I know that many will disagree but, for me, this decade will go down in history as the ten long years of molten chocolate lava cakes.  My first experience with them came not in a restaurant but in my own kitchen.  Armed with Nigella Lawson’s classic cookbook “How to Eat” (Wiley, 2000), I set out to create her gooey chocolate puddings.  These wonderfully decadent treats, I later came to learn, are also known by such monikers as molten chocolate cakes, chocolate lava cakes, and chocolate cakes with warm ganache centers.  Same dessert.  Countless names.

Check out the dessert menu at any upscale and/or New American restaurant and I bet that you will spot this sweet. Every 21st century chef seems to have fallen for this moist and oozing chocolate specialty.  

Although the recipe is quite simple, many mess up the molten chocolate lava cake (MCLC). Usually the chef has baked the pudding for far too long. Insert your fork into one of these overcooked MCLC’s and you’ll not see that glorious stream of steaming chocolate cascade onto your plate.  Instead you’ll have a forkful of dry chocolate cake. 

To avoid this disappointment, I’ve stopped ordering MCLC’s altogether. If I want to indulge in one, I’ll just make it a home. The recipe couldn’t be easier. 

To make MCLC’s or gooey chocolate puddings as they’re called in Lawson’s cookbook, melt chocolate and butter together.  Add the liquids to a mixture of sugar, flour and eggs and whisk until a smooth batter forms.  Pour the batter into greased and floured ramekins and bake until the edges are firm and cracking but the centers are still very soft.  Invert the warm MCLC on a plate and serve with ice cream, chocolate syrup, raspberry coulis or dusting of powdered sugar.  If you’re as impatient as I am, you could also eat it straight from the ramekin.  

GOOEY CHOCOLATE PUDDINGS
From Nigella Lawson’s “How to Eat”  (John Wiley and Sons, 2000)
Serves 4

4½ ounces bittersweet chocolate
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large eggs (or egg beaters)
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
       
Grease and flour 4 1-cup ramekins.
       
Put the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and the two are well-blended.
       
Whisk together the eggs, sugar and flour. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk together.
       
Pour the pudding mix into the ramekins. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until tops are set. Serve immediately.