Chocolate Lava Cake
Description
As with many iconic foods, the chocolate lava cake actually began as a mistake. In 1987, legendary French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten made the amateur mistake of placing too many chocolate sponge cakes in the oven at once, causing a drastic decrease in the oven temperature. In an unexpected turn, the diners at Vongerichten’s New York City restaurant loved the dish, and it was added as a fixture on the restaurant’s menu the following day. The chocolate lava cake was subsequently popularized by Vongerichten and became an iconic dessert of the 1990’s. There is some controversy regarding who the true “inventor” of the chocolate lava cake is, due to the fact that another iconic French chef, Michel Bras, invented a similar dish in 1981. However, the chocolate coulant that Bras invented is a much more complicated and texturally different dessert than Vongerichten’s lava cake. The lava cake, on the other hand, is very simple to make - after all, its just an undercooked cake!
Ingredients
(Makes 2 medium lava cakes, or 4 small)
3 oz dark chocolate, chopped (85 g)
3 oz milk chocolate, chopped (85 g)
1/4 cup sugar (45 g)
6 tbsp unsalted butter + more for greasing ramekin (84 g)
2 whole eggs + 2 yolks
1 tbsp flour + more for dusting ramekin (17 g)
1/4 tsp salt (1.5 g)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (180 C). In a non-stick pan, melt the butter over low heat. Once butter is melted, turn off the heat and add the dark and milk chocolate. Stir until thoroughly combined.
In a separate bowl, add the eggs + yolks, sugar and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture for 2-3 minutes, or until it starts to firm up and the mixer leaves streaks. Add the flour and beat to incorporate. Then add the melted chocolate mixture and beat to incorporate.
Using a small amount of butter, grease the inside of the ramekins. Dust the inside of the ramekins with some flour and then tap out the excess. Then, pour in your batter evenly into each of your ramekins. For a medium sized ramekin, bake for 10-14 minutes (check often after 10 minutes) - the top should be set, but the inside should still be molten.
Serve immediately with ice cream or whipped cream.
Notes
You can store the batter in the fridge over night - just make sure to let it come back to room temp before baking.
For smaller, sizes, you may want
You can substitute the flour with corn starch to make the dessert gluten-free.