Lava Cakes with Red Raspberry Sauce

The first thing I look for on any dessert menu is lava or molten chocolate cake. It’s one of my favorite desserts, and now it can be easily recreated in less than 20 minutes. This lava cake recipe was passed along to me by one of my professors, and it is tried-and-true amazing. The mini lava cakes are easy to make, bake in a flash, and best of all, have warm overflowing centers. I’ve included my recipe for raspberry sauce, which provides a fruity balance to the rich chocolate flavor. Next up: a white chocolate version with blackberry puree.

Shopping List

For the lava cakes:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 5 eggs
• ½ cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour

For the red raspberry sauce:

• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 2 Tablespoons sugar

Recipe

Makes 12 lava cakes. Recipe adapted from Perfect Recipes for Having People Over by Pam Anderson.

For the lava cakes:

Preheat the oven to 450º.

Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil.

Place the butter and chocolate chips in a smaller saucepan then melt the ingredients by holding the smaller saucepan over the pan of boiling water.

Stir constantly until smooth then set aside.

Beat together the eggs, sugar and salt with an electric mixer until the sugar dissolves.

Beat the egg mixture into the melted chocolate, then beat in the flour.

Line a cupcake tin with paper cupcake cups that have been coated with cooking spray.

Pour the batter into the cups then bake for 8 to 10 minutes, just until the edges of the cakes are firm and the centers and still liquid.

Remove the lava cakes and let cool for 5 minutes.

Remove the cakes from the cupcake cups and serve with raspberry sauce (recipe below).

For the raspberry sauce:

Combine the raspberries, water and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat.

Let mixture come to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until thickened. Stir frequently to break apart the raspberries.

Let cool before spooning over lava cakes and serving.