molten (or lava chocolate) cakes may be one of the most decent yet most simple dessert you will ever make. i first attempted this experiment a few years ago as a request by my fiancee. i'm not gonna lie, i'm fairly certain the result is one of the reason's i have a ring on my finger! they are divine and dead easy to make - you don't even need ramekins, the batter can be simply poured into buttered and sugared muffin tins. the key is to not overbake - the result will be, well, a plain ol' chocolate cake. the few ingredients involved also make an excellent vehicle for many chocolate combinations - you could add most anything including espresso powder (as i did this time), mint extract, almond extract, even crushed walnuts or pecans. top as you wish, whipped cream, crushed raspberries, chocolate ganache - i, however, happen to be a bit of a purist and indulge in straight up lava cake! 
ps. in the background is d's mini computer, quite possibly the best kitchen tool yet! no, it doesn't mix batter or whip egg whites, but it's so incredibly handy to have on the countertop for recipes.
recipe:
adapted from www.marthastewart.com
makes 4 servings
2 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for ramekins/muffin tins
1/3 cup icing sugar, plus more for dusting ramekins/muffin tins
3 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp espresso powder
pinch of salt
3 tbsp all purpose flour
* with a pastry brush or piece of parchment, butter four 6-ounce ramekins or standard muffin tins - give the butter a good dusting of icing sugar to coat
* melt butter and chocolate in the microwave, stirring after every 20 seconds
* while the chocolate and butter are cooling, whisk the icing sugar, egg, egg yolk, salt and espresso powder - stir in cooled chocolate
* add the flour, just stirring to combine and pour batter into ramekins - at this point you can throw in the fridge until minutes before you would like to serve
* bake at 400* for 10 minutes, the middle will be wobbly but that is the result you want. let cool 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the ramekins and invert onto plate - dust with icing sugar or top as you wish and serve ASAP!
