FOOD: Molten Chocolate Cake

Hi there, Amanda here from A Life Well Lived....bringing you a delicious treat while Jen is away in California. One of the reasons that I love food and cooking food, is that it is a great  way to take care of people.  People love getting served their favorite foods and I love making it for them. I was recently emailing with Jen from Made By Girl about her favorite dessert & she said she loves all things chocolate.  So I dug deep and came up with my all time favorite chocolate decadent dessert - molten chocolate cake. Since I can't actually make this for her (I live across the country) a blog post is the next best thing, right?  This cake is moist, delicious, deeply chocolately and best part of all, totally easy to make. So next time you meet someone who loves chocolate like Jen, try this recipe - I promise it will make them happy!

Molten Chocolate Cake:

• 9 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 10 tablespoons butter
• 3 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons flour
• pinch of salt
• vanilla ice cream (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400°. Butter and lightly flour with cocoa powder six 6-ounce ramekins. Tap out the excess cocoa powder. Set the ramekins on a baking sheet. In a double boiler, over simmering water, melt the butter with the chocolate. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the egg yolks, sugar and salt at high-speed until thickened and pale. Whisk the chocolate until smooth. Quickly fold it into the egg mixture along with the flour. Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 12 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes are firm but the centers are soft. Let the cakes cool in the ramekins for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted dessert plate. Carefully turn each one over, let stand for 10 seconds and then unmold. Serve immediately, topped with vanilla ice cream.