Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

Valentines Day is next week, and if you are like me you probably have dessert on your mind. Something chocolatey and scores well in the 'wow' and romantic category. So imagine a mint-chocolate river oozing from the cratered precipice of a piping hot buttery molten lava cake, creating a warm rolling lusciousness on your tongue. Sounds good doesn't it? And it is. This version of molten lava cake is unique and special for the mint fudge sauce that is spooned over providing a cool menthe contrast to a rich and creamy chocolate cake.

Even better is that this recipe is very simple to make and very forgiving of mistakes. The best part is that the batter can be whipped up and refrigerated the night before, leaving ample time to focus on that special dinner, and not to mention that special someone.

Molten Chocolate Cakes with Mint Fudge Sauce

From Bon Appétit, January 2001

Mint Fudge Sauce

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1/3 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Method

1. Stir both chocolates in top of double boiler over barely simmering water until melted. 
2. Add 1/3 cup hot water, corn syrup and extract; whisk until smooth. Remove from over water. Cool slightly. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; chill. Before serving, rewarm in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.)

Molten Cakes (makes 6 cakes)

Ingredients

• 5 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Butter six 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. 
2. Stir chocolate and butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted. Cool slightly.
3. Whisk eggs and egg yolks in large bowl to blend. Whisk in sugar, then chocolate mixture and flour. Pour batter into dishes, dividing equally. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)
4. Bake cakes until sides are set but center remains soft and runny, about 11 minutes or up to 14 minutes for batter that was refrigerated. Run small knife around cakes to loosen. Immediately turn cakes out onto plates. Spoon sauce around cakes. Serve with ice cream.

More Valentine's Day dessert ideas:
Dark Chocolate Mousse
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Dark Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

Truffle Brownie Cups - Secret Recipe Club

This is my second month participating in The Secret Recipe Club and it's been so much fun! This month I was assigned our hostess Angie's Blog, Big Bear's Wife.  She has a really cool Visual Recipe Index which helped when it came to choosing the recipe.  They are all separated by category and you can see a photo right there in the listing.  There were so many recipes I wanted to try but there just isn't enough time in the month of December! The cannoli dip recipe looked amazing and I am definitely tucking that one away for future use.  I chose the recipe for Truffle Brownie Cups.  It sounded like chocolatey heaven!   Chocolate ganache inside a chocolate brownie cup is absolutely my idea of dessert!  These are the perfect size for a little midday snack...or two!

These little brownies are very simple to make and I think I would try them as regular brownies too because they are delicious!  I only got about 18 out of them so I'd suggest doubling the recipe because they will disappear quickly!  My only question to ask Angie is about the ganache.  I've never made it before and I'm not sure if it's supposed to harden and all.  I put it in the fridge for about an hour because it was still liquidy after 10 minutes.  I piped it through which made it easier but it was still too liquidy to hold the shape of the star tip.  Angie, I am an awful baker and I know it's just me! Got any tips for this baking challenged girl?

You've got to try these everyone, they are a deliciously chocolaty treat!

Truffle Brownie Cups
from Big Bears Wife

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups chocolate chips

2 tablespoons butter (do NOT substitute margarine)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup flour

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.

Spray mini-muffin pan with non-stick spray.

Place 2/3 cup chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl with the butter. Microwave on high 40-60 seconds or until smooth, stirring after each 20 second interval.

Add sugar and egg, stir until smooth.

Add flour and stir until just incorporated. Using a small scoop divide batter evenly among the wells. Flatten the top to make smooth surface with the Mini-Tart Shaper.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are set (DO NOT over bake).

Meanwhile, pour cream into microwave safe bowl. Heat on HIGH for 1-2 minutes or until hot.

Add the rest of the chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Place bowl into freezer for 10-12 minutes or until mixture is cool and starting to thicken. This will be your chocolate ganache.

Once the ganache is thickened, scoop it out of the bowl into a Ziploc bag. I cut a hole in the corner of my baggie and added a star piping tip to give the ganache a little design.

Remove pan from oven; cool 2 minutes. Press tops of brownies with the Pampered Chef Mini- Tart Shaper to make a well. Cool in pan 3 minutes.

Once they are cooled, use your Ziploc baggie full of your chocolate ganache and pipe the ganache into each brownie well.

Be sure to check out Big Bear's Wife for all of her decorating ideas for this recipe!

Dark Chocolate Mousse

Plush and dark, chocolate mousse is a melding of contrasts, bringing together the decadent lusciousness of whipped cream and the overpowering austerity of bittersweet chocolate. The addition of strong coffee augments the irresistible earthy flavors of this chocolate mousse. If bittersweet dreams could be a good thing this would be it.

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Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe and 38 Weeks

36 Weeks and 5 days, New York's Upper East Side

I'm whipping up a batch of Dorie Greenspan's chocolate chip cookies today. Sometimes the best things in life are the classic comfort foods, and I count these soft gooey chocolatey cookies among them.

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Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Chunkers Recipe & Cookiebar 2011

Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Chunker's cookies have a knack for getting people into trouble. These cookies were inspired by a recipe that got Dorie fired from one of her first jobs out of pastry. You can read the story here. These are also the cookies that got me into a whole heap of trouble a couple of months ago when my doctor gave me a good chastising for gaining too much weight. Admittedly these cookies weren't the only culprits, between this, El's chocolate ganache cupcakes and flourless chocolate cakes, the scale was tilted towards trouble.
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Absolutely Sinful Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe

Many years ago at an alley way entrance to the Irish Bank, a messy dive bar in the financial district of San Francisco, I laid eyes on a handsome gentleman. I still remember how gracefully the warm sunset cast an orange light onto his angelic brown locks, and the bright clarity of his hazel green eyes.

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El's Ultimate Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

What does the perfect chocolate cupcake taste like to you? My version of good chocolate is a divine symphony of dark moist chocolate cake topped with a lustrous, glossy, silky smooth icing, one that straddles the hemispheres of celestial lofty whipped cream and the full-bodied lushness of melted bittersweet chocolate.

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Dark Chocolate Almond Biscotti and a Baby Update

I've been inspired by the numerous holiday cookies that have appeared across the blogosphere. Recently I returned from a trip to San Francisco where I encountered a collection of creative gingerbread houses at the Palace Hotel.

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Joël Durand Chocolatier

"Chocolate making is my passion. The fascinating complexity, range of flavours and different stages of tasting give me pleasure everyday. I have created these chocolates to share with you my passion and delight..."

- Joël Durand

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SAN FRANCISCO FERRY BUILDING SWEETS

Whenever I walk through the San Francisco Ferry Building, I can always gauge the types of food people have affinity towards. Typically the sweet tooth variety will immediately will be attracted to Miette, a patisserie shop which always has three or four large jars stacked high with macarons to entice innocent passerbyers.

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Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

My friend Catherine gave me this recipe last winter. She guaranteed that these cookies would be perfect every single time. She did not lie. Like Shane's Blondie recipe this is my go to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I made these on many Tuesday nights while watching Fringe. (Great show by the way!) I'm not sure where this recipe originated but I have seen it on numerous blogs and recognized it as having the same title as the one given to me. If this is your recipe please let me know so I can add a link to the original post, you certainly deserve recognition!





Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes Ready In: 40 Minutes
Servings: 18


Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Shane's Blondies with Lowlights

My friend and fellow Bakespace member, Shane, made these wonderful Blondies on his blog Culinary Alchemy. Everyone on bakespace was making them so I had to give them a try. They were fantastic and I've made them many times since. I bet you're wondering why they are called Blondies with Lowlights. When I was making them Steve came over and asked where the chocolate was. I explained to Steve that these were Blondies and not Brownies. Steve said that he would not eat them without chocolate. So in an effort to make Steve (and the chocolate lover in myself) happy I added a small amount of chocolate chips. The chips melted and swirled in the pot. A few days later a few of us were discussing Shane's blondies on the forum. Someone else did the same thing I did and commented on the pretty swirl. Shane popped in with a little joke and called them blondies with lowlights! If you know anything about coloring hair you know that lowlights are when you bring in some strips of darker color into your lighter hair, you know, the opposite of highlights. It was a perfect name and thus Blondies with Lowlights were born. So I guess if you make brownies and swirl in some white chocolate you can call them brownies with highlights!

Blondies with (or without) Lowlights

Cooking Time: 30
Servings: 16
Preparation Time: 15

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Dark brown Sugar
2 Large eggs
1 large Egg Yolk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/4 cups AP Flour
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
1/4 cup Heath Toffee Chips (optional)
½ cup chocolate chips (for lowlights)


Directions:

Line a 13x9 pan with parchment.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a sauce pan, melt butter.
Stir in the brown sugars, stirring until "melted' and the mixture just begins to bubble (This is similar to making a Pecan pie)
Whisk eggs and yolks together with Vanilla.
Pour in the eggs in a steady stream, while whisking constantly to prevent scrambling.
In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
Fold Flour into the egg mixture.
Fold in Pecans and toffee chips (if using)
Spread into the pan.
Bake 35-40 minutes (5 minutes less for dark pans)
Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
Lift via parchment and cut when cooled.


Note: I like mine more on the thicker side so I use a pan that's slightly smaller.

Oreo Truffles

As you all know I had my wisdom teeth extracted last week. I had a great experience thanks to Dr. Pirozzi, Dr. Ernst and the wonderful staff at The Center for Oral Surgery in Montville, NJ. Their smiling and welcoming faces made me comfortable from the moment I stepped through the door. I don't know about your experiences but I never seem to come in contact with many friendly faces at the offices I have been to. Usually they don't even look up from their work, speak in a monotone voice and have miserable looks on their faces. That is not the way this group is at all. They gladly answered all my questions (and I had many) and made me comfortable. This made a huge impression on me and I wanted to show them my appreciation. Since I was going to the office for my post-op appointment I decided to make them some oreo truffles. These fabulous little chocolate candies have been circulating bakespace and most food blogs for months. I'm pretty sure everyone has tried making them once. They are so easy and are very pretty. You can get creative by drizzling some white chocolate on top, topping them with colored sprinkles or other candies. It's completely up to you.

So here's a big THANK YOU to my new friends! Hope you all enjoyed the truffles!


Oreo Truffles

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-sweet chocolate, melted


Directions:

MIX 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.

DIP balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.


Here are some tips:

1 - If you use the entire package of oreos you will have leftover oreo crumbs, save these in a ziplock bag and use them to top ice-cream or to top cupcakes.

2 - Refrigerate oreo balls before dipping them in chocolate so they stay nice and firm.

3 - You will have a lot of chocolate leftover. Don't be tempted to make these the next time with less chocolate (I did) because it makes it difficult to cover with chocolate.