Saturday, February 4, 2012

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 400Âș 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!

69 comments:

  1. I love chocolate and raspberry. I haven't tried to make lava cake yet. I think I found THE one.

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    1. Definitely make it! It's really easy... shh... don't tell anyone. ;-D

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  2. Sounds very interesting and looks delish!! I love your blog and your great recipes. :)

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    1. Thank you so much! I really appreciate that compliment!

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  3. Oh my goodness gracious. I just told someone that choc and pb was my favorite combo...... but I'm pretty sure that choc/raspberry comes in a very close second!

    This looks like HEAVEN! <3

    Betsy

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  5. Amazing! I love the chocolate and raspberry combination! Beautiful recipe :-)

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  6. Gorgeous!
    I've just cooked something quite similar yesterday (it's called 'coulant') and I really like that melted filling, mmmmm....

    Great hop ;-)

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  7. Jess, this flavor combination is fabulous!!! And your lava cakes are picture perfect!!!! YUM, yum!

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  8. molten lava cake is one thing but add in the raspberry filling and this is just heavenly! WOW- you did an amazing job and I love the pictures. so cute!

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  9. Yum! I've never made a lava cake before! After reading this I think I might try it!

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    1. You should! They are actually really easy to make but a very impressive presentation.

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  10. Lava cake is one of my absolute favorite desserts. It's often so rich that I make myself sick by finishing the whole thing...but I think your raspberry center is an awesome idea for cutting the sweetness. I LOVE fruit+chocolate combos. Great job!

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  11. Oh my goodness. I adore chocolate + raspberry (did the same combo for my chocolate love recipe.) I've never made a molten lava cake and am excited to see how simple it seems. And that s'mores version sounds AMAZING. Also, congrats on your Super Bowl recipe win!

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  12. I definitely need to try making this at home, it looks so delicious!

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  13. Lovely and delicious!Love your recipe Jess, never made a lava cake before...but this is inspiring enough to make me try :)

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  14. seriously amazing looking they look way better than anything I have ever had at a restaurant.

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  15. Wow, these are stunning. I'm impressed with how easy they look, too! Would have expected ten extra steps :) And how perfect for Valentines day with those gorgeous red raspberries. This is going on my bookmarked list - thanks!

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    1. Thank you! Yes, they are very easy to assemble. The hard part is the timing so they are cool enough to handle but still molten. It's why they take 20 minutes in restaurants because they have to be made to order! But soooo worth it!

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  16. Gorgeous cake and love the addition of the raspberry center! I made lava cake too-I guess smart minds think alike :-)

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  17. Lava cakes are my weakness! Love the raspberry addition - perfect for Valentines. :)

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  18. Hi Jessica-Your lava cake is just calling my name! Love the raspberry center. Fabulous for #chocolatelove :)

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  19. Chocolate molten cake and raspberry middle oh yum! Great recipe and drool worthy too :)sending you #chocolatelove

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  20. Your lava cakes with the raspberry centers look amazing. I've never tried the lava cakes, but I have the ramekins, and they are red!
    Much #chocolatelove to you!

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    1. Sounds like Valentine's Day will be a perfect time for them! :) I almost bought more ramekins but then I remembered I barely have space for my kitchen stuff now and I refrained. I hope you'll post pics if you do make them!

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  21. Perfect combination...look and sound irresistible!

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  22. I do agree, raspberries and chocolate are a perfect combination. And the molten part is totally irresistable!

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  23. Oh wow, this looks incredible. I've had countless chocolate lava cakes (they're my favorite dessert), but I've never tried one with a raspberry filling. Sign me up!

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  24. Oh My Oh My! these look amazing! What a fun Blog hop!

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  25. What caught my eye was the raspberry centre...so unlike the usual chocolate lava cakes!

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  26. I LOVE this!! I tried making it and had to have a few tries before I got the melting centre... not that I'm complaining :) chocolate and raspberry is such a lovely combination. Fab co-hosting #chocolatelove with you :)

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  27. Great idea to hide raspberries in the centre, it would go fantastically well with the rich chocolate.

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  28. I love this idea! Raspberry and chocolate is such a heavenly combination! So perfect for Valentine's Day as well :)! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

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  29. wow!! I can feel the smell of chocolate ummmmmm!!!! this is just delicious!! you always surprising us! thanks for share ;-)

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  30. Ok, I think you've lured me from peanut butter & chocolate to raspberries & chocolate. Looks so delicious!

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  31. I love the photos and the recipe can be easily veganized too. Happy Bloghop :)

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  32. Now this looks like a perfect combination of deliciousness and beauty....
    Yummmm.... You did a great great job...
    sending you loads n loads of #chocolatelove...

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  33. Love molten cake..this looks so delicious.

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  34. Molten chocolate and raspberry is a winner of a combination! Love it!

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  35. oh my goodness, i am drooling with you!!! i've always wanted to try a molten lava cake!!! gasp, this is bookmarked! thanks for all that you've done for the #chocolatelove bloghop :). so glad to have you a part of our lovebloghop team!

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    1. Thank you, Junia! That means a lot to me as your amazing bloghop has done so much to help my blog!

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  36. I love your blog and have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. Do visit my blog http://averilgomes.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/the-versatile-blogger-award/ to view the award. And as award go to pass it on :-)

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  37. Looks awesome! I'm so tempted to make one now! :)

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  38. I have to give this a try, the lava I've been making is one of Laura Calder's from the Cooking Channel. This one has some nice differences.
    Quick question...what size ramekins do you use?
    thanks.

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    1. Excellent question. I use Apilco brand ramekins (size #1) which have a 5.4oz capacity.

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  39. Congrat for being top 9 :) I love molten lava cakes ~ never thought of putting raspberries in them but sounds like a great idea to balance out the richness of the chocolate.

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  40. Gulp! Now that is SOME lava!! Looks beyond amazing :) Mmmm. Mouth watering uncontrollably!

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  41. Lovely dessert Jess! I love the addition of raspberry!

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  42. oohhh! i love molten cake! i am not a fan of raspberry but it is worth a try :)

    lovely post!

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    1. Thank you! You can definitely leave the raspberry out if you prefer. You could serve with whipped cream and strawberries, completely plain, or with a bitter orange marmalade center to cut the sweetness. But if you like chocolate, these are super rich and decadent! :)

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    2. thanks jess! appreciate the tips :)

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  43. Wow!! This looks so decadent and rich. Yours turned out perfectly! I love the idea of raspberry lava, mmm.. Sending #chocolatelove your way!

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  44. Chocolate is one of the nicest flavor of the cake. Raspberry lava sounds awesome taste. Yeah, Its so decent and rich.

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  45. I love raspberries. DELICIOUS! Great post :)

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  46. This does have that WOW factor! :)

    Dropping by to share some #chocolatelove! Glad to be co-hosting with you!
    Cindy
    (Vegetarian Mamma)

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  47. This looks sooo indulgent and perfect for Valentine's! Gorgeous!

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  48. I can almost smell that chocolate through my computer screen!

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  49. I love chocolate and sad to say that I've not tried baking a molten chocolate cake yet.

    Your molten chocolate cake looks very yummy. Interesting to know that you are using salted butter to bake this cake.

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  50. I absolutely love molten choco cake. Especially the ooey, gooey choco in the middle. Can never get enough of it. Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.. I'm in heaven >.<. Thanks for coming over to my blog. Now I get to meet a new foodie friend. Cheers!!

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  51. WOO HOO, I am your 100th follower, I love your blog!! I was going to make Cointreau Chocolate Molten Cakes for dessert Sat night, but now I have changed my mind. I love raspberries!!!

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    1. Woo-hoo! Yay for 100th follower! Have a yummy weekend.

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  52. These look perfect!! I am so making these lava cakes this weekend. Yum!

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  53. I tried this recipe last night and it worked fantastically!! It's definitely going into the recipe book! Thanks so much :)

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  54. Sounds perfect, exactly what I want to make for Christmas Eve dessert....Thanks for the recipe!
    I found a regular chocolate lava cake recipe that said you could make them up to two days in advance...bring them to room temp a half hour before baking and serving them. Have you done that?

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    1. Hi June - I haven't tried that. I think you could make the batter ahead of time but I would bake them just before serving. Enjoy!

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