Less than a
week left to upheaving my entire life and moving to Kobe for new teaching
experiences, understanding the deeper nuances of Japanese culture (LIKE, WHY
THE HELL ARE THEY SO NICE?!) and yes, a form of escapism from the norms and expectations in Singapore. Though one of my greatest fears is not
being able to bake in Kobe, their houses are notoriously small and my new
apartment doesn’t have an oven. (YET!)
Cakes are
not to be neglected in the flurry of packing, meetups and last minute errands.
Finally got down to making a simple dream of molten chocolate cake -Pee Poo
cake! Or officially, (but where’s the fun in that) – peanut butter chocolate
lava cakes! I’d like to think of it as a cake one would cozy up to on a rainy /
cold day, with Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series at the side. Nothing like
chocolate cake to pair with a great book!
It’s dead
simple, but pay attention to the steps. The eggs should be whisked to a thick,
pale mixture. To enhance the chocolate flavor, I added ½ a teaspoon of espresso
powder instead of the usual vanilla. Finally, a heaping glob of peanut butter
in the middle of each ramekin, but I think white chocolate ganache or salted
caramels would work great too. I adore Nutella, but skip it cos it’s
more chocolate than hazelnut, so there won’t be much of a taste contrast in
this cake.
Finally,
it’s a lava cake guys, so err on the
side of underbaking to make sure you get the goo factor. Skip the powdered
sugar and go straight for the vanilla ice cream! MmmMM HELLO HD’S MACADAMIA NUT
BRITTLE 8-) (Sidenote : Is there such a thing as good vegan ice cream? A friend
brought a pint of vegan Vanilla ice cream and it tasted just.. wrong – diluted and flavourless…)
Peanut
Butter Chocolate Lava Cakes
200g dark chocolate, chopped (I used Cadbury 70% dark)
100gm unsalted butter
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon espresso powder
4 heaping teaspoons of smooth peanut butter
1. Preheat oven to 200° C. Generously butter 4 ramekins. Coat
ramekins with sugar and tap out the excess. (This step gives the cakes a sweet
outer crust!)
2. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate, espresso
powder and butter until smooth–stirring constantly to avoid burning. Let cool.
3. Place the eggs, yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk with a hand
mixer until thick and pale. Slowly add the cooled
chocolate mixture while whisking until smooth. Gentle fold in the
flour.
4. Spoon the mixture into each ramekin. Drop in a generous dollop of peanut butter into each cup and gently press the dollop into the chocolate. Spoon the remaining chocolate batter evenly into each ramekin, using up all the batter. The ramekin should be ¾ full. Place the ramekins in the oven and bake for 16 - 18 minutes until tops appear dry and are slightly puffed. Let cakes rest for about 2 minutes until warm enough to handle and turn out onto a plate for serving and gild the lily with a scoop of ice cream!
4. Spoon the mixture into each ramekin. Drop in a generous dollop of peanut butter into each cup and gently press the dollop into the chocolate. Spoon the remaining chocolate batter evenly into each ramekin, using up all the batter. The ramekin should be ¾ full. Place the ramekins in the oven and bake for 16 - 18 minutes until tops appear dry and are slightly puffed. Let cakes rest for about 2 minutes until warm enough to handle and turn out onto a plate for serving and gild the lily with a scoop of ice cream!