Food time!

Ok, so I've decided to pursue new culinary arts since I'm the main chef in the Dalton household (I think that's blasphemy to everyone who knows of James's skills... haha). Last night I was going through the Betty Crocker cookbook and saw a dessert that I'd seen on Food Network, so I decided I had to make it. I made two last night because we only had two containers to bake the dessert in, and I used the remainder of the mix this morning and had a tasty dessert with my lunch. I decided to photograph the experience for added salivation. Here it is!

Welcome to Baby Lava Cakes and 400 calories of pure goodness:

Here it is as a whole lil' cake

Here is the first peak into the yummy goodness inside

Here's a better view of the gooeyness... mmm...

Look at that lava pour out!

Good to the last bite

Quite easy and verrrrry tasty. Hope you all are drooling by now :)

UPDATE:
Ok, so I guess I'll type up the recipe for you to appease the hungry readers out there.

Lava Baby Cakes
Prep: 15 minutes Bake: 13 minutes Oven: 400 degrees F
Chill: 45 minutes Makes: 6 servings

1 3/4 cups (10.5 oz) semisweet chocolate pieces
2 tablespoons whipping cream (I used half-and-half b/c we didn't have any cream)
3/4 cup butter
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Powdered sugar (optional)
Raspberries (optional)

1. For filling, in a small heavy saucepan combine 3/4 cup of the chocolate pieces and whipping cream. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate melts. Remove from heat. Cool, stirring occasionally. Cover; chill about 45 minutes or until firm.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium heavy saucepan cook and stir the remaining 1 cup chocolate pieces and the butter over low heat until melted. Remove from heat; cool.
3. Form filling into 6 equal-size balls; set aside. Lightly grease and flour six 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or six 6-ounce custard cups. Place dishes or cups in a 15x10x1-inch baking pan; set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl beat eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar, andd vanilla with an electric mixer [we're missing our mixer beaters right now, so I just did this by hand and added 2 minutes to the time] on high speed for 5 minutes or until lemon colored. Beat in cooled chocolate mixture [the butter & chocolate one you made 2nd] on medium speed. Sift flour and cocoa powder over mixture; beat on low speed just until combined. Spoon 1/3 cup batter into dishes. Place 1 ball of filling into each dish. Spoon remaining batter into dishes.
5. Bake in a 400 degree F oven about 13 minutes or until cakes feel firm at edges. Cool in dishes 2 to 3 minutes. Using a knife, loosen cakes from sides of dishes. Invert onto dessert plates. If desired, dust with powdered sugar and garnish with raspberries. Serve immediately.

Make-Ahead Directions: Prepare as above through step 4. Cover and chill until ready to bake or up to 4 hours. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking as directed.

Nutrition facts per serving: 621 cal., 47 g total fat (27 g saturated fat), 285 mg chol., 291 mg sodium, 50 g carbo., 3 g fiber, 8 g pro. 26% Vit. A, 8% Ca, 16% iron

Chef's notes: I prepared these last night starting at 4:30 p.m., served them at 8:00 after dinner, and had one left over which I ate at noon today. The cake rose a little more after sitting overnight, but tasted pretty much the same. I think the filling wasn't quite as runny as last night. I filled the dish 3/4 of the way up and it only rose a few centimeters, so don't worry about it baking over the top. Beware of using Corningware soufflé dishes if you don't have a rubber pot holder! After inverting on a plate, those things are too heavy to pick up with a normal terry cloth pot holder. If you have ramekins with corners, those might work well to hang onto. The cakes hold together well, and our first attempt at freeing them from the dish didn't destroy them. For those "balls" they tell you to form with the filling, I just cooled the filling in a 10-oz. Pyrex bowl and used a spoon to scoop up the filling. I didn't touch it with my hands, and it warmed up very quickly anyways. You can just scoop it out with a spoon like ice cream and plop it in the middle of the cake. If you'd like to only make this for two people, these are the proportions I used:

1/4 cup chocolate pieces for the filling; 1/3 cup chocolate pieces for the mix.
1 tablespoon whipping cream (or half-and-half)
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1.75 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1.75 tablespoons cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Powdered sugar (optional)
Raspberries (optional)

Happy baking!