Molten Chocolate Mocha Cake

I don't know about you, but I grew up always celebrating Fat Tuesday. Maybe it's just a southern thing, but the holiday is so much fun that I have taken it with me wherever I have moved. Unfortunately, King Cakes are pretty hard to come by up here in NYC, so we won't be having one of those this year. If you're still craving a delicious cake, this one is a doozy. This Molten Chocolate Mocha Cake is surprisingly easy to make. (Have I mentioned that I'm a truly terrible baker?) This one is easy enough even for me, and the presentation is super impressive. It's great for dinner parties or a romantic dinner in. The addition of espresso powder really takes it up a notch in terms of flavor. I also added some scraped vanilla bean seeds for this batch, but with the chocolate and espresso flavors going on in these, the vanilla is definitely optional.

Molten Chocolate Mocha Cake
Serves 2

• 1 2/3 oz chocolate
• 3 tbsp + 1 tsp butter
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp + 2 tsp flour
• 1 vanilla bean (optional)
• 1/4 tsp espresso powder

Preheat oven to 450F. Butter 2 ramekins. In a small saucepan, melt chocolate and butter together over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg and egg yolk. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into eggs if desired. 

Add powdered sugar, chocolate mixture, flour and espresso powder.

Divide batter equally between 2 ramekins. (Up through this step may be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let sit on the counter for 20 minutes before baking if refrigerated.)

Bake until cakes are set but center remains soft and runny, about 11 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and run a knife around the edges to separate cake from dish. 

Place a plate over the dish, and, holding both securely, flip the cake onto the plate. Serve with ice cream. (I used butter pecan, and it was delicious.)