Molten Chocolate Babycakes

Name: Molten Chocolate Babycakes
Ingredients: Scant ¼ cup soft unsalted butter , plus more for greasing; 12 ounces best bittersweet chocolate; ½ cup sugar; 4 large eggs , beaten with a pinch of salt; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/3 cup all-purpose flour; 6 individual 6-ounce custard cups, buttered; Baking parchment

Chef

Nigella Lawson

View

Cookbook

How to be a Domestic Goddess

Published by Hyperion

View

This image courtesy of Joseph DeLeo

These are the acceptable face of culinary cute: their intensity guarantees the triumph of chic over prettiness. And, what’s more, they’re easy to make. You can make the mixture up a few hours in advance and put it ready and waiting in the prepared cups in the refrigerator until you want to cook them, which must be at the moment you’re ready to eat them.You might think that preparing the cups sounds fiddly, but in fact the job is just demanding enough to make one feel uncharacteristically competent, but not so much that any actual dexterity is required. This recipe comes by way of the great James McNair.

Serves6

Cooking Methodbaking

CostInexpensive

Easy

Total Timeunder 1 hour

Make Ahead RecipeYes

OccasionCooking for a date, Formal Dinner Party

Recipe Coursedessert

Mealdinner

Moodromantic

Taste and Texturechocolatey, rich

Type of Dishcake, chocolate cake, dessert

Ingredients

Scant ¼ cup soft unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
12 ounces best bittersweet chocolate
½ cup sugar
4 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 individual 6-ounce custard cups, buttered
Baking parchment

Instructions

Unless you are making these up in advance, preheat the oven to 400°F, putting in a baking sheet at the same time. Lay 3 of the custard cups on a sheet of doubled baking parchment. Draw round them, remove, and then cut out the discs as marked. Press them all into the base of the cups.
Melt the chocolate and let it cool slightly. Cream together the butter and sugar, and gradually beat in the eggs and salt, then the vanilla. Now add the flour, and when all is smoothly combined scrape in the cooled chocolate, blending it to a smooth batter.
Divide the batter between the 6 custard cups, quickly whip the baking sheet out of the oven, arrange the little cups on it and replace in the oven. Cook for 10-12 minutes (the extra 2 minutes will be needed if the puddings are refrigerator-cold when you start) and as soon as you take them out of the oven, tip out these luscious babycakes onto small plates or shallow bowls. Serve these with whipped cream, the same unwhipped in a pitcher, crème fraîche, custard, or ice cream.