Moelleux au Chocolate 

I am utterly and completely obsessed with chocolate! I don't think I could function if I had to go without the heavenly stuff for more than a day....I would quite literally go "cold turkey".

This dessert is for the chocolate lovers of this world, the people who rejoice at the very sight and smell of chocolate, who dream of the stuff and couldn't possibly live another day without it...low and behold, even those who still have their sanity intact and aren't too bothered about chocolate (I don't trust you people, how could you not love chocolate?!) will love this!

Moelleux au chocolate is a chocolate lava cake, as soon as you break into the moist sponge this glossy chocolate sauce just oozes out and takes you straight to heaven!

Let's get straight to the recipe before I run off to Waitrose to buy their entire chocolate stock and eat myself into a food coma!!

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:

• 170g dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 170g butter, cubed
• 170g light brown sugar
• 85g plain flour
• 6 eggs, beaten

For the ramekins:

• 30g soft butter
• 30g unsweetened cocoa powder

Prepare 6-8 ramekins by brushing them with the butter and then dusting them with the cocoa powder. Make sure to tap out all of the excess cocoa powder.

Melt the chocolate with the butter in a bain marie (a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water), stirring occasionally. Alternatively, melt them in the microwave on a low setting. 

Combine the sugar and flour in a bowl. Mix in the melted chocolate eggs followed by the flour and sugar. Divide the mixture between the ramekins and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.*

Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake the cakes for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are firm and the centres slightly runny. Test by inserting a toothpick in the centre - it should come out wet. Leave to rest for 2 minutes before turning the cakes out of the ramekins on to plates. Serve immediately, with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or fresh berries.

* baking your batter cold will make it slower for the heat from the oven to penetrate the middle of the cakes, which will make the centres more gooey. The ramekins filled with the batter can be covered with cling film (don't let it touch the batter) and kept in the fridge for several days. They can also be well wrapped in cling film and frozen, then baked from frozen (they will need an extra 5-10 minutes in the oven - test to see they are done as above).


Enjoy!!