Tuesday, April 1, 2008

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.

13 comments:

Carrie said...

Great cakes!
Looks like you neice certainly enjoyed hers!

Dolores said...

I'm with Emma... I was also mesmerized by the process of watching the butter and chocolate melt and mix. It's magic! :)

Rebecca of "Ezra Pound Cake" said...

Fun! Can't wait to try it with my nephews.

Rebecca
http://www.ezrapoundcake.com

Anonymous said...

How fun!! This is a perfect recipe for a little helper! :)

Gretchen Noelle said...

How cute that you were reminded by other peoples posts! Love the kitchen help!

Cecilia said...

Your niece is darling! It must have been really entertaining to have her help you out in the kitchen.

Your cakes turned out nicely. Don't worry; my cakes weren't gooey either, but I agree that they were still good.

Natalie said...

So cute! And how great that your niece could help out!

mimi said...

your cakes look great and how nice to have a little baking partner, she's so cute in that photo!

Big Boys Oven said...

such a perfect cake! Gooey!

Anonymous said...

Your niece is so lucky to spend so much time baking with you! Looks like you both had fun, and with such tasty results.

Jaime said...

it's really fun and easy isn't it? :) next time maybe cut back on the baking time for more gooeyness

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Roberthussy said...

For as long as I remember my son's birthday cake has been the same: chocolate cake, chocolate filling, chocolate frosting. Sure there are times when he deviated slightly but those were rare occasions.My daughter, on the other hand, firmly believes that variety is the spice of life.Earlier this month when I asked her what cake she wanted for her birthday, pat came the answer 'chocolate lava cake'. The little to no time she took to reply told me that the little minx had thought about it earlier and was probably waiting for me to ask her.