By Bonnie Berger
Reporter
With Valentine’s Day approaching at an alarming rate, local supermarkets, florists and jewelers are finding themselves bereft of their goods.
Restaurants like Diamond Back’s, 1424 and Chuy’s can expect swarms of hungry, love-struck patrons in search of scrumptious eats to satisfy their sweethearts this weekend. Instead of risking death by stampede (or the bizarre hot-then-cold weather), opt for a homemade cooking endeavor to enhance the flavor of this year’s holiday.
Valentine’s Day simply wouldn’t be the same without a chocolate making an appearance. A hint of espresso puts a twist on traditional chocolate cake and individually sized ramekins ensure that all receive their due portion.
Fortunately, it only gets better as no significant other is required, for what better way to show true friendship than baking miniature chocolate cakes together?
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup powdered sugar, plus more for ramekins
2 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon espresso powder
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Process
Preheating the oven to 400 degrees, butter two 6-ounce ramekins and dust with sugar. Combine butter and chocolate in a bowl, microwaving until melted. In a small bowl, whisk egg, egg yolk, espresso powder, salt and sugar. Add chocolate to the mixture. Lastly, add flour and mix until ingredients are combined. Empty the batter into ramekins.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the edge of the ramekin comes out clean, but a toothpick inserted in the center comes out wet. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from ramekins and dust with sugar; serve immediately.
The entire process takes about 35 minutes leaving ample time to put the finishing touches on those handmade Valentine’s cards, assuming we follow in the footsteps of Martha Stewart.
Most importantly, share these confections with someone you care about. Life is simply sweeter that way.
