Almost Molten Chocolate Cakes with “Bruised” Berry Sauce

Happy New Year! We’re quickly approaching the 1-year anniversary of Love and Olive Oil (our first post was of our Valentine’s dinner last February!). We are still trying new things and have yet to run out of recipes… needless to say we’re not stopping any time soon!

Our holiday treat to ourselves were some delicious Cumin Rubbed steaks, served with Cracked Potatoes and a side of lightly sautéed broccolini. A tasty meal, but no match for what followed…

For dessert… oh wonderful dessert… we partook in the ultimate chocolate indulgence: Molten Chocolate Cakes. Or, Almost Molten chocolate cakes. Our first two cooked a bit too long, so no oozy goodness in the middle, but still heavenly nonetheless. Since the recipe makes 4 ramekins, we saved two of them to enjoy again tonight. I cooked tonight’s batch for 13 minutes instead of 15, and they came out oozy and delicious.

One must always proceed with caution when making such a rich dessert. One bite could send you into a chocolate-induced coma. It was in my desire to be able to finish my pot of molten love that I scoured the web for a berry sauce or syrup or glaze that might cut the chocolate a bit. Take a bit of one recipe, the instructions in another, add a dash of brandy, and tada! The result was a bright and tangy compote of fresh blackberries and frozen blueberries (black and blue = bruised, hence the “Bruised” Berry sauce) that turned out to be the perfect companion to the cakes.

Needless to say there wasn’t much leftover…

Molten Chocolate Cakes with “Bruised” Berry Sauce

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
5 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter or margarine
1 tablespoon brandy
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
5 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
Large pinch of salt
1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Bruised Berry Sauce:
1 pint fresh blackberries
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoons brandy (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Generously butter four 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. Arrange on baking sheet. Stir chocolate and butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat; stir in brandy. Cool 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Using electric mixer, beat eggs, yolks, 4 tablespoons sugar, vanilla, 1 teaspoon espresso powder and salt in medium bowl until very thick ribbon falls when beaters are lifted, about 6 minutes. Sift flour over batter; fold in flour. Fold in chocolate mixture. Divide batter among dishes, filling completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover loosely; refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before baking.)

For berry sauce, combine berries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves, breaking up berries as the mixture cooks. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with 1 teaspoon cold water and stir well. Add to berry mixture. Cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, or until mixture barely begins to simmer. Remove from heat. Strain mixture if you don’t want the berry pulp (we like the chunks, so skipped this step). Mix in brandy. Set aside. Sauce can be made 1-2 days ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature (or rewarm) before serving.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake cakes until tops are puffed and dry and tester inserted into center comes out with moist batter still attached, about 15 minutes. Cool cakes 5 minutes. Turn out onto plate, drizzle with blackberry sauce, and serve immediately.

Molten chocolate cake

Everyone knows chocolate is great for improving the mood… So why should you refrain from eating it?! Get ready, this molten chocolate cake recipe is a killer! The one on the picture could have been baked a little less so the center would have been more liquid… You’ll just have to try and adjust the cooking time to your own tastes. Whenever the borders are done, you can take them out of the oven. The bigger the ‘uncooked’ area in the center, the more liquid your molten chocolate cake will be.

Preparation time: 15 mn (+ 1h in the fridge) Cooking time: 6 to 7 mn

Ingredients (for 4 to 6 cakes)

7 oz (200 g) of dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
1/2 cup (110 g) of butter
1/4 cup (50 g) of golden or brown sugar
3 tablespoons of whipping cream
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tablespoon of corn starch
2 eggs

Instructions

1/ In a salad bowl beat egg and sugar until mixture gets a lighter color. Add flour and corn starch and whisk.

2/ Heat a large saucepan half filled with water.

3/ Dice butter and 5 oz of chocolate and put it, along with the whipping cream, in a smaller saucepan or a metal bowl. Put in (or over, depending the size) the heating water. (This technique is called bain-marie; it’s the best way to melt chocolate without burning it).

4/ Mix molten chocolate in with egg and sugar mixture until it gets smooth.

5/ Leave preparation for 1h in the fridge so mixture gets thicker.

6/ Preheat oven to 410° F (210° C / Th 7).

7/ If you’re going to use a muffin mold, grease it. If you have round pastry cutters, line baking tray with parchment paper and place pastry cutters on it. Cut pieces of parchment paper a little bigger than the height of your pastry cutters, circle them and cover pastry cutters sides with it (as shown on picture).

8/ Fill 2/3 of the pastry cutters with chocolate mixture. Cut the 2 oz of chocolate you have left into small pieces and add on top of the chocolate dough; push it a little with your finger so it gets inside.

9/ Heat in oven for 6 to 7 minutes.

10/ Take chocolate cakes out of the oven and pull carefully parchment paper first and pastry cutters next. (If cooking paper doesn’t come out easily, they’re not cooked enough… Don’t break them! Put them back in the oven a minute more).

11/ Serve right away alone or with vanilla ice cream or custard.