Chocolate Lava Cakes

This recipe is adapted from a similar one in Cuisine at Home, a magazine I truly love. Ground rule for these decadent little cakes: use really good ingredients. That means quality chocolate, good cocoa powder, and real pure vanilla extract and butter. I will hunt you down and kick your butt if you defile this recipe with generic butter-flavor shortening, imitation vanilla, or store-brand chocolate chips. So don't do it.

Ingredients:
For 4 to 6 individual cakes:
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, or about 1 1/3 C chocolate chips
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
4 eggs
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C flour
1 Tbsp cocoa
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp kosher salt

For 1 single, decadent cake for your private chocolate indulgence:
2 oz chocolate, or 1/3 C choc chips
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 egg
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 scant tsp cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp kosher salt

Steps:

1. Find the needed number of ramekins, small oven-safe bowls, or single-serving baking dishes. They should hold between 6 oz and a cup. You can use bigger ones, but the baking time will become more experimental; it's up to you. Spray your baking vessels well with non-stick spray. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. If using block chocolate, chop it into small pieces. Place the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave, checking and stirring in 30 second increments until melted and blended smooth. Don't scorch!
3. Meanwhile, beat the egg and sugar together in a bowl. I highly recommend an electric hand mixer for this. Keep beating until the color turns from bright to pale yellow and the consistency starts to thicken like lightly whipped cream. By hand this will take 5 minutes or longer. The beaten egg is the only leavening in this recipe, so don't wimp out on this step!
   
4. Add flour, salt, cocoa, and vanilla to the egg mixture, and beat even more until it's well combined.
5. Add the chocolate/butter mixture and beat again for several more minutes. The batter will be rather thick.
6. Divide batter evenly among your baking vessels, place the vessels on a baking sheet, and bake 15-20 minutes (small sizes less, larger sizes longer). Check frequently after the first 15 minutes. Don't overbake! The cakes will be done when they are puffed and the edges are mostly dry, but the centers will still appear sunken and somewhat wet. They should still jiggle slightly in the middle when shaken.
7. Let the cakes rest several minutes in their baking dishes after removing from the oven. Then, while they are still warm, run a dull knife around the inside of the dishes to loosen the cakes. Place a plate over the top of each baking dish and quickly invert. The cakes should unmold easily onto the plates. No topping is needed, but whipped cream, good vanilla ice cream, or macerated berries make a delicious extra. Break into one cake with a fork; if you find warm gooey fudge puddling out of the center, you will know the cakes are just right.

Sneaky make-ahead tip: The batter may be made several hours in advance, portioned into the baking dishes, tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to bake. Add an extra minute or so to the baking time, and put the cakes in the oven as you sit down to dinner. You'll have warm-from-the oven dessert ready 20 minutes later.

What do Librarians Love to Read?

I love to talk about books. I love to listen to other people who love books talk about books. It kind of goes with being a librarian, I suppose. So, I really had a great time at our Library Staff Book Club tonight. For a change of pace, we did not all read the same book and discuss it this time around. Instead, in honor of the upcoming holiday season, we each brought a holiday treat to eat or drink (Alesha, I have GOT to have that hot chocolate recipe!!!), and one or more of our favorite books. They could be books we'd give as gifts, or simply books we love to read.

Sue G., retired Children's Librarian and lately of the Caldecott committee, was our invited guest speaker. She talked about excellent picture books, and got to share the most books:
Show and Tell: Exploring the Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration by Dilys Evans
Flotsam by David Wiesner
Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin
Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin
When Marian Sang by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Olivia Helps with Christmas (and other Olivia books) by Ian Falconer
Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo

Then the rest of the club shared the books they'd brought:

Judy:
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Catherine:
Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book by Terry Jones
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Janis:
Chaucer's First Winter by Stephen Krensky

Jill H.:
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Dinotopia: a Land Apart from Time by James Gurney
Dinotopia: the World Beneath by James Gurney
Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara by James Gurney

Alesha:
On Christmas Eve by Margaret Wise Brown
The Christmas Day Kitten by James Herriot
Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber

Tess:
Ash by Malinda Lo
The Wild Things by Dave Eggers

Jennifer:
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Kathleen:
A Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Marilyn:
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Mary Lee:
The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore (and the gorgeous pop-up version by Robert Sabuda)
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Gail:
The Christmas Pearl by Dorothea Frank

Jeanette:
Tears in the Darkness by Michael Norman
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Pop-Up Adaptation) by Robert Sabuda
Peter Pan (Pop-Up Adaptation) by Robert Sabuda

Christine:
The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans

Terry:
I'm Just Here for the Food by Alton Brown
Rash by Pete Hautman

Jill Z.:
Sweet Revenge (& others in the Goldy Bear series) by Diane Mott Davidson

Lynn:
The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton