I have to say--my friends know me really well. So when my best friend since 8th grade, Lauren, bought me The Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg for the holidays, Laur knew that I'd be hightailing it to the kitchen for some chocolate madness. I love the first section of the book, which focuses on really simple recipes that focus entirely on the quality of the chocolate at hand.
Chris and I were celebrating our 5-year anniversary for the 3rd or 4th time last night, this time to enjoy our traditional bottle of Mer Soleil 2005 Chardonnay, which we've had for 3 years in a row now (sadly, I think it's time to move on from Mer Soleil--their focus on french oak flavors has increased in the past couple years, IMO, and no longer has a unique palate. Or, maybe, our palates are the ones that are changing). To add to the celebration, I decided on a whim to make these cakes, which use entirely pantry-available ingredients. We had them with tawny port, but a ruby port or dessert wine would also go quite well. Our tawny was Whisker's Blake Classic Tawny, a very wallet-friendly and highly-rated port that has been aged for 8 years.
I altered the recipe a bit—I served the cakes still in the ramekins instead of unmolding them, so I didn’t need to cover the ramekins in butter or parchment—I just used a bit of baking nonstick spray. Gotta cut down on calories somewhere! And remember, the quality of the chocolate really matters here—I’m a huge fan of Scharffenberger’s Bittersweet for cooking. It can be very intense, though, so I think the Semisweet version would also work well in this recipe.
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray for the ramekins (you'll need 4 5- to 6-oz ramekins, or 6 4-oz)
6 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
¼ granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1½ tbsp all-purpose flour
Ice cream (we used chocolate peanut butter…but vanilla might be best)
It is best to bake these on the floor of the oven. If that's not possible, position a rack on the lowest level of the oven. Preheat to 400. Spray the ramekins, and arrange on a baking sheet.
Place the chocolate and butter in a double-boiler, and stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or, in my case, use a large bowl and a hand-held mixer) fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the eggs, yolks, sugar, and salt and beat on high speed for 4 or 5 minutes, or until the mix is thick and pale. when the whisk is lifted and the batter runs back and forth over itself, it will hold a slowly dissolving ribbon.
With the mixer on low speed, sprinkle the flour over the batter, and mix until combined.
Fold the egg mix one-third at a time into the chocolate mixture.
Fill the ramekins with batter within 1/4 of the top. (At this point, the ramekins can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring back to room temp before baking).
Bake for 8-10 min, or until the sides of the cake are firm--centers will be soft to the touch but set (I had to take it to 12 min).
Let stand for 1 minute, and serve with ice cream and port!
