Chocolate Lava Cakes

If you don't happen to have Guinness or sour cream or even cream on hand to make the amazing Guinness Cake, don't panic!!!

There is a delicious fail-safe chocolate dessert that you can make with ingredients you probably already have in your house.

I have been making this recipe for Chocolate Lava Cakes for years. Unfortunately, I can't credit where I found the recipe, it was somewhere on the web a long time ago. I've baked the batter in muffin tins and coffee cups, but then finally broke down and bought ramekins (about $1 each at Crate and Barrel) to appear a little more grown up.

The only thing that's difficult in this recipe is determining when the cakes are at the perfect level of doneness - baked on the outside, and molten and runny on the inside. I have over-baked and under-baked them many times. The good news is...even over or under baked, this chocolatey concoction will taste really, really good.

Chocolate Lava Cakes

1 stick unsalted butter

8 oz good quality dark chocolate (this is about 3/4 of a bag if you are using choc chips)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbsp flour

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter and chocolate chips in microwave or in bowl over a pot of simmering water. Add vanilla. Let cool slightly.

Mix together sugar, flour, and salt. Use stand or hand mixer to blend dry ingredients with melted chocolate and butter.

Add eggs, one at a time and beat entire mixture for 4 full minutes and until light in color. (NOTE: make sure your chocolate isn't too hot anymore or you'll have scrambled eggs).

Chill mixture (this will keep in fridge for a few days so you can make lava cakes after dinner all week!).

Grease muffin tins, oven-proof coffee mugs, or ramekins and dust with cocoa powder (optional). Add a couple scoops of the batter until baking vessel is about half-full.

Bake until cake looks done and crackles on top (doneness depends on size of baking vessel - about 10 minutes for muffin tins, up to 15-17 minutes for ramekins or coffee mugs).

Serve directly from the baking vessel or try to invert onto a plate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, freshly whipped cream, or a dusting of powdered sugar.

ONE YEAR AGO: Frittata