This is a Nigella Lawson recipe that I first used many years ago for a dinner party. I love these luscious gooey centred chocolate mini cakes because they are quick to make and so delicious to eat. The only catch is that they must be eaten straight out of the oven.
You can prepare them a few hours ahead and keep them the fridge until you need to cook them, or whip out to the kitchen to put them together 20 minutes before you need them.
What you need
- 6 individual pudding moulds
- Baking paper
- 50g unsalted butter – softened
- 350g good quality dark chocolate – at least 70% cocoa
- 150g caster sugar
- 4 large eggs – beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 50g plain flour – sifted
Serves 6
Unless you are making the mini cakes in advance, preheat the oven to 190°C and put a baking tray in at the same time to heat up, as this is where you will put the moulds on to bake.
Fold a sheet of baking paper in half and lay 3 of the moulds on the paper. Draw around the moulds, remove them, and then cut out the circles. Press them into the base of the 6 moulds.
Melt the chocolate over simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water). Once melted, remove from the heat and allow chocolate to cool slightly.
In a seperate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, and gradually beat in the eggs, salt and vanilla. Then add the flour and mix until you have a smooth batter.
Divide the batter between the 6 moulds, then quickly take out the baking tray you placed in the oven earlier and arrange the moulds on it – return to the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes (allow 2 minutes extra if they have been sitting in the fridge).
When time is up, take then out of the oven and tip them out onto small plates immediately and serve them with either double cream or ice-cream.
Meatballs and Muffins 