Chocohotopots

I have one requirement for Valentine's Day each year: I MUST eat chocolate. Ok, maybe that's actually every day, but especially for this holiday. I don't even care if my husband is the one to get me chocolate, I just want to eat it. This year I decided I would provide the sweet treat, and let me tell you, I hit this one out of the park.

Chocohotopots are like molten lava cakes, except paired down to ramekin size. They give you that ooey, gooey chocolate texture you crave with a brownie-like type crust on top. This dessert was extremely rich and I would highly recommend pairing it with either vanilla ice cream or a cold glass of milk. 

The ingredient list for chocohotopots is simple and you probably have most of them on hand. I halved the recipe since there were just two of us and it came out perfectly. The next time you are craving an easy chocolate dessert, give this one a whirl - it's a definite winner.


Chocohotopots

Ingredients

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, with 60 percent cocoa solids

2 eggs

3/4 cup superfine sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Special equipment: 4 (2/3 to 1-cup capacity) ramekins

Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

Butter the ramekins with 1 tablespoon butter.

Either in a microwave or in a bowl suspended over a pan over simmering water, melt the dark chocolate and 1 stick butter, then set aside to cool a little.

In another bowl, mix the eggs with the sugar and flour with a hand whisk and beat in the cooled butter and chocolate mixture. Divide the mixture between the 4 buttered ramekins.

Bake for about 20 minutes, by which time the tops will be cooked and cracked and the chocolate gooey underneath. Place each ramekin on a small plate with a teaspoon and serve. Make sure to warn people that these desserts will be HOT!

Adapted from Nigella Lawson