Moelleux au Chocolate / Chocolate Lava Cake with Salted Caramel

That ooey, gooey filling you see is caramel. Salted caramel. Made with fleur de sel salt. Or "caramel salé" as the Frenchies call it. Wrapped around a 60% cocoa dark chocolate wall... *swoon*


I made these after a long and challenging day at school and I thought to myself, "life is good". How can it not be? I lose myself completely when I'm baking, my focus is all on the food I'm preparing and no other thought enters my mind.


While I normally don't watch many cooking programmes on tv, other than Nigella Lawson's (who can change the channel when this goddess is on?!), I saw an episode of Rachel Khoo's 'The Little Paris Kitchen'. And my first thought was, "darn you Rachel Khoo for stealing my tv-show idea!". The whole Parisian-themed cookshow is a secret dream I've had for many years. But I can't stay mad for long because she does show some interesting dishes.


After watching one episode I was inspired to make Oeufs en Cocette, see picture here. And now I'm making the moelleux au chocolate with salted caramel filling. Both recipes were very, very good. Rating: 5 out of 5.


Behold this video I made of my molten chocolate cake:



(next time, I promise to stop using my phone to take videos and use a real camera instead!)



Moelleux au Chocolat: Rachel Khoo - Little Paris Kitchen

Ingredients: makes 5 to 6
For the salted caramel filling:
- 150g white sugar (½ cup)
- 150ml double cream
- 1 teaspoon salt, preferably fleur de sel

For the sponge:
- 150g dark chocolate
- 85g unsalted butter (⅓ cup)
- 170g light brown sugar (¾ cup)
- 85g all-purpose flour (¾ cup)
- 6 large eggs
- Cocoa powder, for sprinkling

Instructions:
- Firstly make the caramel sauce, as it needs to cool before you can use it. Coat the bottom of a heavy-based saucepan with the sugar (don't throw all of it in just yet!). Turn on heat, and as soon as it begins to caramelize, add more sugar, and so on. This will prevent the caramel from forming lumps. Once you've used all of your sugar and the caramel is a dark amber color, stand back and add the double cream. It is best if the double cream is at room temperature so the caramel will not harden immediately. If this happens, turn on the heat again. Add the salt. Pour salted caramel in a small bowl and let cool.
- In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter. Combine flour and light brown sugar in a medium bowl. Slightly whip the eggs before adding them to chocolate mixture and stirring vigorously. Add the eggy chocolate mixture to the flour/sugar. Mix well.
- Coat 6 ramekins with butter. Then add a teaspoon of cocoa powder in each ramekin and coat entirely, tapping out excess.
- Fill the ramekins ⅔ full with chocolate mixture. Place them in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes. This will ensure that the center stays uncooked when baking.
- Once the chocolate batter is cold, put the salted caramel in a piping bag and pipe a doll-up of caramel into the center of each chocolate-filled ramekin.
- Bake at 180˚C/350˚F for 15 minutes. When the outside is soft but firm to the touch, and the inside is still wobbly, that's when they're done. Turn them upside down on a plate and be bedazzled!






Rachel Khoo preparing the dish: