Mint chocolate pudding cakes, mini volcanos of mint chocolate, warm liquid chocolate surrounded by chocolate cake.
A while ago I was invited to lead a cooking session with a Girl Scout troop.
For days the hostess and I deliberated on what to cook.
We finally settled on these luxurious chocolate pudding cakes, because 1) they’re easy to make, 2) they could be prepped, cooked, and eaten in the allotted time (about an hour), and 3) everyone loves chocolate!
The recipe is from Bon Appétit magazine. The cakes are generally inverted and served with ice cream, which is how I first enjoyed them at a friend’s dinner party.
However, these particular pudding cakes (pictured), made with the loving care of Troop 2656, just did not want to invert (the buttering of the ramekins was probably a bit too thin).
When I made them again today, they cooked almost all the way through. So, lessons learned—butter well, and make sure to keep your eye on the ramekins in the oven. Start checking at about 9 minutes.
The cakes should be like mini volcanoes—cake on the outside and molten lava chocolate on the inside.
Mint Chocolate Pudding Cakes Recipe
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients
- 6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Method
1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter six 3/4-cup (6 ounce) ramekins.
2 Melt chocolate and butter: Cut the butter into pieces and heat the chocolate with the butter in small, thick-bottomed saucepan over low heat, stirring, until melted and smooth.
Remove the pan from the burner and let cool slightly.
3 Make filling: With an electric mixer, beat the eggs, egg yolks, and the sugar until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
Add the flour and beat until incorporated.
Add the chocolate mixture, the peppermint extract, and the salt. Beat just until incorporated.
4 Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared ramekins. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet.
5 Bake: Bake the cakes at 375°F until the edges are set but the centers look shiny and still wiggle like jello when the ramekins are lightly shaken, 10-11 minutes. (Start checking at 9 minutes.)
Remove the cakes from oven; let cool for 5-10 minutes.
Either serve as is, in the ramekins, or run a knife around the edges of the cakes and invert on to individual dessert plates.
Serve with raspberries, mint leaves, vanilla or mint ice cream, or whipped cream.
Cooking with Troop 2656
