Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

Today, I finally got some time to catch up on blogs and the first two posts I happened to check were Tanvi's Saffron Rice Pilaf with Chicken Balls and Kulsum's Molten Chococlate Lava Cake.
Both recipes were like love at first sight. It was exactly when I was thinking about what to make for the Valentine's day that I found these two recipes.

We generally tend to eat out on special occasions like Valentine's day. But this year I decided to make some good food at home. With busy schedules, eating out has become a norm these days, so special occasions call for good home made food.

So after looking at the above mentioned recipes from Tanvi and Kulsum, Valentine's day menu was decided.
Saffron rice with chicken balls, I was confident that I can not go wrong, but the molten chocolate cake I wanted to try it out before Valentine's day. I don't take any risk with baking. Usually when I experiment any recipe from other blogs, I end up modifying it according to our tastes and available ingredients. But, when it comes to baking I follow the instructions to the dot.  I do not have lot of experience with baking and the few times I experimented, I failed miserably.

I followed the recipe exactly, and since I was just testing it I used half the quantities mentioned in the original recipe. I reduced the amount of sugar as the chocolate already had some sugar in it.

Ingredients:

Dark Chocolate: 130 gms( I used Ghirardelli 70% extra bitter sweet bar)
Butter: 5 1/2 tbsp
Powdered Sugar: 1 cup
Warm water: 1/2 cup
Instant coffee: 2 tsp
All purpose flour: 2/3 cup
Eggs: 2
Egg yolks: 2
pinch of salt

Procedure:
Mix the instant coffee powder in warm water and set it aside.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave.
Now add the powdered sugar , mix  and let it cool.
Whip the eggs, yolks and the coffee. Then add the flour and the salt.

Butter the ramekins and preheat the oven too 400 F. place the ramekins in the top rack of the oven and bake for 12-13 minutes. Remove the ramekin from the oven run a knife around the edge and invert it on the serving plate. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Note: The bake time might differ based on the size of the ramekins. The first one I baked for 12 minutes and got the runny chocolate inside, but when I tried the second one, I ended up baking it for 14 minutes and the inside got baked. It was semi solid.

If you want to make the batter ahead, prepare it and refrigerate. Before baking, heat the batter in the microwave for not more than 30 secs or you can leave it out until it comes to the room temperature.

Wish you all a very Happy Valentine's Day