Molten Centered Cakes

I have been itching to bake in ramekins since quite some time. Only I did not have them. I have hunted for them in so many places, but no luck. Then I read on Ria's famous blog that she got her ramekins at Arihanth Plaza, Commercial Street. Wonderful!!! With the kids at home during the summer break, an evening on Commercial Street and dinner at the much written about Booby's Dhaba near Ulsoor lake sounded very appealing. Before I forget to mention, Bobby's Dhaba is a very small, blink-and-u-miss kind of place near the Ulsoor lake, next to the Gurudwara. Found the food extremely lip smacking and compensated for the wait and the ambiance or lack of it. Surely a place you must must visit if you are OK with eating a small joints.

Back to Arihant Plaza. Well, I found the ramekins of Treo brand, priced extremely reasonably at Rs.25 per ramekin with a lid. Isn't that a super deal?? You bet I was pleased with my purchase of the multicolored ramekins. White ones weren't available, saved this one for the next expedition.

Found this recipe for Molten Centered Cakes on Aparna's  fabulous blog. She sure has a really diverse collection recipes on her blog, My Diverse Kitchen. I specially love her bakes and of course the superb pictures. Don't think there is anybody who hasn't visited her blog, but in case you haven't, you absolutely must.

Have seen plenty of recipes for the Choco--lava cakes, but this recipe has frozen ganache in the middle of the batter, which melts when you bake. Brilliant idea!!! Absolutely loved it. And you can flavor the ganache with cointreau, coffee or any thing else you fancy. Agree with Aparna when she says its not all that exciting to eat a cake which is partially cooked and hence the center runny. Makes me wrinkle my nose too .

These little, rich, buttery light cakes exploding with silky warm ganache was a hit!! Son wanted me to 'bake the cake a hundred times' and daughter said, 'Tumba Channagide, dinaa ide maadu' (means ' its very good, make it every day). Hubby, being a chocoholic, loved it.

Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe Aparna!!!


Ingredients:

4 tbsp soft butter
55 g caster sugar (¼ cup)
1 egg
85 g self raising flour (about ¾ cup flour + ½ tsp baking powder)
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Method:
Put the butter, egg, flour, baking powder and cocoa in a bowl and whisk together, till just smooth.( The batter will be firm and not be the least runny, in case you begin to panic like I did. I ran back to my system to check if I had missed out any ingredient:-)).

Spoon half of the batter into the ramekins. Make a small indentation in the middle of each cake with a spoon. Place a ball of ganache in the center of the batter. Spoon the remaining batter on top covering the ganache ball.

Bake at 190C for about 20 minutes till springy to touch and the top of the cake is slightly crusty. Stand for 2 to 3 minutes before serving them warm.

For the ganache centers:  Idea adapted from  Anitha's Dessert First. An awesome, awesome, awesome blog for the dessert crazy.

4 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, 62% to 70%
2 Tablespoons (28 g) butter
3 Tablespoons (45 g) heavy cream( I use Amul fresh cream for making ganache)
1/8 teaspoon salt
To make the ganache, combine the chocolate, butter, cream, and salt in a bowl and melt over a saucepan of simmering water on the stove. Stir occasionally to make sure it melts evenly.
Pour the ganache into a container and place in refrigerator for about an hour until it starts to set up. You can also place it in the freezer to speed up the process.
When the ganache is firm enough to scoop, use a spoon or cookie scoop to make ¾” round balls. Place in a container and store in freezer to keep them firm while you make the cake.

I have doubled the quantities and got about 10 cakes. Do not skimp on the ganache or your cakes will not have enough of the gooey chocolate. Some of my cakes did not have enough of the chocolate. Found the cakes a tad too buttery, guess I can use a little less butter next time as Aparna did.

Do surely try this out and you will be glad you did!!

This is also my entry to Champa's Bake off event.