Salted Caramel Chocolate Lava Cake Food

CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKES WITH SALTED CARAMEL

Steps:

• Prepare 6 to 8 ramekins by brushing them with soft butter and then dusting with the cocoa powder. Make sure to tap out all the excess cocoa powder.
• Melt chocolate with cubed butter in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, melt chocolate and butter in microwave on low.
• Combine brown sugar and flour in bowl. Mix melted chocolate with eggs, followed by flour and sugar, Divide mixture between ramekins 3/4 full. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Make caramel filling: Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over bottom of a heavy-bottomed pan and place on medium heat. Once sugar starts to melt, add some more sugar. Repeat a couple of times until all the sugar has melted. Continue heating the caramel, swirling it around in pan (do not stir). When caramel is almost a Coca-Cola color, add cream and salt (be careful as caramel may splatter). Cook until temperature reaches 226 degrees, or until caramel coats the back of a spoon, then pour into a dish and leave to cool a little.
• Once caramel is cool, transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle, or to a heavy-duty food bag (just snip off corner to use). Pop the nozzle into the middle of the chocolate mixture in each ramekin and squirt in the filling. The mixture will rise almost to the top.
• Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until edges are firm and the centers slightly runny. Test by inserting a toothpick in the center; it should come out wet. Leave to rest for 2 minutes before turning the cakes out of the ramekins onto plates. Serve immediately.

SALTED CARAMEL CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425. Butter the ramekins and dust with cocoa powder (optional). Cut each caramel square into a few smaller pieces and press some salt onto them and set aside. If you leave them whole, they might not melt all the way through.
• Microwave the chocolate and butter for one minutes in a large bowl. The chocolate will not have completely melted at this point. Whisk till the chocolate and butter combines.
• Add the sugar and mix it inches Add the eggs and incorporate. Stir in the flour. Work the flour in gently to combine. Divide batter evenly between the 4 ramekins. Gently scatter the caramel bits around the batter, trying not to press so hard that the caramel rests on the bottom of the dish.
• Place ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake between 10 - 14 minutes. The cake is ready when it has a domed appearance, the centre is a little moist and the edges of the cake, dry and firm. Leave in ramekin for 5 minutes before inverting onto serving plates. Run a knife around the cake and carefully invert. Garnish with some extra salt.
• Note: The recipe works extremely well with the salt flakes -- anything else would really affect the taste. Plan well when you want to serve them. If not served within 10 minutes of taking them out of the oven, the caramel tends to harden up.