This dessert started when my friend Paula “borrowed” a recipe from her doctor’s office called Molten Dark and White Chocolate Cakes. It came out of a parenting magazine (we aren’t sure which one because she only ripped out…I mean borrowed…the top of the page). We reviewed the recipe after a couple of drinks, modified it and Black and White Chocolate Lava Pots were created. These cakes have a crisp top with a gooey chocolate center that contains a surprise cache of white creamy ganache.
Black and White Chocolate Lava Pots
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter plus extra for greasing
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 eggs plus 2 yolks at room temperature (see note)
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 6 white chocolate truffles (like Lindt)
- SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: six – 4 oz. ramekins
- RECOMMENDED ACCOMPANIMENT: Vanilla Ice Cream
NOTE: A quick way to bring cold eggs to room temperature is to place them in a bowl and cover with hot water from the tap. After 3 minutes they will lose their chill.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the ramekins and set them on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Place the chocolate, butter and salt in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan with simmering water (aka double boiler). Make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir occasionally until everything is melted. Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Put the eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high until pale and 3-4 times the original volume. This can take anywhere from 4 to 10 minutes depending on your mixer. Then mix in the cornstarch.
Fold the butter and chocolate into the egg mixture. Folding technique basically means cutting a spatula through the center and around the edge of the bowl, turning the bowl and doing it again. This is a great “folding” demo.
When it’s all combined and most of the streaks are gone, spoon 2 tablespoons of the batter into each ramekin and top with a truffle.
Pour remaining batter over the top.
Bake for 18-20 minutes. The batter will puff up and the top will be shiny, set and just starting to get dark around the edges. Remove the cakes from the oven and let them sit for 5 minutes.
During this time, the tops may begin to crack and kind of fall in a little. This is normal. Serve warm with Vanilla Ice Cream.
BONUS “BEHIND THE SCENES” PICS
In my house, there are always a few princesses around to make things more interesting. My girls are passionate about quality control (aka “Can I have some Mommy?”)
Drew and I waiting an eternity for the chocolate pots to be done. We want our chocolate!
Hi Heather
I made this recipe last minute for Christmas dessert after not having a plan but remembered seeing them here and I had all the ingredients on hand. They were a hit, although my children all decided that they didn’t care for the white chocolate inside and would prefer the peanut butter, milk or dark chocolate centers from the mixed bag of Lindt truffles that I have. Although they turned out well, i have a few questions: when do you add the corn starch? It doesn’t mention it in the recipe directions so I just added it to the egg mixture toward the end of beating. Also, you didn’t mention a cooking temp so I put the oven at 400 after checking around on the internet for similar recipes. My ramekins were a bit big, so these were not nearly as pretty as yours, but they were warm, gooey and delicious. Thanks!
Hi Pam,
So glad that the recipe turned out well despite the earlier omissions in my post. :-[ Your intuition was correct. The cornstarch goes in after you have thoroughly beaten the eggs and sugar. It’s fine to bake them at 400, but I would generally recommend 375 degrees F. The post now reflects these changes. Thanks for pointing this out so I could fix it for the future. Merry Christmas!
— H
Thanks, Heather. I will be making these again once I spring for some correctly sized ramekins, or maybe before then if I really need to. 🙂 I’m also enjoying your Oma posts and looking forward to trying the rouladen and even the tuna casserole. I have a few recipes from my Oma (kuchen is one that I only ever remember having when she made it until I got her recipe and tried it a few years ago), but she’s been gone for years and I wish I had more of her recipes. Thanks for sharing!