You may have noticed that I talk about scaling back recipes all the time. With only two people in the house to feed, it’s essential that I scale, especially given the amount of baking I do. I’ve had generally good results taking standard recipes and cutting them in half or just making 1/4, but sometimes it gets tricky and often there’s a lot of estimating involved (yep, that looks close enough to .713 cups of flour…). Weighing ingredients can solve some problems, but not all cookbooks provide weights in their recipes, and I’m not always motivated to do the conversions myself. Anyway, all of this is just a long-winded way of explaining why I was super excited to find this recipe for molten chocolate cake for two in my new issue of America’s Test Kitchen magazine.
The recipe makes just enough batter for two small chocolate cakes – the perfect afternoon snack for a Sunday spent mostly on the couch under a blanket watching playoff football games! While the instructions specified two 6-oz ramekins, I discovered that half of my ramekins didn’t specify size so I grabbed one that did but was 7-oz and one unmarked one that looked slightly smaller, which I hoped might be 6-oz. In other words, don’t fret if you don’t have 6-oz ramekins, just pick something close. I may have been a bit lazy on buttering the ramekins so one of my cakes stuck. Fortunately, even an ugly molten chocolate cake is really delicious 🙂 The outside of the cake is light but sturdy, and yields to a gooey, rich chocolate center. These are so easy to whip up (and feature ingredients you likely keep on hand anyway); I know they’ll be making a repeat appearance here before long.
One other order of business today – it’s time to announce the winners of my Avec Eric giveaway! Thanks to everyone who entered; it was fun to read about your favorite/dream travel destinations. Many, many people mentioned Paris and Italy, both of which are on my “hope to get there someday” lists 🙂
Congratulations to commenter #21, Margaret (TeaLady) of Tea and Scones,
commenter #79, Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook, and
commenter #116, Danielle of All Things Yummy!
Hope you all enjoy the book!
Molten Chocolate Cakes for Two
from America’s Test Kitchen
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
cocoa powder (for the ramekins)
confectioners’ sugar (for dusting, optional)
Preheat oven to 400 F. Generously butter two 6-oz ramekins and dust them with cocoa powder.
Place the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted and smooth. I like to do 30-second bursts at 50% power and stir in between each. In total, it’ll probably take about 1 1/2 – 3 minutes, depending on your microwave. Stir in the vanilla.
In a medium bowl, beat the egg with a hand mixer on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the egg forms soft, billowy mounds, about 1 minute. Still beating, gradually add the sugar and salt. Once incorporated, beat for another 5-10 minutes, until the mixture is very thick and pale yellow in color.
Use a rubber spatula to transfer the egg mixture to the bowl containing the melted butter and chocolate. Sift the flour over the top, then use a rubber spatula to gently fold everything together, just until incorporated.
Divide the batter between the prepared ramekins, smoothing the tops with your spatula. Put the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10-13 minutes, or until the cakes have puffed slighty and jiggle just a bit in the center when gently shaken. Immediately upon removing the cakes from the oven, run a knife around the edges of the ramekins. Invert the ramekins onto serving plates and let them sit for about 1 minute or so, until the cakes release from the ramekins. Remove the ramekins and, if using, dust the cakes with confectioners’ sugar then serve immediately.
I know what you mean about scaling back recipes. I need to be motivated to do all the calculations! It’s great that you found a recipe that makes just two delicious-looking cakes!
Those look very romantic and very Valentine’s Day-ish, too! I would eat the berries. Fun that the winners are who they are for the cookbook…now for chef avatar they won’t have to be searching around for Eric’s recipes!!
Lovely photos…and nice to see a scaled down version of one of our favorite desserts!
I’ve been wanting to try making Molten cakes. A recipe for 2 would be perfect for Valentines Day:) Congrats to the winners!!!
I love molten chocolate cakes – you just can’t go wrong. I’ll definitely bookmark this recipe, since I also love scaling back recipes – and a good chocolate dessert is pretty much wasted on my kids. I was talking to someone who makes these from a mix, and I was like, WHY? These are one of the easiest homemade desserts to make!
Funny, I just wrote about these the other day and had the same stickage problem 🙂 I didn’t think about scaling it back to make half a batch! Duh
I always halve recipes, etc. My measurements are so funny bc I am terrible at math. This cake looks delicious no matter what!
Beautiful photos and delicious looking cake – a great combo.
I know what you mean by needing to scale back. I’m a student on her own and if I don’t try to scale, I end up having to eat pretty much the same meal for a week or so. Which doesn’t sound too bad economically but taste wise, it gets boring fast. This is such a great recipe. I haven’t had a molten cake in….well I don’t really know if I’ve ever had one but nevertheless I want some and since this recipe only makes two I’m much more willing to make it at home. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
This looks perfect! Thanks so much for sharing 😉
We will have to make this for Valentine’s Day:)
I absolutely love molten chocolate cake! Such oooey gooooey goodness! I am drooling over this. Thanks for sharing!
cake looks delicious
This was a big hit with me!
I love it when I can scale a recipe back to make just a couple servings. These look fabulous! Lovely job.
Yum! My hubby would love these. Bookmarking them.:)
Mmmm! One of my favorite indulgences (that I rarely get). Nice to have a recipe just for two!
Yay! I’m so excited about winning–I can’t wait to check out the recipes. =) And very cool that Margaret won as well.
Your cake looks fabulous. I’m going to have to try these in the very near future.
I’m a big scale back-er too! I really like this recipe for the same reason, will try it out asap. Great styling!
Thanks x 3 for the recipe!
We made this and it turned out terribly. When does the vanilla get added? The cake was undercooked and had to be returned to the oven for at least 5 min. beyond thirteen. Also, the directions were unclear. 5-10 min of beating until “thick”. I was frustrated.
@Kate – I’m sorry it didn’t turn out well for you.
-You’re right, I was missing the instruction to add the vanilla, I fixed that. Thank you!
-With the instructions for beating the egg mixture – you’re really just trying to get to the point where the eggs go from being bright yellow to a more pale and subdued color and the consistency thickens considerably. I’m not sure how to better describe it (nor were the authors of the recipe, as that was the way it was described in the source as well).
-As for the baking time, the middle of the cake is supposed to be gooey and undercooked. These cakes are meant to be molten, the center should be saucy. You don’t want to bake them through the way you would with a normal cake.
Was looking for a quick easy dessert to make with ingredients I already had on hand. This was so easy & yummy! I followed the recipe exactly using nestle toll house semi sweet chocolate chips. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
Planning on making these tomorrow night! Would I be able to make the batter ahead of time and refrigerate it until they’re ready to go into the oven?