Chocolate Renaissance
These individual chocolate cakes, meltingly soft, are served warm from the oven topped with creme anglaise and garnished with fresh blueberries and mint sprigs.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter - Melted, for coating ramekins
- Cake flour - For dusting ramekins
- Dark sweet chocolate - 1 1/2 cups, melted
- Unsalted Butter - 1-1/2 cups, melted
- All Purpose Flour - 1-1/2 cups
- Confectioner's Sugar - 2-1/2 cups
- Eggs - 8
- Vanilla Sauce
- Cornstarch - 1 oz
- Cool Water - 2 tablespoons
- Egg Yolks - 1 cup (about 8 egg yolks)
- Sugar - 1/2 pound
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1 quart
- Brandy - 1 tablespoon
- Vanilla - 1 tablespoon
- Milk - 1 quart
- Crystallized flowers (optional)
- Blueberries
- Mint - 8 fresh sprigs
Instructions
Coat eight 4 inch ramekins with melted butter; dust lightly with cake flour. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the chocolate and the butter. Add the flour and powdered sugar; mix well to incorporate. Add the eggs. Use a large whisk to beat all ingredients until smooth. Fill each ramekin three-quarters full with chocolate batter. Place into a preheated 350 degree F oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
To make the sauce: Dissolve the cornstarch in the water. When dissolved, stir into the egg yolks. In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, sugar, and vanilla and bring just to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Reduce the heat to medium. With a whisk, pour in the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the heat and cook until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and whisk in the brandy, vanilla, and milk.
To serve: Using a sharp knife, loosen each cake at ramekin edge; remove from ramekins. Place a warm cake on each serving plate. Use a knife to slice into each cake to expose the inside. Pour vanilla sauce over each cake, surrounding each cake to form a small pool. Garnish each with crystallized flowers. Garnish the vanilla sauce pools with blueberries and mint sprigs.
