Sunday, July 31, 2011

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

It has been such a long time since my last post, so I needed to make sure this one was a really good one haha and nothing is better than a warm chocolate molten lava cake!!  These delectable desserts have been quite the hit in higher end restaurants the past few years - but there is no need to pay the high price because you can make them at home!  They are very easy to make and they take no time at all!!  Make sure that you have ramekin cups (but if you don't have them you can use a large muffin pan)   Impress your friends with these rich individual cakes!!

You will need...

1 cup extra dark chocolate chips (I normally use Hershey's Special Dark)
10 tbsp butter (remember, unsalted!...I made that bad mistake once...)
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour (I used spelt this time and they turned out really good)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (however, this time I used almond extract and it was amazing)
If you have it in the house you can add a splash of orange liquor

First you want to get your butter melting...place a medium saucepan over medium low heat and throw the butter down in...


While the butter is melting I like to prep my ramekins...place 6 on a cookie sheet (for easier transporting to and from the oven) and use the butter trick.  For those of you who don't know what the butter trick is, it is my little way to eliminate aerosol spray.  Just take a small chunk of butter, wrap it in a napkin and smear it on the insides of the ramekins.  Aerosol sprays are awful...don't even get me started on them.

 
After the butter is melted add the chocolate chips and stir stir stir!!  The chocolate will stick to the bottom and burn very quickly so make sure you are constantly moving it around.



When the chocolate is a smooth consistency it should look like this...


Next throw in the powdered sugar and flour...


It should now look like this...


Crank the heat down and add the eggs...stirring quickly once again (sometimes I even remove the saucepan from the heat so that the eggs do not begin to cook).  Once the eggs are mixed in you can turn the heat back up and stir until smooth.


You can then stir in the almond extract (or vanilla) and orange liquor.  After everything is mixed together divide the batter between the six ramekins.


Bake in a 425 degree oven for 14-16 minutes (watching them...it takes some time to get the right amount of time, every oven is different and these cakes are very sensitive.)  They should have a crusty exterior and when they are cut into a gooey center should flow out.




Enjoy!! =)

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Mr. Todd's Pie Factory =)

So last weekend I got to spend with my family and a bunch of great friends at the beach and on the way back we decided to stop at Mr. Todd's Pie Factory in Somerset New Jersey because one of my friends knows Mr. Todd.  For those of you who don't know this jolly baker appeared on an episode of Shark Tank in order to expand his pie factory and get the word out on his to die for pies. With pure excitement we rushed in the doors right before he closed and purchased some delightful pie...the apple pie was AMAZING.  Kudos to you Mr. Todd!!