Molten Lava Cakes with Frangelico and Nutella Centers

A mix between a flour-less chocolate cake, a souffle and a pudding, molten lava cakes are the epitome of decadence for me. As an admitted chocoholic it doesn't get much better then this but I figured why not try and take this classic dessert, which appears to have been invented in France, and take it over the top.

What better way to do so, then adding Nutella and one of my favorite liqueurs, Frangelico into the mix.

Essentially all molten lava cakes are composed of 4 main ingredients: chocolate, butter, eggs and sugar. What flavorings or centers one may add is up to each persons creativity and the possibilities are endless. I hope you'll give my version a try and let me know how it turned out.

Molten Lava Cakes with Frangelico and Nutella Centers

~serves 4~

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

11 tablespoons unsalted Butter

4 ounces Ghirardelli 60 % Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar

2 ounces Ghirardelli Semi-sweet Chocolate Baking Bar

2 tablespoons Frangelico (or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract)

3 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar

8 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons Nutella

1/4 cup Hazelnuts, chopped

Strawberry Sauce (optional), recipe follows

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and center oven rack. Spray 4 small ramekins with cooking spray to coat evenly. 

Place butter and chocolate into a double boiler and allow to melt completely over the steaming water. Stir frequently. After the chocolate and butter are melted take them off the heat and add the Frangelico (if kids are eating, the liqueur can be replaced with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract), stir to combine.

Place eggs and sugar into the bowl of your mixer. With the whisk attachment, mix on medium-high speed until they become light in color and thick (about 8-9 minutes). After the eggs and sugar are at the right consistency, add the flour and mix together. Pour the chocolate-butter very slowly into the egg mixture, mixing on low until well combined and a sheen develops (about 5-6 minutes).

Place your prepared ramekins onto a cooking sheet. Ladle the chocolate batter halfway up the side of each dish. Spoon 1 tablespoon of Nutella on top of the batter in each bowl. Add the remainder of the batter on top of the Nutella in each ramekin, being careful not to overfill.

Bake ramekins for 12-14 minutes or until the outside is solid and the top appears to be soft and doesn't jiggle anymore.

After the cakes are baked, remove them from the oven,  and carefully place a plate on top of each one and quickly invert it. With a kitchen towel, remove the ramekin; the cake should fall right out.

Garnish the cakes with the chopped hazelnuts and the strawberry sauce (optional).

Serve immediately. 

They also taste great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream.

Strawberry Sauce:

8 ounces (about 12 medium) Strawberries, fresh or frozen

1 - 2 tablespoons sugar

Place strawberries in food processor and pulse until desired consistency is reached. Add as much or little sugar as needed based on sweetness of berries. Stir, and set aside.

Irish Cream Cupcakes With Baileys Frosting

After featuring Glazed Corned Beef, Irish Colcannon Potatoes, Fried Cabbage and Irish Soda Bread this week on Susi's Kochen und Backen I was presented with the task of finding an Irish dessert to round out our St. Patrick's Day celebration. Not that easy of a task, I might add. Nothing  looked appealing to me until I found a recipe that called for adding Baileys Irish Cream to the frosting of a cake. Not wanting to make a cake, I decided on making cupcakes.

Although the recipe sounded delicious, I thought to myself how can I kick this up another notch? Well how about by adding a good cup of Baileys to the cupcake batter itself! This resulted in moist, delicious cupcakes that smelled just like a glass of Baileys with milk. The frosting which is your basic buttercream with powdered sugar and butter added another little hint of Baileys and tasted good enough to be eaten with a spoon (which I might or might not have done). I also added the tiniest bit of food coloring to the frosting to give it a green hue underneath the icing sugar.

I sent most of these with my husband to work and they were gone in no time which is always a good sign.  So if you like Baileys, and a good cupcake, then go ahead and give them a try.

Irish Cream Cupcakes

~makes approx. 36 cupcakes~
(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups Irish Cream Liqueur (i.e. Bailey's)

2/3 cup milk

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt

Baileys Frosting (recipe follows)

Green Sanding Sugar (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Insert paper liners into cupcake pans.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and vanilla extract. Beat well.

In a measuring cup combine the liqueur and milk.

In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. 

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the liqueur mix. Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.

Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes on a cooling rack.

Frost the cooled cupcakes and sprinkle with icing sugar if desired.

Baileys Cream Frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons Irish Cream Liqueur (Baileys)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Green Food Coloring (optional)

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter until smooth. Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed, about 5 minutes total; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds (to aerate frosting).

Add Baileys, vanilla and food coloring if desired, and beat until combined and smooth. Use immediately, or refrigerate up to 5 days in an airtight container; bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth before using.