Molten Lava Cakes

Jared bought me a set of ramekins for Mother's Day last year, but because we moved just a couple weeks later I didn't get the chance to use them right away. Unfortunately they sat in a box for a while and finally emerged recently after Jared pointed out that I had never used them. So I decided to try out these cakes. I've always wanted to make these, but put it off because I didn't realize how easy they were. I decided to test out a few recipes so I could keep one in my regular recipe rotation. I tried one from Paula Dean, one from the internet, and one from a cookbook. Each recipe is surprisingly easy and quick to throw together, for awesome results. yum! Who doesn't love a molten lava cake?
2 sticks butter
4 t sugar
12 oz bittersweet chocolate (use semisweet if this is too rich for you)
1 C flour
2 1/2 C powdered sugar
6 eggs
6 egg yolks
1 1/2 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter and flour 8- 6 oz ramekins. Melt butter and chocolate togehter. In large bowl combine dry ingredients wiht eggs, yolks, and vanilla. Stir in chocolate until smooth. Pour evenly into ramkeins.
Bake 12-14 minutes. They will look puffed on the edges but still jiggly in the middle. Let sit for 5 minutes before turning out onto plate.
This recipe is very easy to half as well.

The cool thing about ramekins is that they create a nice individual dessert, and they're perfect portion control! This way I don't just eat and eat and not realize that I've eaten half a pie or something. I also used my ramekins also on Mother's Day this year and made some awesome little berry crisps. Everyone loved them, so check out the recipe here... http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/individual-berry-crisps-recipe/index.html