Confession time. When I experiment in my kitchen, it usually involves a recipe that already works for whatever I’m making. Ingredients, timing, and cooking method are all already in place and just waiting for me to experiment with flavors. I should really stick to that, and I’m not even kidding here.
During the early part of February I was looking through recipes and trying to plan ahead for a family friendly Valentine’s Day menu. As the anticipated “chef for the evening” I was definitely going to make a dessert that was my favorite; I was going for Molten Chocolate Lava cakes.
As it turned out, I also had a sick child home from school for a whole week in that early part of February. This lead to lots of time in my kitchen, as he spent most of his time on the couch in front of the humidifier. So, I took a couple of different recipes for Molten Chocolate Lava cakes (all meant for the oven) and started playing around. After five times of reworking the recipe, a record for me, I realized that the heat of the Crock Pot doesn’t get high enough to create cake on the outside with gooey, drippy chocolate on the inside. Bummer. Why was I messing with this to begin with? Did I mention the sick child?
The upside of all of this is that in our experimenting, my kids were the official after school taste testers, we managed to create a delicious little dessert that is small but rich and filled with such intense flavors that it was worth sharing. And so, Melty Mini Chocolate Cakes were born, or discovered, or (more truthfully) made by accident. These are really good and warm and gooey and can be made while eating dinner so they are ready just in time for dessert.
Melty Mini Chocolate Cakes (makes two cakes)
Ingredients:
2 ounces Baker’s Semi Sweet chocolate (2 squares)
1/2 stick of butter (4 tablespoons)
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons flour
1 egg white
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon orange zest
non-stick cooking spray
What’s Next:
Turn slow cooker to high. (While preheating is not something normally done with the slow cooker, in this case it helps)
Place chocolate and butter in a microwaveable glass bowl. Cook on high for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and stir until chocolate is completely melted.
Stirring with a whisk, add in vanilla and confectioner’s sugar.
Add egg white and continue mixing.
Add flour, cinnamon, cloves and orange zest.
Spray two 6-ounce ramekins with cooking spray.
Pour batter in prepared ramekins.
Place in slow cooker. Cover top with a towel, then glass lid.
Cook for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
Notes from my experience:
Most of my notes are in the intro, but let me just say here that the combination of chocolate, cinnamon, clove and orange is amazing in this recipe. If you want to omit them, it won’t effect the recipe, but the combination is so unique that it’s worth trying at least once.
