Recipe--Soft Centered Chocolate Pudding Cakes

What is not to like about a recipe that starts with 14 oz of chocolate and 14 tablespoons of butter? Bring on the Lipitor!

It occurred to me that the Soft Centered Chocolate Pudding Cakes are so darn easy that I could type in the recipe without much effort. The whole recipe only takes about half an hour to make, provided you have the ingredients on hand.

Soft Centered Chocolate Pudding Cakes

makes 8 (easily halved for more modest gatherings or appetites)

14 oz of bittersweet chocolate, chopped (do yourself a favor and don’t use chocolate chips—if there is a Trader Joes in your area, they sell bulk hunks of Ghirardelli cheap.)

14 T of unsalted butter

4 T all purpose flour

1 C sugar

6 eggs

pinch of salt

Crème fraîche, for serving (mix together 1 C heavy cream—not ultra pasteurized!—with 1 T buttermilk in a bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place overnight till thickened. Then chill. Keeps for about a week, if you have that much self discipline. It is absolutely addictive swirled on the top of butternut squash bisque.)

• Preheat oven to 400. Melt together chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Stir till smooth then remove from heat.
• In a small bowl, mix the flour and sugar and pinch of salt.
• In a medium bowl whisk the eggs.
• Then whisk in the flour and sugar, stir in the melted chocolate until combined.
• Scrape into 8 one cup ramekins (or 3/4 cup ramekins, that’s what I have and it turns out fine).
• Arrange ramekins on a baking sheet (for easy group removal from oven) and bake for 12-15 minutes. You want the edges just beginning to crack while the centers are still runny—it will firm up a bit when you take them out.
• Let cool to the point that your guests don’t burn themselves, but no longer. Serve with dollop of crème fraîche.