Chocolate Lava Cake Recipe

I was writing a blog post on Domino Pizza's molten lava cakes the other day, and wanted to link the paragraph to this recipe. To my astonishment, I couldn't believe that I haven't shared this recipe yet. I made promises to post a recipe for this, but as in the usual vein, forgot about it. 

I remember trying many different recipes before chancing upon this one. I didn't dare pin high hopes on this, seeing how every previous recipe I tried churned out chocolate sponge cupcakes by the dozen instead. But thankfully, I found success with this recipe, even on my first try. This recipe couldn't be easier to follow - or recreate.

Unlike the other Chocolate Molten Lava Cake recipe which requires chocolate bars, this one utilises cocoa powder. Regardless of whichever ingredient you feel more comfortable using, or more likely, whichever you happen to have lying around, there's no reason not to get cracking for this special dessert. 

Chocolate Lava Cake 
Makes 6 ramekins. Because the cocoa powder carries the entire chocolate cake, it might be worthwhile to use a good brand. I used Valrhona, a brand which David Lebovitz recommended, but feel free to use any brand you prefer. Adapted from a recipe from Epicurious. The adaptations were modelled after the many comments online suggesting changes to the recipe, as well as my own personal tweaking. The original recipe can be found here. 

Chocolate Lava Cake:
Ingredients
1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (80g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Powdered sugar, for garnish. (optional)

Steps
Whisk melted butter with sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time, then vanilla and almond extracts. Set aside

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and  espresso powder together into medium bowl. Whisk in the dry ingredients into the we tmixture. 

If you plan to unmold the lava cakes, butter the ramekins well. Dust with cocoa powder and tap out any excess. Divide batter among six ramekins (fill to about 2/3 in each). Cover and refrigerate mugs for at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F (175 °C). Let ramekins with batter stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Bake uncovered until cakes are puffed and crusty and tester inserted into centre comes out with thick batter attached, about 11 minutes. 

Espresso Whipped Cream (optional)

Ingredients
1/2 cup chilled whipping cream
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
Cocoa powder, for garnish (optional)

Steps
Combine cream, powdered sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon espresso powder in medium bowl; whisk until peaks form. Chill for at least an hour.

Serving
Run a spoon along the edge of the cake and invert to unmold. Sift powdered sugar over the top. Garnish with chilled Espresso Whipped Cream and sift cocoa powder over the cream. Serve immediately.