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.
Labels: cake, chocolate, cognac, dessert