Dulce de Leche Lava Cake

I was looking for something that I wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen preparing for  guests last night. Something sweet with chocolate in it.  Chocolate lava cake!  But I  didn’t want a regular chocolate lava cake, I wanted something more and better.

What is better than chocolate lava cakes? Chocolate lava cakes oozing with dulce de leche!  Really, what’s not to like about a chocolate cake with a molten interior of rich dulce de leche?  If you love lava cake and dulce de leche, I’m sure you will love this dulce de leche lava cake.

It took trying several different recipes for me before finding this one, which is perfect.  Ridiculously easy and dangerously delicious.  Make sure you have the dulce de leche—either homemade or store-bought—on hand before you start making the cake batter.  You can find my tutorial on how to make your dulce de leche here.

This recipe was extremely easy with simple ingredients. It came out perfectly on the first try and the chocolate lovers in the family were very happy. These cakes really hit the spot.  You just have to make sure your oven is calibrated to the correct temperature.  If your oven runs hot, it obviously will just be a hot chocolate cake, no dulce de leche molten, which is the best part.  If you don’t have an oven-safe thermometer, just cut a few minutes off the time, and check with a toothpick.  If it comes out molten and the sides are slightly pulling away from the ramekin, then it’s done.  I liked to underbake some of them a bit, so there were tons of ‘lava’ in my cake. 

Dulce de Leche Lava Cake (adapted from Stefano Paita)

For recipe in Indonesian click HERE

Ingredients:

·         Dulce de leche, cold or frozen

·         Butter, for greasing the pans

·         Flour, for coating the ramekin

·         4 ounces milk chocolate

·         4 ounces dark chocolate

·         Pinch of salt, for chocolate

·         1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

·         1/3 cup sugar

·         1/3 cup all-purpose flour

·         3 eggs

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

1.       Use a small spoon to scoop 6 (1 to 1 ½ tsp) dulce de leche balls on a parchment lined plate or tray.  Sprinkle each with a little sea salt.  Transfer to freezer to chill completely, about 3 to 4 hours.

2.       Preheat oven 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).  Grease six ( ½ cup) ramekins with butter and coat with flour.  Set aside.

3.       Melt the butter,  dark and milk chocolate in double boiler (or in the microwave).  Stir  in a pinch of salt.  Set aside.

4.       Using an electric mixer, whisk together eggs and sugar until light, foamy, and lemon colored.

5.       Stir in melted chocolate mixture until combined, then add the vanilla.

6.       Sift flour into the mixture, stir just to combine into a batter.

7.       Using 2 spoons or an ice cream scoop, fill batter 1/3 way up prepared ramekins.  Add one dulce de leche ball and spoon more batter on top so each ramekin is about ¾ full.

8.       Bake until cakes are set around the edges, but still a little soft in the center, about 14 to 18 minutes.  Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.  With paring knife, loosen cake around the edges and invert directly onto serving plate. Dust with powdered sugar, or serve with whip cream and ice cream.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan:

·         Dulce de leche, dingin dan bekukan

·         Mentega untuk mengoles

·         Tepung untuk melapisi ramekin

·         4 ons (115 gran) milk chocolate

·         4 ons (115 gram) dark chocolate

·         Sedikit  garam untuk coklat leleh

·         1/3 cup mentega tawar, suhu ruang

·         1/3 cup gula pasir

·         1/3 cup tepung terigu serbaguna

·         3 butir telur

·         1 sdt ekstrak vanila

·         Gula bubuk untuk hiasan

Cara:

1.       Gunakan sendok kecil untuk mengambil 6 bola-bola (masing-masing setara dengan 1 sampai 1 ½ sdt) dulce de leche dan letakkan pada piring yang telah dialasi kertas roti. Taburi sedikit dengan garam. Bekukan/dinginkan dalam freezer selama 3 sampai 4 jam.   

2.       Panaskan oven dengan suhu 400 derajat F (200 derajat C).  Olesi 6 buah ramekin dengan mentaga dan lapisi dengan tepung.  Sisihkan.

3.       Lelehkan mentega bersama coklat dengan menggunakan double boiler (atau dengan microwave).  Beri sedikit garam.  Sisihkan  dan biarkan dingin.

4.       Dengan menggunakan mikser listrik, kocok telur dan gula hingga berbusa, ringan, dan berwarna kuning pucat. 

5.       Tuang coklat leleh ke dalam adona telur dan aduk hingga bercampur, gunakan whisk atau spatula.  Tambahkan vanila dan aduk.

6.       Tambahkan tepung terigu yang sudah diayak, aduk hanya hingga bercampur rata.

7.       Isi  1/3 ramekin dengan adonan sebanyak 2-3  sendok makan atau 2 sendok es krim.  Masukkan bola dulce de leche di tengah adonan.  Tutup kembali dengan adonan  hingga ¾ ramekin penuh.  

8.       Panggang sampai  pinggirannya matang tetapi bagian tengahnya masih sedikit lunak, sekitar 14-18 menit.  Biarkan dingin selama 5 sampai 10 menit.  Dengan bantuan pisau untuk melapaskan pinggiran cake,   keluarkan cake dan letakkan langsung di atas piring.  Taburkan gula bubuk di atasnya atau hias dengan whipped cream.