TWD Rewind: Gooey Chocolate Cakes

So, when this Tuesdays with Dorie first came around I was still impatiently awaiting the arrival of my copy of Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. When I finally got this I made this for my birthday dessert - since we all know it is pretty obvious I am a total chocoholic this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

These were extremely easy to make, quick and incredibly delicious. I have made other "molten" chocolate cakes before, but always from a recipe where you had to make truffles and sink that in the middle. This was much simpler for me and everytime I still see this picture or read the recipe I want to run right into the kitchen and make them again.

This is the perfect "instant" gratification chocolate dessert in my opinion - easy, quick, and completely satisfying. If you still haven't tried making these, then I strongly encourage you to do it soon - you are seriously missing out until you do!

Make sure that you use high quality chocolate and cocoa that you really like the taste of, because that is what will truly come through here, the taste of the chocolate.

Gooey Chocolate Cakes
(From Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan)

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 sugar

Getting ready:
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.

Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together. 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.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk until homogeneous. 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. 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.)

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.

I served mine with fresh strawberries and a little bit of lightly sweetened, lightly whipped cream - it was perfect!!