Great Edibles Recipes: Fallen Chocolate Lava Cake

Lava Cake

Today’s journey into delights of the tongue is a classic found in many eateries throughout the world. I have even read in several snobby foodie magazines that having a fallen lava cake on your menu is a sign that you’re just trying too hard and have no creativity. I think that’s bullshit. Sometimes something is popular simply because it is so damned good.

On a slight tangent, foodies drive me crazy. I have been a chef for a long time and I promise you I have eaten much more strange and exotic things than most of these culinary jackasses. Once, while working at a wine bar, I overheard a guy say to the waitress, “excuse me, do you have any French olive oil? My palette is too refined for this Mediterranean oil.” It took all I had not to bludgeon him with the bottle of Tempranillo I was sipping from. I love food. I enjoy the finer cuisine and seek out new experiences and sensations. But someone please shoot me if I am ever too damned up my own ass to enjoy a good turkey sandwich.

Anyway, as Marie Antoinette would say, “back to the cake!”

Here’s What You Need:

(The recipe is for a large batch, so just use your fun math skills to pare it down. Or you can make a lot and keep it in the refrigerator. This stuff takes a few weeks to start to go bad.)

• 1 lb bittersweet chocolate
• 1 lb unsweetened, unsalted butter (medicated optional: cannabutter *)
• 9 whole eggs
• 10 egg yolks
• 5 cups sugar
• 1  2/3 cups flour

* – Optional: Swap out up to 1/2 of the butter with cannabutter, it’ll impact taste (and experience) so experiment!

How to Make Fallen Chocolate Lava Cake:

Prep Work:

• Step 1: Melt butter and chocolate together in a bain marie (just set a metal bowl over a pot of lightly simmering water) let the steam gently melt the chocolate and butter together and stir until the consistency, color, and texture is homogeneous throughout.
• Step 2: While the bain is doing it’s thing, mix all the remaining ingredients in a mixer (if you have to do this by hand, it is not impossible, but you’ll be wishing for a mixer by the time you’re done).  Use the whisk/whip attachment for the mixer, mix until smooth and seamless.
• Step 3: Slowly fold the chocolate mixture into the other egg mixture, again stirring until smooth and homogeneous.

The batter is done!

To Cook:

• Step 1: Preheat oven to about 425, take ramekins (or some kind of oven safe baking dish, cupcake trays will work in a pinch, but it will be harder to get the cake out cleanly). Using either butter or a light coating of olive oil, coat the inside surface of the dish and spoon in some of the batter, leaving about a 1/3 -1/4 inch of space left on top.
• Step 2: Cook for about 7-10 minutes, depending on how much of a lava factor you’re looking for. Essentially, the lava cake is just a partly cooked brownie. If  you like it more cakey, cook it longer. If you want it more gooey and delicious, use less time.
• Step 3: Once it’s cooked to your level of satisfaction, take the ramekin from the oven with some heat protection and run a paring knife around the inner edge of the dish. If all went well, you should now be able to simply upend the dish onto a plate and your warm decadent chocolate pile of love should come sliding out.
• Step 4: I like to finish it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and top it with a drizzle of balsamic and a side of strawberries. 

Enjoy friends, let me know how your lava cake bakes!

Check out other posts from Weedist’s Great Edibles Recipes series!