Melting Chocolate Cake (for two)

My husband and I went on a Carnival cruise this past December. It was our first cruise together (and individually), so we really weren’t sure what to expect. We decided to go the week before Christmas, which meant our holiday prep had to be done way in advance. I have to admit, it was really bizarre coming back to New Orleans two days before Christmas. It just didn’t feel like Christmas after spending a week snorkeling, eating island food, sampling lots of Jamaican rum & battling a mean sunburn (ha!). 🙂 We ended up having a wonderful time, and we’re actually planning our next one!

One of the things that I was looking forward to was the food. I read reviews that the meals in the dining room were like going to a fancy restaurant every night. Oh man….and those reviews were right. Every single dish we had we loved. In fact, I loved the food so much that I gained 5 pounds in a week (whoops!). The dish I looked forward to the most (based on reviews from friends and online) was the warm melting chocolate cake. After trying my first one, I was hooked. It was such a rich, decadent dessert, and usually I can’t finish desserts like this, but I couldn’t let any of the cake go to waste. They served them in small ramekins with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The cake itself is baked along the edges, but in the middle is a warm, gooey center of chocolate. Amazing. It’s worth breaking a diet over…seriously.

When we got home, I immediately searched for this recipe. There were a couple of popular variations, but this one is apparently straight from the cruise line’s newsletter. I ended up halving it to make this a dessert for two. This recipe is so simple (you will need a food scale for this one)…the batter was done within minutes, and I only used two regular sized bowls to make the batter. It’s the perfect ending to a nice dinner (hint hint: Valentine’s Day or Anniversary). You could add fresh fruit, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top, which I would recommend since it’s so rich.

Melting Chocolate Cake for Two
Source: mildly adapted from Carnival Cruise Lines, found on Mommy Musings

Ingredients:

• 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (chopped)
• 3/4 stick butter
• 2 eggs (at room temperature)
• 3 oz. granulated sugar
• 1 oz. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• confectioners sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 390 degrees. Prepare two small ramekins (or cocottes) by spraying the inside with a baking spray. Place the two ramekins in a 9×13 inch baking pan, and fill the baking pan (not ramekins) with water until it is surrounding the ramekins halfway up the sides.
2. In a bowl, microwave the chocolate and butter, stirring the mixture every 30 seconds, until the chocolate and butter are homogenous mixture. Allow the mixture to cool until it’s just warm.
3. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together for about a minute, until well mixed. Add in the flour and vanilla extract and mix together.
4. Once the chocolate/butter mixture is no longer hot, pour the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, whisking well as you pour it in.
5. Once everything is mixed, divide the batter into the two ramekins. Bake for 15-25 minutes (it varies this much based on the size of your ramekins/cocottes…mine took 21 minutes), until the top of the cake is crusted, the edges are baked/firm, yet the middle of the cake is still gooey.
6. To serve, sift confectioners sugar over the cakes and enjoy warm!