Salted Caramel Molten Chocolate Cakes Recipe

Recipe: Salted Caramel Filled Molten Chocolate Cakes

By Izy Hossack of Top With Cinnamon
Makes six

You'll need:
For the Salted Caramel: 1/3 cup (65 g.) granulated sugar
1 tbsp. agave syrup, honey or corn syrup
1/4 cup (60 ml.) water
1/3 cup (80 ml.) heavy cream
1/2 tsp. flaky salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
(Alternatively, you can skip making the caramel: take 6 store-bought salted caramels and poke one into the batter in each ramekin after chilling.)

For the Cakes:2/3 cup (100 g.) bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
1/4 cup (55 g.) unsalted butter
3 tbsp. (30 g.) all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1/3 cup (65 g.) granulated sugar

For the ramekins: 2 tbsp. softened butter and 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
Optional: whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve

Beautiful Chocolate

Chocolate and I are lovers. I like mine dark and depending on my mood with a little raspberry, sea salt, mint or coconut. Below are some beautiful chocolate packaging designs so you can indulge your eyes, at least.

Chocolates with Attitude by Bessermachen

Chocarome

Baked Avocado Fries

Avocado pretty much makes every meal better, and who doesn't like fries? So whoever invented these, is genius. 

Recipe after the jump.

The Beatles on Toast

Why not?

Parmesan Cheese Pencils

These over sized parmesan cheese pencils from The Deli Garage come in three different flavors: truffle, pesto, and chili.  It includes a sharpener to grate the delicious cheese flakes unto your meals.

Caprese Alla Mani

I love all things Italian and insalata caprese is one of them. This simple salad is the perfect combination of ingredients for a happy mouth. 

The other day, I broke the rule of simplicity of this dish and added a few extra ingredients to make it caprese alla mani. I wouldn't have done so but the baby spinach was soon going bad so I decided to incorporate it into my other caprese ingredients. 

Caprese alla mani is simply the basic caprese ingredients: tomato, mozzarella and basil incorporated with baby spinach leaves, butter beans, and pieces of prosciutto crudo (thinly sliced and uncooked). I would have used cannellini beans instead if I've had them in the kitchen. Of course, I added salt and extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar as dressing. 

It was the perfect combination for a heartier salad with extra source of iron from the spinach.

Rubik's Cube Food

I have never seen this in real life, and just recently saw this online for the first time. I was immediately attracted to the idea, a colorful Rubik's cube salad. I would like to attempt this one day. 

This Latvian style caprese Rubik's cube looks tasty. Made of tomatoes and latvian cheese malpils, which according to the artist is like mozzarella but saltier. 

Bizarre Ice Cream Flavors

Ice cream is so good. It is better on hot sunny days but I can definitely enjoy a scoop even during the winter. Whoever invented ice cream must have gotten very good karma. I probably should have added ice cream to the list in The Small Pleasures of Life. Anyway, you probably have had a nice scoop of Chocolate ice cream, but have you ever had a nice scoop of Deep Sea Water ice cream?...  Me neither. 

I may never want to taste Raw Horseflesh ice cream, but I'm definitely up for the challenge of tasting some out of the ordinary ice cream flavors. 

A Colorful Gratin Dauphinois

The first time I had potatoes Gratin, they were homemade by mom. I thought it was one of the most delicious side dishes I had ever had. Natural carbs with gooey cheese, butter, and crustiness from the oven, (plus other ingredients) is the perfect combination for comfort food. 

As you may have guessed, the technique was originated in France. Dauphinois is just a term referring to the French region of Dauphiné.

I am a fan of color. It is my biggest inspiration in my photography, so when I found this colorful recipe of Gratin Dauphinois, I was stoked. I also love the way it was visually recorded by, Béa, one of my favorite food photographers. Her secret ingredient: pink turnips.

Farmers Market: Tomato Tasting

I grew up in a big city, and then moved to another big city for my studies. So, Durham, NC has been the smallest urban setting I've ever lived in, but I have really embraced this place. The community here is so open, so nice, and so helpful with each other. One of my favorite things is how it doesn't feel like a city because it is surrounded by open space and trees. You would never think, but Durham is also a very foodie town. Check out the NY Times article: Durham Dining: Pies, Panini and Barbecue.

That brings me to this post's topic: farmers' markets. Josh and I visited our local Durham Farmer's Market  for our first Summer visit some weeks ago. They were having a tomato tasting and a local chef preparing a tomato tasting dish. Tomatoes are one of the best ingredients in basically every type of cuisine, they are so flavorful and so flexible. Tomatoes rock! I was very excited to be part of a local tomato tasting.

The farmers market was a great canvas of color too, which is one of the biggest inspirations in my photography. 

Tea Infused Cocktails

Tea is awesome in its wide range of flavors and caffeine levels, and cocktails are awesome in their wide range of possible blends and flavors. Therefore, both tea and cocktails are awesome.

So, here comes the million dollar idea (ok, maybe just a hundred dollar idea)... why not blend the two together to create the ultimate beverage: Tea infused cocktails.

Culinary Flags

In 2009, the The Sydney International Food Festival came up with a brilliant idea to promote the event. They used traditional ingredients from the participating countries to create their flags. From olives and feta to tikka masala and rice, the turn out is both very visually appealing and appetizing flags.

How many nations of these edible flags can you identify?

Italy

El Bulli - Molecular Gastronomy

On March 2011, I saw the documentary "El Bulli: Cooking in Progress" at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. This film documented the Michelin 3-star restaurant, El Bulli, located near the town of Roses, Catalonia, Spain.

What was so interesting about this restaurant, is that they closed 6 months a year just to plan their menu, experimenting with molecular gastronomy just to find incredibly unique dishes.

I was sad to find out that El Bulli had closed on July 30th, 2011, to reopen as a creativity center in 2014. After I watched the documentary, I was hoping to visit in this lifetime.

Below is a collection of some of the dishes created at El Bulli.

The Small Pleasures of Life

This is just a list of those small things that happen in life that bring a smile to my heart, and I think at least a few of these might do the same for you. It's a list to remember we don't need much in life to be happy and to appreciate the little things... not take everything so seriously.

"Want nothing and you will have everything"

- Meher Baba

Tiny Things

I love all tiny things. It's not because I'm pretty tiny myself (5'1''), or maybe it is subconsciously. I like to think of myself as fun-sized. Anyway, here's a series of a few awesome tiny things out there.