Valentine’s Day date night was more of a weekend thing this year; due to yet another snow storm for the North East. I swear it feels like we are in a snow globe and a 5 year is having a blast shaking it and we can’t get it away from him. My husband has a plow route so making dinner plans was definitely out of the question.  We figured Friday night would be the only time we could sit down for dinner so we had a nice steak, pan seared scallops, smashed potatoes and roasted asparagus and I picked up some ice cream for dessert.

Top off with confectioners sugar, fresh berries and a side of ice cream YUM

The snow started around 10 am on Saturday and literally ended just a few hours ago. I wasn’t sure if we would be able to have dinner together Saturday night so I picked up some nice thick cut bone-in pork chops from a semi local butcher shop along with a couple of their baked stuffed potatoes; just a few things I could throw together quickly without a lot of fuss.  SO with that being said I wanted to make a nice homemade dessert.

The Pork Chops were D’lish – A little Cajun seasoning and finished off with a little honey

My husband loves to tell me that “chocolate calls his name”. He’ll hunt around the kitchen and pantry looking for it. He’ll even go for my chocolate chips if he can’t find anything else. So I figured Chocolate Lava Cake would be a huge hit, and I could make it when we were ready for it.  This is the first time I have tried making them and they didn’t quite flow like I wanted them to but the flavor is really delicious and I know what I would do differently. (my daughter called me out on this statement. Apparently I have tried making these before; I honestly do not remember it. During the first book of our book club we made several recipes from the book and Abbi and I made the chocolate lava cake. I still don’t remember doing this but she does so there is it) I will not forget making this one, I have pictures and put it in writing!

Individual Chocolate Lava Cake

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk (room temperature)

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp salt

2 Tbs AP flour

Eight 6 ounce ramekins

Confectioners’ sugar or unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)

With rack in the middle of the oven; pre-heat oven to 400’. Grease and dust with either confectioners’ sugar or cocoa.

Place ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Melt chocolate and butter in either a double boiler or a heatproof bowl over a sauce pan filled with about an inch of water, do not let water touch the bottom of what you are using and do not allow water to boil. Stirring occasionally until smooth; remove from the heat and set aside.

Using a stand a stand mixer with whisk attachment; whip eggs, yolk granulated sugar, vanilla and salt on high speed until volume nearly triples. The color should be very light, and the mixture should fall from the beater in a smooth thick stream, roughly 5-7 minutes.

Pour chocolate mixture over egg mixture and sprinkle flour over the top. Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold all together until uniformly colored. Ladle or pour into prepared ramekins. Bake until cakes have puffed up about; have formed a thin crust with the center being able to jiggle slightly when shaken very gently. 12-13 minutes. run a thin knife around the edges, invert onto a plate; let sit until the cakes release themselves, roughly 1 minute. Lift off ramekins. Dust with confections sugar if you chose to use.

This was a little over done – a minute or two less would have worked better

Couple of notes: you can keep the ramekins in the fridge for up to 8 hours before baking. Let them set on the counter for about 30 minutes before baking.

I used cocoa powder but next time I would dust with confections sugar, cocoa was messy.

You can also use a spring-form pan if you want to make 1 large cake. It is best served warm (within 30 minutes) but can stay in the pan for up to an hour.  Bake at 375’ around 22-25 minutes for a 9 inch pan or 27-30 for an 8 inch. Let it cool for 15 minutes; then run a thin knife around to loosen the cake and invert on a plate.