Molten Lava Cakes

I don’t eat candies but I am an ardent fan of plain milk chocolates. Most of the days, I have to have my daily dose of chocolate. A small piece of plain chocolate will do, or even a cup of hot cocoa, but once in a while (very rarely) I opt for some quickly made chocolate desserts such as some silky chocolate pudding, or some decadent warm molten lava cakes.

This is super delicious and super dangerous at the same time. The recipe is on the internet (here is one source) but I usually scale down the ingredients to go with a 4 oz. chocolate bar.

Molten lava cakes are cooked for a very short time, around 10-12 minutes, in order to retain the texture of the lava. The outside of the cake will have a cakey texture while the inside stays liquidy so that the hot lava oozes out when you dig into it. The lava is actually the undercooked batter. Since I am afraid of the undercooked eggs in the batter and the consequences of it, I always cook it longer. So, usually there won’t be any lava in my cakes. I cook it long enough until the inside is gooey/fudgy and not liquidy! But today, somehow I ended up with lava oozing out. It was a pretty sight, but after clicking a picture, I returned the cakes into oven and cooked a little more.

Now you may ask, what’s a lava cake without lava? Trust me, it’s delicious even without lava. Delicious enough to calm down a chocoholic!

You will need ramekins to make individual lava cakes. Butter and flour/sugar the ramekins generously so that the cake comes out easily.

Melt 4 oz. each of chocolate and butter in the microwave/double boiler. Use good quality chocolate. Whisk to combine.

Add in 3 eggs, ¾ cup sugar, and ¼ cup flour. Mix well.

Pour into ramekins and bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. (If you are afraid of undercooked batter, cook it longer. But remember then there is no lava!) The cakes are supposed to be ready when you start to see cracks on the surface. If you want lava, take it out of the oven as soon as you start to see the cracks. Otherwise, cook it a little more, around 7-10 minutes more.

Loosen the edges with a knife and invert onto a serving plate. Sprinkle powdered sugar, and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Carrot Pickle

It was truly coincidental that I chanced upon the JFI carrots event. There is no reason to stay away from this now as I already have a carrot pickle picture on my drafts. Not just that, JFI is one of my favorite food events ever. I used to be a participant every month without any fail. But as the passion for food blogging slowly diminished (or it might be the time constraints), I missed many events and deadlines. Many a times, I had the pictures ready, or even the recipe drafts ready, but I just missed posting it on the blog and sending the entry on time.

Carrots are usually eaten raw in my household, either in a salad or coleslaw or just as a snack. Other than that I make carrot pickle, carrot halwa, or add it to fried rice etc. I am not allowed to add it to sambar or any other curries! :) In this recipe, carrots are not cooked. You turn off the stove as soon as the carrots are added so they remain crunchy.

Carrots – 6, medium sized

Gingelly oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – a few

Garlic, julienne cut – ¼ cup

Ginger, julienne cut - ¼ cup

Green chillies, cut into thin rounds, or just slit – 6(adjust according to taste)

Chilli powder – 1 ½ tsp or to taste

Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp

Salt – to taste

Asafetida – ¼ tsp

Vinegar – about ½ cup

Peel the carrots and cut cut into thin slices, or make julienne strips (how to)

Heat oil and add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. When it splutter, add ginger, garlic, curry leaves, and green chillies.

Reduce the flame and cook for a couple of minutes without browning.

Add chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, and carrots.

Stir for about 30 seconds and quickly turn off the stove. Carrots must remain crunchy.

Add salt, asafoetida, and vinegar. Let it cool. Transfer to a glass jar and keep refrigerated.

Entry for JFI Carrots hosted by The Best Cooker!

Can you guess?