Tortino Caldo de Cioccolate Grand Cru a.k.a. Mini Molten Chocolate Cakes

 

Again, from my Culture Discovery vacation in Umbria.  This recipe makes 4 tiny perfect desserts.

 

Ingredients:

 

·         ½ cup Baker’s chocolate chopped

·         4 eggs

·         ¼ cup butter

·         ¼ cup sugar

·         ¼ cup flour

 

Melt the chocolate with the butter in a double boiler or in a bowl over a pot of water; allow it to cool. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with sugar. Add the flour and the chocolate mixture to the eggs at room temperature. Divide this fairly runny batter between 4 small greased ramekins and bake at 375 degrees F. for 7 minutes.

 

Don’t bother to test the doneness of these cakes with a toothpick or you’ll be disappointed. The interior of the cake is meant to be very gooey.

Cottage cakelets

Editorial Note: It seems I may have started drinking wine at 10:30 in the morning during our cooking classes in Umbria.

 

You’ll note that the baking time as written  in the recipe above is 7 minutes. That’s really fast. When I made these at a friend’s cottage over the weekend, it took much longer to bake the little cakes, however, that may be because I placed them in a lukewarm water bath (Bain Marie) before popping them in the oven because I thought that was what Chef Flavio had done in Norcia. Whatever. The cakes will bake to the point of gooey molten-ness in somewhere between 7-15 minutes. You’ll have to keep an eye on them in any case; the tops need to be cooked but still feel somewhat soft to the touch.