TWD- Gooey Chocolate Cakes

This week's recipe was chosen by Leigh over at Lemon Tartlet. Thanks for the opportunity to try a delicious and truly simple, little cake. These individual cakes were perfect for my little brother's birthday. I whipped them up after dinner and we enjoyed them very soon afterwards. This recipe really was a quick and easy!

Looks like a chocolate muffin, but there is a surprise waiting inside

Gooey Chocolate Cake
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate,
4 ounces coarsely chopped,
1 ounce very finely chopped
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
6 tablespoons of sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. butter (or spray – it’s easier) 6 cups of a regular-size muffin pan, preferably a disposable aluminum foil pan, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Put the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the coarsely chopped chocolate and the butter in the bowl and stir occasionally over the simmering water just until they are melted – you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk until homogenous. Add the sugar and whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and, still using the whisk, stir (don’t beat) them into the eggs. Little by little, and using a light hand, stir in the melted chocolate and butter. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle the finely chopped chocolate over the batter.

Bake the cakes for 13 minutes. Transfer them, still on the baking sheet, to a rack to cool for 3 minutes. (There is no way to test that these cakes are properly baked, because the inside remains liquid.)

Line a cutting board with a silicone baking mat or parchment or wax paper, and, after the 3-minute rest, unmold the cakes onto the board. Use a wide metal spatula to lift the cakes onto dessert plates.

Dorie mentioned in her "playing around" options, that you could fill the muffin tins halfway and then sprinkle toasted nuts, chopped chocolate, or any flavor of chip onto the batter and then, continue filling the tins, for a little surprise in the middle. I thought that would make these gooey cakes a little more fun, so I sprinkled Heath Toffee bits in the middle of 3 of the cakes and chopped Andes mints, in the middle of the other 3. I also used semi-sweet chocolate in the cakes, so they wouldn't be as dark.

I served these with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a of sprinkle toffee bits or chopped mints on top. Everyone loved them. I thought they were the perfect size and very delicious. Nothing but compliments from all those who devoured the gooey cakes.

I had to post these shots of my 1 year old, who was more interested in the ice cream than the cakes. Pretty Humorous!