Moelleux au Chocolat

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Baking is great. It’s like making potions. You need to correctly weigh the ingredients and carefully mix them, following the instructions. Many things can go awry, you could easily end up with a three-headed muffin or see your cake develop odd bubbles and deep craters. But when the potion works, you get real magic: in the hoven your mixed ingredients transform into something completely different and a magic smell spreads all around your kitchen.

Ok, I might have watched Harry Potter one too many times, but I can’t help it: baking really does connect me with my inner child. It’s fun and, plus, I get to stick my finger into the mixture.

Desserts are something I’d like to get better at, that is why I decided to celebrate week 10 of my Cook a New, Never-Made-Before Dish Per Week Project by making moelleux au chocolat.

They didn’t look quite as pretty as they do on magazines and cookbooks, but the smell was enticing and when my lips met the soft and thick dark chocolate molten heart… I forgot just about anything.

They’re not that complicated to make, so why not trying?
Here is the recipe, as published on Jamie Oliver’s Recipe Yearbook 2011/2012.

Moelleux au Chocolat

Prep time 15-20 mins, cook 10 mins. Serves 6.

Ingredients:

50g unsalted butter at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
350g dark (70% cocoa) chocolate, broken into pieces
150g sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
50g flour

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200° (gas 6). Put a baking sheet in the hoven to heat. Butter 6 ramekins (or 160ml dariole moulds) and line the bases with greaseproof paper.
Melt the chocolate over a bain marie, or bowl over simmering water, then take off the heat and let cool slightly.
Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and slightly fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and a pinch of salt. Stir in the flour until just combined, then gently mix in the melted chocolate. The mixture should thicken. Divide between moulds and bake on the preheated baking sheet for 10 minutes. Turn out and serve.