TWD: Gooey Chocolate Cakes

Better late than never.  =)  I finally got a chance to try my hand at the Gooey Chocolate Cakes on Thursday, but it's taken me several days to find the time to post about them.  

Since we spent the whole week trying to eat our way through Perfect Party Cake,  I didn't really want to make a lot of something else.  I read about mini cakes on one of the other TWD blogs, so I thought I'd give that a try.   It worked quite well.  The recipe is very quick to make.  You melt together butter and the chocolate of your choice (I used El Rey Bucare, which is 58.5%).  In another bowl, you whisk together eggs and sugar, and then stir in flour, cocoa (I used Scharffen Berger, yum) and salt.  Then you gently stir in the butter/chocolate mixture.  I used my #70 disher to deposit the batter in my mini muffin tin.  Seven minutes is all it took to turn the batter into tasty morsels with a brownie-like exterior and a gooey middle.  I'll definitely be making this one again, maybe full-size next time.

Gooey Chocolate Cakes

(adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

3/4 oz (about 3 tablespoons) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 oz (1 1/2 tablespoons) unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Scharffen Berger)
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used El Rey Bucare 58.5%)
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 large egg, at room temperature (mine was actually still pretty cold)
1/2 large egg yolk, at room temperature (see above)
3 tablespoons of sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray the 12 cups of a mini-muffin pan with baking spray (I used Pam for Baking).  Put the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together.

Put the coarsely chopped chocolate and the butter in a bowl and heat in the microwave for about a minute on 50% power.  Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir until they are melted – you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates.  Heat the mixture in additional 10-second bursts at 50% power if necessary.  

In a large bowl, whisk the egg and yolk until homogenous. Add the sugar and whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and, still using the whisk, stir (don’t beat) them into the eggs. Little by little, and using a light hand, stir in the melted chocolate and butter. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake the cakes for 7 minutes. Transfer them, still on the baking sheet, to a rack to cool for 3 minutes. (There is no way to test that these cakes are properly baked, because the inside remains liquid.)

Line a cutting board with a silicone baking mat or parchment or wax paper, and, after the 3-minute rest, unmold the cakes onto the board. Use a wide metal spatula to lift the cakes onto dessert plates.  Serve with ice cream.