Molten Chocolate Cakes

I love, love, love getting molten chocolate cakes at restaurants. I love how the gooey chocolaty center spills out when you eat it and it is all warm and delicious. Mmm. I always thought that these must be really hard to make. I mean, how to do make the decadent "lava" that comes out of the cake? It just seemed way hard. I was a wrong. I came across the recipe in my Southern Living: Incredible Chocolate Recipes book, attempted to make them for a friend's birthday, and found out they were quite easy and way delicious. Wanna know the secret? The lava is batter that just didn't cook all the way. Pretty simple huh? But they are made with egg substitute so you don't have to worry about getting sick from uncooked eggs. My suggestion when cooking them is to really watch them in the oven. If you over cook them, they won't have much "lava" and if you under cook them, you won't be able to flip them over and keep the "lava" inside. I hope you enjoy the "explosion" of flavor!

Ingredients:

- 2 T. butter, melted

- 2 T, unsweetened cocoa

- 3/4 c. butter, cut into pieces

- 3 (4 oz) bars of premium chocolate (I used Ghiradelli)

- 1/2 c. whipping cream

- 1 1/4 c. egg substitute

- 2/4 c. granulated sugar

- 2/3 c. flour

- powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Brush 16 muffin cups (I used silicone flower baking cups) with 2 T. melted butter. Sprinkle evenly with cocoa, shaking out excess. Place in refrigerator to firm butter.

2. Place 3/4 c. butter and chocolate in a large heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until butter and chocolate melt. Slowly whisk in cream; set aside.

3. Combine egg substitute and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer 5 to 7 minutes or until slightly thickened; add chocolate cream and flour, beating until blended. Pout batter into muffin cups, filling to within 1/4 inch from tops. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

4. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 11 minutes or just until edges of cakes spring back when lightly touched but centers are still soft. Let stand 3 minutes before loosening edges with a knife. Quickly invert cakes onto a baking sheet. Transfer to dessert plates using a spatula being careful not to crack the bottoms and spill out the center. Sprinkle with powders sugar using flour sifter.

Yield: 16 cakes