- Hey guys, Valentine's Day is almost here
and I wanted to arm you with a very romantic,
festive dessert that I know you're going to love.
It's my Chocolate Molten Lava Cake.
I love this dessert because it is so elegant,
so delicious and so easy to put together.
Don't be intimidated by them,
they're easier than you think.
And I'm going to share with you my foolproof recipe.
So we're first going to start with a four cup Pyrex pitcher.
I love these Pyrez pitchers because you can actually
create lots of batters in them.
And then they're all ready to go
and you can pour it right into your ramekin
and not have to take out a ladle.
They also go right in the microwave,
which is also nice as well.
And to make this recipe even easier,
we're going to work with chocolate chips.
I love to use the chips here because
that saves us a step of having to chop the chocolate.
I also like to use the semi-chocolate chips,
because if you taste one you'll see
they're actually quite sweet.
So that also saves us a step
of having to add sugar to the recipe.
Then we're going to add some butter.
We're going to take five tablespoons of butter
and pop it on top of the chips.
Then we're going to microwave this mixture
in 30 second increments.
And you want to make sure that you take a fork
and kind of mix it up each time you microwave it.
You don't want to skimp this step
because the smoother the mixture,
the smoother your molten lava will be.
So you definitely want to take the time
to make sure that your chocolate is nice and melted.
Now I also like to add a half a teaspoon
of instant coffee.
Now this is the instant coffee,
the kind that you can actually add hot water to
and actually create drinkable coffee.
It's not the coffee grounds.
So you want to take the instant coffee
and just stir it into that hot chocolate.
It'll dissolve and it will create
a really nice depth of flavor.
Anytime I'm working with chocolate,
I always like add a little bit of instant coffee,
because it does sort of take the sweetness down
of that semi-sweet and turn it into something
a lot more sophisticated.
And then you're also going to add
a teaspoon of vanilla and a quarter teaspoon of salt.
Stir that up and now we're going to add our eggs.
Now you want add two whole eggs
and two egg yolks.
Give that a stir and then the final step
is just to add our flour.
So we don't want to add a lot of flour to these cakes,
because we really want them to be dense
and fudgy and delicious.
So they only take a quarter cup of flour.
And that's it, our batter is done.
Now we're going to prepare our ramekins.
Now here's another tip for you.
Because this is a dessert that we are actually going
to flip over and invert,
it really helps to have a pretty shaped ramekin
that will create a nice sized cake.
And I really love using these six ounce custard cups,
because they go in the oven and when you flip them over,
you'll see they create a nice little dome.
If you want to know where to get these ramekins,
they're pretty affordable and I put a link
in the description.
So we're going to take these ramekins
and we are going to spray them with some cooking spray.
Now I have tried it with melted butter
and it just does not work the same.
So in this instance,
you really kinda gotta use the cooking spray.
And if you can find the baking spray, even better.
And then we are going to pour in our batter,
about two-thirds of the way full.
Now here's the other genius part of these ramekins (laughs).
They come with these little plastic tops.
So if you really want to be a domestic genius,
you will have this done all in advance.
And then when it comes time for dessert
all you have to do is pop them in the oven.
So the fact that they come with these little lids,
you just pop the lids on and voila you put it in your fridge
and it is all ready to go.
Then when it comes time to bake your cakes,
you're going to take the ramekins out of the refrigerator.
We're going to take the tops off them.
Flip them on a cookie sheet, this will just make it easier
to take in and out of the oven.
And you're going to pop them in a pre-heated oven
that is at 450 degrees fahrenheit.
Now, here's the other tip.
You do not want to over bake your cakes
or you're not going to have that delicious runny center
that we are after.
So set that timer for 10 minutes exactly.
And you also want to make sure that if your oven
is running a little hot, and sometimes ovens will do that,
keep an eye on them.
Because when they're really done,
the other sign that you'll know,
is they'll still be a little bit concave.
If they start to popup that means they're cooking to much
in the centers.
You really want to pull them out when they're set
and the little centers are still a little bit concave.
That means that those centers are still runny.
That's what you want.
So while they're cooling, you want to get together
all the things you're going to need
to assemble your desserts.
Some fresh raspberries, a shaker of powdered sugar
and of course, our vanilla ice cream.
Then when the ramekins are cool enough to handle,
you take your dessert plate, pop it on top of the ramekin
and then take the whole thing and flip it over.
Then, because we used our cooking spray,
you will see when you lift up that ramekin,
those cakes should just pop right out.
We're going to dust them with some powdered sugar.
Garnish with a fresh raspberry.
And then place a nice healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream
along the side.
And there you have it, a really delicious, romantic,
sophisticated dessert that anybody would love
to have on Valentine's Day.
And then when your special someone
goes to cut into that cake, you will see
it'll be light and spongey on the outside
and oozy and chocolatey on the inside.
The vanilla ice cream is also a nice complement
to lap up all of that chocolate sauce.
It's like having a chocolate cake and chocolate sundae
all in one (laughs).
I hope you guys give this one a try,
it's easier than you think and you too will make a
big impression on somebody this Valentine's Day.
And if you don't have anybody special
in your life this Valentine's Day,
that is okay.
I had years like that too.
Instead, why don't you go down the hall
and grab that neighbor, your co-worker,
your best girlfriend and make these cakes,
because I tell ya Valentine's Day is for everybody.
And you will be happy you did (laughs).
So sending all my love to all of you
and I will see you back here next week
when we are going to tackle spaghetti and meatballs.
It is my four-generation recipe coming from all
of my favorite Italian women in my life.
So I will see you back here then, bye.
♫ Loving you is easy, you're amazing. ♫
♫ Please take a bite of my apple pie. ♫
♫ Oh love, love me, love, love me. ♫
♫ Oh, it's a piece of cake. ♫
♫ Oh yes, yes, it's true. ♫
♫ Because it's you. ♫