It’s two weeks into the new year and the “healthy diet” is not going so well.  The “clean eating” regimen, where I flush the toxins out of my system by eating sweet potatoes for breakfast and avoiding wheat and dairy (i.e. pasta and cheese)?  Ditched that after three days.  On a positive note, I’m drinking green tea instead of coffee but otherwise – happily – back to my old habits.  Which are good ones excepting the Krackel and Mr. Goodbar minis that I’ve picked clean from the bowl at work. 

Tomorrow is my brother’s birthday – the big 5-0.  As the older
sister by five years, that puts me on a slippery slide toward a milestone I can’t bear to
contemplate at the moment. But that’s a conversation for another time and perhaps upon reflection I’ll reconsider the toxin flush. At our family dinner yesterday, George advised me that the holiday season of indulgence and Greek pastry – for him – doesn’t end until January 18th.  Love that idea.

 
I made chocolate melting cakes, (or molten cakes) for the birthday
boy
and debated whether to post them here.  They’ve been around for awhile
but so easy and so good – with their
pudding-like centers – that I thought they were worth another mention. 
This is a combination of two recipes and perfect for a dinner party
since you can prepare them ahead and
pop them in the oven while coffee is brewing. Lovely with a little scoop
of raspberry sorbet.  Enjoy.

CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKES
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cognac
5 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Confectioners sugar
Heat oven to 325 degrees F.  Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable cooking spray.  Melt the chocolate, butter and cognac in a medium bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.  Remove from heat.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  Add the flour, baking powder, salt and melted chocolate.  Mix with a spoon until well blended.
Divide the batter evenly into 10 muffin tins and bake until the cakes have just cooked through, about 15 minutes.  The cakes will still look a bit moist on top.  Remove from the oven and let cool 5 minutes.  Dust with confectioners sugar and serve warm.  
Makes 10 cakes.

2 Comments

  1. Anh

    January 18, 2012 at 12:21 am

    such sweet and cute cakes!

    Reply
  2. Kim Case

    January 20, 2012 at 3:11 am

    Now THAT is recipe I would try to apply even my horrific cooking skills to!

    Reply

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