Melting Cakes

Part of my Valentine's gift for John was making him his favorite dessert.  We first had the experience of these delicious little cakes on a cruise.  Our waiter actually wrote down the recipe ("his Grandmother's recipe") for me, which I know I have somewhere, but that's not how I make them.  His recipe called for my oven to have 2 different temperatures at the same time.  And my oven doesn't do that.

Want to know how to make them?  I'll tell you anyway.

First, you need 6 squares of bittersweet chocolate and 2 squares of semisweet chocolate.

Add to that, 10 tablespoons of butter.  (These cakes are very healthy!)

Microwave and stir until smooth.

It may look chocolatey and delicious.  It may smell chocolately and delicious.  But take my word for it, it's not quite delicious.  Seriously.  Take my word for it!

Next you add 1/2 cup of flour and 1 and a half cups of confectioners sugar.  Mix it together.  After that, you need to get yourself 3 whole egg yolks. 

Okay, they don't have to be whole.  But mine are.  And aren't they pretty?

Add to the 3 yolks 3 additional whole eggs.  Then mix the eggs, plus 1 teaspoon of vanilla, into the batter.  It'll be looking very smooth and velvety at this point. 

Now, before you actually start this whole process, you should have prepared  your ramikens.  You prepare them by greasing them.  I just rub a little Crisco on them with a paper towel.

Then, split the batter between the 6 dishes.

Now, you can either bake them right away, or put them in the fridge until you're ready to eat them.  Don't bake them until you're ready to eat them!  You can cover them with plastic wrap if you're saving them for later.

Or, if you're like me, and only have enough plastic wrap to cover 4 tiny bowls (even though you just went to the grocery store!) you can be inventive with how you cover your ramikens.

When you're ready to bake your cakes, I suggest taking them out of the fridge and getting the chill off before you pop them in the oven.  Bake them at 425 for about 14 minutes.  I like to serve mine with vanilla ice cream. 

Check out that ooze!!  Delish!