Molten chocolate cake is a

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...

that consists of a

chocolate cake Chocolate cake or chocolate gâteau (from ) is a cake flavored with melted chocolate, cocoa powder, or both. History Chocolate cake is made with chocolate. It can also include other ingredients. These include fudge, vanilla creme, and other ...

with a liquid chocolate core. It is named for that molten center, and it is also known as chocolate ''coulant'' ("flowing"), chocolate lava cake, or simply lava cake. It should not be confused with

chocolate fondant Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civi ...

, a recipe that contains little flour, but much chocolate and butter, hence melting on the palate (but not on the plate).

History

French chef

Michel Bras Michel Bras (born 4 November 1946) is a French chef. His restaurant located in Laguiole in the Aveyron was rated three stars in the Guide Michelin since 1999. It is also classed in the "Relais & Châteaux" since 1992. He was classed several time ...

said that he invented the cake in 1981, after two years of experimentation, with his original inspiration being a family group warming themselves up after a skiing trip by drinking

hot chocolate Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener like whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate ...

. French chef and chocolatier

Jacques Torres Jacques Torres (born 14 June 1959) is a French pastry chef and chocolatier based in New York. Torres is a member of the International Culinary Center community as Dean of Pastry Arts, as well as holding pastry demonstrations. He appears on the sh ...

confirms that such a dessert existed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the 1980s. French chef

Jean-Georges Vongerichten Jean-Georges Vongerichten (; ; born in Alsace, France, on 16 March 1957) is a French chef.

, for his part, said that he invented the dish in New York City in 1987. He recalled pulling a chocolate

sponge cake Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated ...

from the oven before it was done and finding that the center was still runny, but warm with both a good taste and texture. He has been credited with popularizing the molten chocolate cake in the United States, where it became an almost ''de rigueur'' inclusion on high-end restaurant dessert menus in the 1990s. The two recipes are not at all similar, even though the resulting dish is. Bras's recipe is made in two parts: a frozen

ganache Ganache (; ) is a glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries, made from chocolate and cream. Preparation Ganache is a chocolate preparation, normally made by heating equal parts by weight of cream and chopped chocolate, warming the cream ...

core, covered by a

rice starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human ...

dough, and baked in a mold. Vongerichten's recipe is simpler: a chocolate cake batter made from normal flour, baked briefly in a very hot oven. The flowing chocolate center is therefore arrived at differently in the two recipes, but Vongerichten's has proved more popular, being easier to reproduce.

Preparation

Molten chocolate cakes characteristically contain five ingredients:

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

, and

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

. The butter and chocolate are melted together, while the eggs are either whisked with the sugar to form a thick paste, producing a denser pastry, or separated, with the white whipped into a

meringue Meringue (, ; ) is a type of dessert or candy, often associated with Swiss, French, Polish and Italian cuisines, traditionally made from whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or cream of ...

to provide more lift and a lighter result. A tablespoon of strong

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

is sometimes added to enhance the chocolate flavor.

Vanilla extract Vanilla extract is a Solution (chemistry), solution made by maceration (food), macerating and percolation, percolating vanilla, vanilla pods in a solution of ethanol and water. It is considered an essential ingredient in many Western desserts, es ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

, and

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

are additionally recommended in some cases to add extra flavor. The cakes are typically baked in individual portions in

ramekin A ramekin (, ; also spelled ramequin) is a small dish used for culinary purposes. Name The term is derived from the French ', a cheese- or meat-based bowl baked in a small mould. The French term is in turn derived from early modern Dutch ', wh ...

s, or

brioche Brioche (, also , , ) is a bread of French origin whose high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb. Chef Joël Robuchon described it as "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and ...

molds. However, there are a number of creative variations in chocolate lava cakes or molten chocolate cakes such as preparing the cakes in a coffee or tea mug. A variation of the cake can be prepared in a

microwave oven A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce t ...

. A scoop of ice cream, fresh fruit, a drizzling of fruit and/or

chocolate sauce Chocolate syrup is a sweet, chocolate-flavored condiment. It is often used as a topping or dessert sauce for various desserts, such as ice cream, or mixed with milk to make chocolate milk or blended with milk and ice cream to make a chocolate m ...

, and dustings of

powdered sugar Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar, or icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent – such as corn starch, po ...

are typical enhancements.

Mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

leaves are sometimes used as a garnish.

References

{{Cakes Chocolate cakes Chocolate desserts

History

Preparation

See also

References