Chocolatelove: Molten Chocolate Cake ~ with Raspberry Lava!

Molten chocolate lava cake. Its very name conjures up decadent rivers of rich, dark chocolate encased in tender, fragrant cake just waiting for my fork to pierce the side and erupt into a creamy pool of deliciousness.

Excuse me, just have to wipe up this drool...

To me the only thing better than a molten chocolate lava cake is a molten chocolate lava cake with a raspberry center. This classic and elegant presentation will up the "wow" factor a notch. Not a fan of raspberries? Just omit them and follow the rest of the recipe or get creative with the suggestions at the end.

Molten Chocolate Raspberry Lava Cakes ~ serves 4-8
4 oz dark chocolate, melted
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, melted
4 tablespoons salted butter, softened
1/3 cup cake flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/3 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 tablespoon d'Arbo raspberry syrup

Preheat oven to 400º F. Butter and flour 4 ramekins and set aside.

Melt chocolate together. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, incorporating between additions. Add flour and mix until just combined. Using a rubber spatula add melted chocolate, using quick, bowl circling strokes.

Combine frozen raspberries and d'Arbo raspberry syrup in a bowl. Microwave for 15 seconds and mix. It's okay if it's still frosty as long as the mix is malleable.

Fill ramekins halfway with chocolate batter. Make a well in the center and spoon one tablespoon raspberry mixture into each well. Fill ramekins to top with batter.

Chocolate lava cake as it appears fresh from the oven

Bake 12-15 minutes. Edges should be firm and center should be soft, but the entire top should be an even color. If the middle is darker it's still too soft and needs another minute or two. Err on the side of over-cooked rather than under-cooked because there is such a thing as "too molten." Let cool for 10 minutes before attempting to unmold or they will just fall apart on you because they're so hot and soft at this stage.

An example of an under-baked lava cake.

You must have no fear as you quickly invert the ramekin, slide out the lava cake, and place it on your serving plate. You can serve the cakes directly in the ramekins if you wish but I prefer to unmold them and serve directly on a pretty plate flooded with raspberry syrup and topped with powdered sugar. Fresh raspberries, if they are in season, are a great accompaniment to this dessert.

Personally I find these cakes so luscious and rich that one small ramekin is enough to share, especially when you are en famille, but for a dinner party you'll want one ramekin per guest.

Soft, delicious raspberry center

I love raspberry but if it's not to your tastes you can also tempt your inner child with s'mores lava cakes with a graham cracker crust and a marshmallow center (it's easiest to put the crust on the top of the ramekin so it's on the bottom when inverted) or a creamy peanut butter center and fresh strawberries on the side for a "PB&J" lava cake. Your gourmet side will love a bitter orange marmalade center with a candied orange peel garnish or a caramel center topped with sea salt instead of powdered sugar for another decadent option. Whatever you choose, even plain chocolate, your molten lava cake will be a decadent dream.

Check out these other great chocolate lover's recipes here on Oh Cake:
Fruit & Nut Chocolate Bark
Chocolate-Pumpkin Trifle
Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
Chocolate Orange Layer Cake
Chocolate Marshmallow Cream Cups

February is #chocolatelove month! I am very pleased to be co-hosting this month's lovebloghop with an ever-growing list of wonderful food bloggers:

A Little Bit of Everything ~ Roxana ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl
ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan
Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl
Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29
Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins
Baking Extravaganza ~ Samantha
BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker
Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth
CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog
Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess
Cakeballs, Cookies and More ~ Sue
Cooking with Books ~ Marnely ~ @nella22
Creative Cooking Corner ~ Karriann ~ @KarriannGraf
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Elephant Eats ~ Amy
Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes
Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19
Java Cupcake ~ Betsy ~ @JavaCupcake
Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica ~ @kbelleicious
Mike's Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking
Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk
No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose
Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar
Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla
Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem
Smart Food and Fit ~ Lisa ~ @LisaNutrition
Soni's Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood 
Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable
Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna ~ @tspbasil 
That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick
The Dusty Baker ~ Jacqueline ~ @dustybakergal
The More Than Occasional Baker ~ Ros ~ @bakingaddict
The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd 
The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian
Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack
Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma
You Made That? ~  Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

I hope you'll join us by linking up your own chocolate recipes posted in February 2012 and following along to #chocolatelove on twitter. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #chocolatelove event!