Chocolate Lava Cake

And now for some indulgence.

Amid the bills and junk mail, I found this gem of a recipe in the King Arthur catalog that comes in the mail. I cut it out and added it to my vault of recipes-to-try-someday, and now today is the day. Basically the picture was calling my name though the recipe name really wasn’t. The official name of this recipe is Self-Saucing Chocolate Cake according to King Arthur, but I’m doing my part to appropriately sing the praises of chocolate by giving it a better name.

This dessert comes together pretty easily and then fills the house with the smell of chocolate.  What more could you want?  The cake is moist with the hot chocolate lava just waiting to be scooped up from the bottom with each bite.

Chocolate Lava Cake (or “Self-Saucing Chocolate Cake”)

Cake Batter:
½ cup flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa
¼ cup almond flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. melted butter or vegetable oil
1 large egg
½ cup milk

Cake Topping:
½ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa
pinch of salt
1 cup hot milk or water

Be sure to preheat the oven to 350 degrees and to grease four individual oven-safe bowls/mugs/ramekins.

To make the cake, combine all of the dry ingredients.  Using a mixer or whisk, add the wet ingredients.  Spoon the batter evenly into the prepped dishes.

To make the “lava,” combine the sugar, cocoa, and salt.  Spoon the mixture evenly onto the four dishes of cake batter.  Finally, top each cake with 1/4 cup boiling water before placing on a baking sheet (to catch any drips while baking) and popping in the oven.

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes. The cake should look baked and puffy (and smell heavenly), and you should see some liquid lava boiling up around the sides.  Let it cool for as many minutes as you can stand and then dig in while it’s still hot.

Makes 4 servings
Source: King Arthur