Green Tea Molten Lava Cake

My pet peeve in baking is finding a recipe I want to try, only to see that the author measures the ingredients in lbs or cups. I heart the metric system. Deep deep. 

But still, not everything should be measured in a metric form. When I recently searched online for matcha molten lava cakes recipe, I ran into a whole slew of recipes that seem to demand absolute precision - to the gram! - in their ingredients . I mean, do I really need 34 exact grams of flour? That seems awfully pedantic. What's the extra gram of flour going to do to the cakes? 

Photo by R

Maybe my Sorrento Electronic Scale is going wonky, but it powers off if it doesn't detect any sudden increase in weight. Like say, when I gingerly pour matcha powder onto it incrementally, just to make sure I don't over or under-pour the 6g called for in the recipe. Why not tell me 3 teaspoons instead, so people without an electronic scale don't get put off by the recipe. Or even people with electronic scales. 

Well, that's it for the rant. I didn't mean for this to be directed towards anyone in particular. This is just spawning from my inability to keep my opinions to myself. And after reading J. Kenji's thoughts over at Serious Eats, I know I'm in good company... 

But I'll like to get back, if I can, to this amazing Matcha Molten Lava Cake, which is delightful. It's so good, I've forgiven it for making me run to the stores just to get a electronic scale. It must be Stockholm Syndrome, because I've a list of excuses in my head to justify to myself why such precision was called for. (My top trending excuse was that it's a recipe taken from a successful restaurant that sells this, and scaled down in quantity for the home baker...) 

It's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

I lava this recipe

Green Tea Molten Lava Cakes

Adapted from Matcha Green Tea and White Chocolate Molten Lava Cake (Sweetphk).
Makes 3 ramekins. 
Ingredients:
40g butter
80g white chocolate
30g sugar
2 eggs
3 1/2 tablespoon (34g) all purpose flour
3 teaspoon (6g) matcha powder
Icing sugar (optional - for decoration)

Steps
1. Preheat the oven to 175C. If you plan on unmolding the lava cakes, butter the insides of the ramekins and dust lightly with flour before tapping out any excess.  

2. Using the lowest heat possible, melt the butter directly over the fire in a saucepan. Once melted, immediately take it off the heat and add the white chocolate, stirring constantly until smooth. Sift the matcha powder in and mix until completely smooth. You can use a double-boiler if you prefer, but it's not necessary. 

3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until combined.  Drizzle into the chocolate mixture, stirring constantly as you do so.

4. Mix in the flour (I made this twice: didn't sieve the second time, and the results were the same). Stir until smooth.

5. Evenly divide the batter between the ramekins; they should fill up to just below the inner rim (3/4 full).  Rap the ramekins (on a coaster/dish-towel) on the counter to remove large air pockets.

6. No chilling is required. Bake for 11-15 minutes at 175C. Keep a close eye during the last few minutes in the oven. If the centre is much darker and jiggly upon light shaking, keep it in the oven for another minute, then assess.  

7. Unmold onto a plate, garnish with icing sugar/fruits/ice cream if it suits you. Serve immediately. 

Notes from Sweetphk
White chocolate is very sensitive to heat and water, make sure your utensils are dry and the bowl is just warm to touch before adding the chocolate or else it will clump up and be unusable.


Note:
Any extra batter can be divided into ramekins and stored overnight in the fridge. Add another 5 minutes to the baking time for these ramekins.