Melting Chocolate Cakes

I've discussed my deep and abiding love for lava cake before. It's one of my absolute favorite desserts. It's chocolate...it's rich....it's molten...it's the best. BUT--have you guys heard of melting chocolate cakes??? I hadn't until recently but I have got to say...I'm totally on board with the idea.

They're like lava cakes...BUT WITH MORE LAVA! It's just a lot of gooey chocolatey goodness. Like...to the point where you HAVE to serve them in their ramekins because they're too gooey to plate. You just dig in. Which sounds like heaven to me!

Valentine's Day is coming uuuup. And I've always associated lava cake with Valentine's Day--they're individual serving sizes (so you don't feel too bloated and full from eating a giant dessert by mostly yourself--and so you don't ruin the mood by fighting over it), they're chocolate (helloooo the most romantic food out there!), and they look so pretty dusted with sugar or topped with ice cream! Plus...if you make them for your sweetie they'll be so impressed (even though they're actually insanely easy to make. But that'll be our little secret.)

Here's what a "good" wife I am:

I made these.

I ate 3 within the first day of making them.
I wanted to eat the last one...but I decided to inform Michael that I made them and give him the opportunity to have one. He said we could share the last one and eat it together.
Summary--my husband is much nicer than I am.

They're perfect. They're the best amount of chocolatey, and the melting chocolate centers are everything. Definitely one of my favorites. And, whether you're going on a first date or begrudgingly sharing with your husband, I suggest you make them.

Chocolate Molten Cakes

I love lava cakes. LOVE EM. 

I mean...chocolate cake with a molten, decadent, rich rich rich chocolate center. There's nothing not wonderful about it. My first taste of lava cake was at a dinner theatre (that is now closed) when I was a teenager, and I fell head over heels. Then...I started eating these packaged microwaveable lava cakes. And now-I make every recipe I get my hands on.

Thus far my favorite lava cake recipe came from Michael's stepmom--it is foolproof (a PERFECT molten center) and delicious. This recipe is a very close second place---the only reason it's not number 1 is I could not get them out of their ramekins unscathed, so I couldn't get that pretty picture of a cake with lava-like chocolate oozing out. Instead you're safer just eating them out of the ramekins. However the molten center is on point and the level of chocolatey decadence is FAB.

One of the beautiful things about lava cake is how perfect it is for entertaining. You can easily make these ahead of time and just bake them when you're ready to serve. They're sorta fancy. And they're impressive-people are going to think you're an exquisite chef and nothing beats the wow-factor of breaking in to a cake to find that liquid chocolate goodness, ready to make your tastebuds siiiiing.

And...although Thanksgiving is generally all about that pie game...maybe you wanna mix things up and serve some chocolate indulgence? I know if I showed up to a Thanksgiving dinner and was given a lava cake for dessert I would think to myself, "This person is a total rock-star. I want to be their best friend for liiife."

Don't you want people to think that about you? Yeah, me too.

S'mores Lava Cakes

Honestly...these photos were so rushed. When I made and photographed this recipe I was in the midst of calling people and dealing with my car that was at the shop. The repair place gave me a crazy high estimate so I had to call Michael's cousin and then rush and drive my car to Youngstown (which is an hour away) for him to fix it (which didn't work and I ended up having to take it somewhere else and fix something else but...I digress...)and just....these poor s'mores lava cakes did not get the amount of effort that they deserve. Sorry lava cake. I love you.

Forgive me dear friends.

Even taking into account the rushed-ness of this shoot...I mean...just....look at how gorgeous these lava cakes are! They're photogenic, that's for sure! They're just wonderfully chocolatey and full of molten chocolate...and toasted marshmallows....and a buttery graham cracker mixture....mmmm. So rich and heavenly. Ah s'mores desserts. I adore 'em.

I did have to tweak this recipe a bit as it originally said it made three 2-3 oz. ramekins when in actuality I filled up four of my 6 oz. ramekins. Sooo, the recipe below will reflect my personal findings therein. 

Really...end of day...a day with s'mores lava cake is 10,000 x better than a day without.

Guest Post at The Messy Baker-Nutella Molten Lava Cake

I know, everything is topsy turvy this week!! I'm currently extremely busy (oh hey dealing with going to Ohio for 2 weddings that were 2 weeks apart, and tons of work, and starting filming a short film tomorrow....*deep breath*), so please stay with me this week with only two posts (today's and Friday's). I know it'll be hard, but I believe we can work through this. :P

Anyway, today I am guest posting over at one of my bestest friends in bloggingdom: Jennie from The Messy Baker! Her and her hubby are having a vacation, so I, of course, leaped at the chance to help out. You guys should know by now how much I adore her. She's funny, and sweet, and fun, and seriously bakes up some AMAZING stuff, you guys! You should def. browse around her blog for awhile, there is so much yumminess to find!

For the guest post I am sharing a recipe for Nutella Molten Lava Cake. Oh yeah, I went there. And even better-I used homemade nutella. Seriously, such a delicious hazelnut/chocolate flavor and so warm and ooey and gooey and perfect (and you should also know how I feel about lava cakes)!!!

Head on over to The Messy Baker for the recipe!

(and I'll see you all again on Friday! smooches!)

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

Do you need a show-stopper dessert for the upcoming (AHOMGSUPERSOON) holiday?

Do you want something that takes very little effort, and that you can even make ahead of time?

Do you want THE ABSOLUTE BEST LAVA CAKE I'VE POSSIBLY EVER HAD?!?

Yes?

Good, you're smart. I like that about you.

I've already waxed poetic about my very deep love for lava cakes...it's chocolate cake...with a melt-y chocolate lava center. 

So...yeah. 

At some point when it was just starting to get around that "Kayle likes to cook.", Michael's dad suggested I try out his wife, Jeanne's, recipe. She facebook messaged me the very simple recipe and I stored it away to try...at some point. To be honest, I wasn't that optimistic. I'm always nervous when trying a recipe that I don't have photos of or detailed instructions. But, I was in the mood to make some lava cake a couple weeks ago, and Michael suggested I try Jeanne's-I had all the ingredients so I figured, "Why not?" While I was baking these up I thought to myself, "Huh, there isn't that much chocolate in here, I wonder if these will be any good?"

Oh yeah past me, they are VERY good! AND you do not need to worry about whether or not they'll be underbaked enough or whatever so that the "lava" will come out: it will be perfect. The lava was the best part and it was no issue at all. These cakes are so so sooo perfect! And once you've portioned the batter into ramekins, you can cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. Since I like these best fresh, I just baked 2 at a time over the next few days (1 for Michael and 1 for me). I cannot say enough how perfect this recipe is. Amazing lava cakes. Just amazing. Jeanne is a smart lady.