straight to the heart with these

with valentine's day around the corner, something for two seems appropriate. nothing says valentine's more than chocolate and a ruby red strawberry sauce. while the "molten chocolate cake" has been done a million times before, i'm adding it here because it's one of my favourites.

i like these because the batter for these little cakes can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to bake. be careful though, the batter is just as good (if not better!) than the finished cakes. be sure to use a dark cocoa like valrhona, if you can, and a good dark chocolate — it makes it all the better.

if it's just you for valentine's day, then it's one more cake for you to devour! bake one for dessert and refrigerate the batter for the other one [in the ramekin] to have for a gooey and sinful midnight snack :)

cupid's cakes for two

cake ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c sugar
2 oz [56 g] either bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup [1/2 stick] unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
2 teaspoons all purpose flour

(you can also add 1 - 2 tsp melted instant coffee)

sauce ingredients:

2 c frozen strawberries
1/4 c sugar
2 tsp lemon juice

garnish:

icing sugar
fresh mint

method:

to make the sauce:

combine frozen strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tsp lemon juice in a microwavable bowl.

microwave the mixture on high for 2 1/2 minutes.

stir and put it back in the microwave and repeat again but only for about 2 minutes. take care to watch the second time to make sure it does not overflow.

remove and mash or puree the mixture in a blender or processor. let cool. it will thicken up when cooled.

to make the cakes:

butter two 3/4-cup ramekins or custard cups.

whisk the cocoa [make sure you sift the cocoa!] and 1/4 cup sugar in small bowl.

microwave on medium heat the chocolate and butter in small bowl until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth.

whisk in cocoa mixture right away.

blend in egg yolks, then whole egg and flour.

divide the batter between prepared ramekins.

note that both sauce and cake batter can be made 1 day ahead. just cover separately and chill. bake cakes before serving.

preheat oven to 350°F and bake cakes until edges are set but center is still shiny and tester inserted into center comes out with some wet batter attached, about 18 to 20 minutes. keep an eye on them and be careful not to overcook them!

mine overcooked a little lot because the phone rang (grrrr)!
the center should be "wetter" than in my photo

to serve:

cut around cakes to loosen and turn them out onto serving plates. spoon the sauce around and/or over the cakes. sift icing sugar over them and garnish with mint leaves. can be served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

enjoy!