Eggless Chocolava Cake / Molten Chocolate Cake / Chocolate Fondant

Do we have to wait till valentine's day to indulge in these ?? I think not :)

Chocolava Cake - My Dream Cake. I am a chocolate lover since a kid and haven't changed at all in that aspect. The only thing that has changed is, now I take chocolate in different forms rather than just a candy. Ever since I saw the Dominos add in TV, I couldn't wait to taste it. The hot molten chocolate oozing out was irresistible. Later when I got my oven I wanted so badly to try it. It is one of the first recipes that I tried in my oven.  As usual I saw many recipes online, but mostly all called for eggs. I don't have any problem with eggs, but I wanted to try an eggless version first. So I hunted for an eggless version and found many recipes that called for placing a chocolate bar in the center. Though the idea was good, it didn't fit the scenario I imagined like the ones in egg version ( Yes, I am a bit crazy when it comes to chocolate :) ) So I searched on and on and finally found this recipe. I slightly altered it to my taste. It was a success the very first time I tried. I couldn't have felt better, I was thrilled and overjoyed!! During that time I won't miss an opportunity to bake these. Whenever our relatives or friends visits us I will bake these. It will be so much fun to watch them enjoy it ( Ooooh, there is the lava!!! )  

This was the dessert that I prepared for everyone on my Neha's 2nd birthday party. I served it along with vanilla ice cream.  It was a great hit, everybody were so amazed and they loved it to the core. Unfortunately, I lost the source when I lost my phone and couldn't locate now as I searched them nearly 3 years back ( will surely add it when I find it again )

INGREDIENTS:

Dark Chocolate - 100 g ( about 1/2 cup )
Butter - 1/4 cup + for greasing
Curd - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
Powdered Sugar - 1/3 cup + for dusting on top
All purpose flour / Maida - 1/ 2 cup
Baking Powder - Scant 1/2 tsp
Cocoa Powder - 1 tbsp for dusting

METHOD:
1) Melt the Chocolate and butter using double boiler method ( Just take the butter and chocolate in a clean bowl and place the bowl over a pan of simmering water such that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl ). Allow it to cool to room temperature.
2) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees for 10 minutes. Prepare the ramekins by greasing with butter and dusting with cocoa powder.
3) Sieve together all purpose flour and baking powder and keep aside. In a bowl take curd and milk. Add powdered sugar and mix well ( you can use a hand whisk or an electric beater, I just used the latter )
4) Add in the vanilla essence and mix well. Next add the melted chocolate - butter mixture and beat once.
5) Finally fold in the sieved dry ingredients ( flour and baking powder ) with a spatula.
6) Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins and place in the center rack of the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until the sides are set and the center is still gooey ( refer picture )
You can serve as such in the ramekin itself by dusting with some powdered sugar on top along with vanilla ice cream, or you can invert them and serve on a plate. Place the ramekins in the wire rack for 2 to 3 minutes before inverting on the plate. Gently run a knife around the corners, place a plate on top of the ramekin and invert it. Remove the ramekin carefully and viola!!! there you have it the most rich and decadent Eggless ChocoLava Cake!!!!

Look at the gooey chocolate lava starting to ooze out...

NOTES:
1) Baking time varies depending on the oven and the size of the ramekins. So keep an eye on after 10 minutes. As shown in the picture in step 6 , the sides must be set and the middle will be gooey. If you gently touch the center of the cake, it won't stick to your finger ( the top will be just set to hold the shape and middle will be gooey ) This is the best I can explain for the perfect consistency of lava cake. Don't worry too much...just give it a try, it will surely turn out great.
2) Baking too long will turn it into a brownie like texture ( which will be still great yet watch carefully while baking )
3) Ramekin shape is quite important. Cylindrical ones are better.
4) I used two 150 ml ramekins for this recipe.
5) You can make one day ahead and refrigerate too. Allow it to come to room temperature before baking.

This is my entry for Blogging Marathon under Christmas festival. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#46

Also sending this to Wedding Anniversary Cakes and Sweets | HM Besties Event #02 hosted by Haffa and Monu

Cheers,
Sindhiya.S