Molten Red Lava

One of my favourite desserts is a molten lava cake. What's not to like? You got that warm, saucy centre encased in a fluffy cake. It's even better if you top it off with a cold scoop of ice cream. Chef's kiss right here!

Back in high school, I had to design a magazine cover for my AS-level Media Studies project. Of course, the main focus of my magazine was food! I called my magazine epiCulinary, which was a play on a well-known food magazine. But I was stumped as to what I wanted to feature. Until I saw an episode on MasterChef US where the contestants were scrambling to make a molten lava cake to avoid elimination. I mean look at that baby! If done right, you get a majestic flowy beauty. Otherwise, you are stuck with a sad albeit delicious puddle.

But I was up for the challenge! Everything went well but it did start to ooze as soon I started plating it. But I did like how the final look came out so I just ran with it and used it in my project.

For this food glow up, let's paint the town red! I mean nothing screams lava than a red velvet molten lava cake. But of course, it's not a red velvet cake without cream cheese. My dilemma was whether to incorporate cream cheese as a filling or frosting. Then it hit me... cream cheese ice cream! It's quite easy, just combine cream cheese and vanilla ice cream. But what really brought these two flavours together was the freshness from the lemon zest! It reminded me of a deconstructed cream cheesecake. So of course, I then had to add a crumble for that crunchy texture to bring everything together. The contrasting textures and temperatures make this such a comforting dessert. This has definitely been one of my favourite food glow ups so far!

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RED VELVET LAVA CAKE

Ingredients:

Molten lava cake

• 1/2 cup white chocolate - chopped

• 1/4 cup butter (have some extra to grease the ramekins)

• 2 large eggs

• 1 egg yolk

• 3 tbsp sugar

• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour

• 2 tbsp cocoa powder

• 1/2 tbsp red food colouring

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Ice cream cheese

• 1 cup vanilla ice cream

• 1/4 cup cream cheese - softened

• 1 tsp lemon zest

Lemon crumble

• 1/4 cup butter - room temperature

• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

• 3 tbsp panko breadcrumbs

• 3 tbsp almond flour

• 2 tbsp sugar

• 1 tsp lemon zest

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Instructions:

1. Starting off with the crumble, preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.

2. In a bowl, combine the butter, flour, panko, almond flour, and sugar.

3. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, thinly spread the crumble mixture and let it bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

4. Pull out the baked crumble and let it cool completely before breaking it into a coarse crumb. Toss in the lemon zest and set aside for later.

5. It's not red velvet without cream cheese, so grab a few scoops of vanilla ice cream and combine it with the cream cheese and lemon zest. Pop it in the freezer, boom! Done! Let that baby chill for now.

6. Now it's time for the main event, the red velvet molten lava cake! Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C.

7. Generously grease your ramekins with butter. Side note, you can also use oven-safe cups.

8. In a separate bowl, melt the white chocolate and butter in the microwave in 15 seconds increments. Mix it in between until you have a smooth mixture. If the mixture is too hot, let it cool a bit before moving to the next step.

9. In a bigger bowl, we are going to combine the wet ingredients. Whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, and sugar until frothy. Mix in the vanilla extract and red food colouring. Slowly add in the melted butter and chocolate. So this is our lava mixture.

10. Now it's time to incorporate dry ingredients into the lava mixture. Add in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt until combined.

11. Scoop the red lava mixture into ramekins or oven-safe cups. Bake for 10 minutes; the center should jiggle a bit.

12. The red velvet lava cake is going to be piping hot so be careful with the next part. Using a knife, loosen the edges of the red velvet lava cake.

13. Place the plate on top of the ramekin and carefully turn it over so that the red velvet lava cake transfers unto the plate.

14. Garnish with the lemon crumble, cream cheese ice cream, and a dash of lemon zest.

15. Enjoy the show!