For days the hostess and I deliberated on what to cook. We finally settled on these luxurious chocolate pudding cakes, because 1) they’re easy to make, 2) they could be prepped, cooked, and eaten in the allotted time (about an hour), and 3) everyone loves chocolate! The recipe is from Bon Appétit magazine. The cakes are generally inverted and served with ice cream, which is how I first enjoyed them at a friend’s dinner party. However, these particular pudding cakes (pictured), made with the loving care of Troop 2656, just did not want to invert (the buttering of the ramekins was probably a bit too thin). When I made them again today, they cooked almost all the way through. So, lessons learned—butter well, and make sure to keep your eye on the ramekins in the oven. Start checking at about 9 minutes. The cakes should be like mini volcanoes—cake on the outside and molten lava chocolate on the inside. Remove the pan from the burner and let cool slightly. Add the flour and beat until incorporated. Add the chocolate mixture, the peppermint extract, and the salt. Beat just until incorporated. Remove the cakes from oven; let cool for 5-10 minutes. Either serve as is, in the ramekins, or run a knife around the edges of the cakes and invert on to individual dessert plates. Serve with raspberries, mint leaves, vanilla or mint ice cream, or whipped cream.
