re using. 

I added the Cocoa Powder in with the chips because I was feeling frisky

• If you think it’s cool enough, go ahead and add the eggs and mix well, then add the flour until the batter is smooth. Fill up your vessel of choice a little less than half way, place on a sheet tray, and put it in the oven for 13 minutes (10 minutes if you’re using a muffin pan)

• When they’re ready, the edges should be done and cake-like. But the center should still feel moist. Let them rest for about 1 minute. If you want to transfer them to a plate, run a knife along the edge and flip it on to a plate, but if you’re hardcore, eat it out of what you baked it in. Unless it’s a muffin pan, that’ll just be awkward.

So you see what I was talking about? Amazing, isn’t it? It looks like a cake, but when you first stab it, the chocolate oozes out as if you just violently murdered it, and you start thinking, “oh no, I killed it, look, it’s dying. It’s losing so much chocolate blood, I’m sorry, cake.” But then you taste it and you’re all like, “OMG, die you unbelievably amazing cake. Die, die ,die. I’m a vampire and want to suck your chocolate blood.”

Don't laugh at me. That's going to be you!