Gooey Goodness!

Whew...I nearly forgot that it was Tuesday. It has been one of those days. Luckily I started my daily review of the food blogs and the first blog I saw had their post up, so it suddenly clicked!

This week's challenge was Dorie's Gooey Chocolate Cakes. I've been pretty excited about this because A: I love chocolate and B: I was hosting Emma Day with my niece and knew that she would be a great helper. (She also helped me with the Daring Baker post below if you need more cuteness in your day.) We had a great time making these cakes. They really were perfect to make with a five year old because they do come together so quickly. There was very little patience required, the hardest part for her was waiting on the butter and chocolate to melt, but she was mesmerized by the process. She kept giving me a running commentary on how many bits of butter were left unmelted! But in no time we were at the table enjoying our cake and ice cream. Here's a picture of Emma enjoying her cake:

The cake itself is really yummy. I don't think mine was quite as gooey as it was supposed to be, but they still tasted really good. These are definitely something I will make again when I need a quick and tasty dessert!

Anyway, here's the recipe:

Gooey Chocolate Cake

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate,
4 ounces coarsely chopped,
1 ounce very finely chopped
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
6 tablespoons of sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. butter (or spray – it’s easier) 6 cups of a regular-size muffin pan, preferably a disposable aluminum foil pan, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Put the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the coarsely chopped chocolate and the butter in the bowl and stir occasionally over the simmering water just until they are melted – you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk until homogenous. Add the sugar and whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and, still using the whisk, stir (don’t beat) them into the eggs. Little by little, and using a light hand, stir in the melted chocolate and butter. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle the finely chopped chocolate over the batter.

Bake the cakes for 13 minutes. Transfer them, still on the baking sheet, to a rack to cool for 3 minutes. (There is no way to test that these cakes are properly baked, because the inside remains liquid.)

Line a cutting board with a silicone baking mat or parchment or wax paper, and, after the 3-minute rest, unmold the cakes onto the board. Use a wide metal spatula to lift the cakes onto dessert plates.