Chocolate Molten Heart Cakelets

 Chocolate Molten Heart Cakelets

Source: Nordicware

Our Rating: 4/5

Chocolate lava cakes always feel so fancy to me, so to wrap up heart week I wanted to make this decadent dessert.  I was gifted gorgeous heart shaped pans for my bridal shower and knew they would be the perfect vessel.  They are heavy and sturdy from Nordic Ware, a brand I use often in my kitchen.  This recipe is actually the one advertised with the pans too!

There are multiple things I love about this recipe.  1) It makes 6 mini cakes which is the perfect amount for my family.  No worries about having too many desserts sitting around for days.  2) It is all made in one pot, minimal dishes! And 3) I had everything I needed for these in my pantry already!  

While lava cakes can sound intimidating, they are actually pretty simple.  The only change I would make to this recipe next time is to add a pinch of salt to bring out the cocoa flavor a bit more.  

You start by melting butter and chocolate on the stove.  I am obsessed with our new pan set we got as a wedding gift.  They are Calpahlon Premier and just work like a dream.  Once the butter and chocolate are all melted together, you simply add everything else into the pot and stir! 

My powdered sugar was a little lumpy, so I maybe should have sifted that first.  I just switched over to a whisk to beat some of the lumps out.  Once you have a smooth batter that's it!  The batter remains rather thin but that's what will give it that lava-like consistency in the end. 

The batter perfectly fills the six-portion pan, ready to bake!  I was a little worried when I pulled them out that the tops got a little dark, but they were perfectly lava-y when we dug in. 

We served ours with some Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream and a dusting of powdered sugar.  When we cut in the "lava" poured out beautifully.  Definitely a win! Even the cats wanted in on this delicious dessert!  I love the mini cakelets as a perfectly sized, yet decadent dessert portion.  I'll be looking for more great recipes to make in this pan.