In honor of Jolene joining the ranks of the gainfully employed, we prepared her a celebratory dinner culminating in (what else?) a delicious chocolatey dessert.
Katherine and I have been on two cruises and both of them featured this decadent dessert, infamously known as the "Warm Chocolate Melting Cake". At dinner every night the waiter would come by with his menu full of delightful new treats, and Katherine would patiently wait for the rest of us to figure out what we wanted. But she already KNEW what she was going to get - one of the few items on the menu every single night - the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake.
Served in a ramekin and dusted with powdered sugar, the unassuming exterior hid a sinfully gooey center. I swear there were times when she snuck one in at the breakfast buffet, tracked one down at lunch, and had one or TWO at dinner. You know what they say about calories when you're out of the country - they don't count!
Following is a recipe allegedly scaled down from Carnival's actual onboard chef's manual. The original recipe called for 50 lbs of chocolate and 500 eggs! My variation neglects the powdered sugar, and turns the cakes out of the ramekin for a little different presentation. We made half of the recipe listed below, but the full recipe will make 6 individual 4oz ramekins.
Ingredients:
- 8 oz dark chocolate (or you can substitute 1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chips)
- 8 oz butter (2 sticks)
- 5 eggs
- 5/8 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
Directions:1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Melt chocolate and butter together over low heat. We did it the gangster way, in a dinged up old metal measuring cup straight on the stove, but you can use a double boiler or a microwave if you prefer. To use the microwave, simply chop everything up into manageable chunks and put it in a bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds on high, then take it out and stir. Microwave it for 20 more seconds, and continue the cycle until the butter and chocolate have fully melted. Set the mixture aside to cool.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and then add the sugar. Mix well, and then add the flour. Again mix well until you have a nice goopy texture, like you can see in the picture. We don't want any lumps! 
4. Slowly add the relatively cooled chocolate to the egg mixture, stirring constantly. You'll want to make sure the chocolate is cool enough to not cook the eggs on contact, but it's best to add the chocolate slowly just to make sure.
5. Take your ramekins and coat with cooking spray/crisco/butter. Wipe out the excess, then dust the dishes with flour so the finished cakes will come out nice and easy. I like to dust with cocoa powder instead since it's brown, but honestly flour is just as good.
6. Fill ramekins roughly 3/4 of the way, leaving some room for the cake to expand while baking.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on the size of your ramekins and the texture you like. Consistency will vary from hot fudge sauce to heavy pudding. As every oven and ramekin is different, the only good way to tell when it's done to your liking is to open the oven and jiggle it. Depending on how jiggly the center still is, with a little experience you can tell if it's ready. For reference these cakes were firm and unmoving in the outer half inch around the edge but fairly jiggly in the middle.8. Let them cool for a few minutes, then carefully run a butter knife around the edge to separate the cake from the ramekin. Invert the plate on top of the ramekin, then turn the whole thing upside down. Gently tap the ramekin's bottom to get the underside of the cake to separate as well. Carefully lift the ramekin off of the cake.
9. Serve with vanilla ice cream, and go to work!
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