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HOT FUDGE SUNDAE CAKES

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.,

rack in the middle position.

8 ounces salted butter (2 sticks, ½ pound)

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 and ¹/₃ cup) (I used Ghirardelli)

4 egg yolks (save the whites in a covered bowl in the refrigerator to add to scrambled eggs)

5 eggs

1 cup white (granulated) sugar

1 cup flour (all purpose—pack it down when you measure it)

Vanilla ice cream to finish the dish

Before you start, select the pans you want to use from the following suggestions:

You can use large-size deep muffin cups to bake these cakes, but if your muffin pan is solid and the cups don’t lift out, you’ll have to remove each cake by using two soup spoons as pincers to pry them out. Each batch will make 9 cakes if you use large muffin tins.

A popover pan is also a possibility, especially the kind with removable cups, but you’ll have to run a knife around the inside of each cup and tip it over to remove the cake. Each batch will make 6 cakes in large, deep popover cups.

You can also use individual soufflé cups, but again, you’ll have to use two soup spoons or run a knife around the inside of the dish to remove the cakes from the soufflé cups. Each batch will make 8 small or 6 large soufflé dish cakes.

Hannah’s Trick: I’ve found it’s a lot easier to use the disposable foil pot pie tins you can buy at the grocery store. With those you can just flip them over on the dessert plate or bowl, press down on the foil bottoms with a potholder, and the cakes will flop right out. (Yes, the pot pie tins are an extra expense, but removing the cakes will go much faster and the tins can be washed several times by hand or in the dishwasher before you’ll have to throw them away.)

Grease and flour the insides of the pans you’ve chosen. As an alternative to that messy procedure, you can spray them with nonstick BAKING spray (the kind with flour added).

Place the butter and the chips in a medium-size microwave-safe bowl. Heat the contents for 90 seconds on HIGH. Take the bowl out of the microwave and try to stir the contents smooth. (Chocolate chips sometimes maintain their shape even when they’re melted.) If you’re able to stir the mixture smooth, set it on the counter and let it cool. If the chips aren’t melted yet, microwave them in 20-second intervals on HIGH until they are.

When you’re able to cup your hands around the bowl comfortably and you don’t think the chocolate mixture is so hot it’ll cook the eggs you’re about to add, separate 4 eggs into yolks and whites. Put the whites in the refrigerator to add to scrambled eggs the next morning, and whisk the yolks until they’re thoroughly mixed. Then slowly add them to your bowl with the chocolate mixture, stirring all the while.

Add 5 more whole eggs to your mixture one at a time, stirring thoroughly after each addition.

Blend in the white sugar, stirring until it’s thoroughly incorporated.

Mix in the flour and stir until the batter is smooth and free from lumps.

Transfer the batter to the pans you’ve selected, dividing it up between 9 large muffin tins, 6 large popover tins, 8 small soufflé dishes, 6 large soufflé dishes, or 6 disposable foil pot pie tins. Place the pans you used on a baking sheet and slip them in the oven.

Bake at 500 degrees F. for EXACTLY 7 minutes. Set the oven timer and don’t open the oven door while they’re baking. The success of this recipe depends on high even heat for a limited amount of time. You want to bake the outside and leave the inside filled with hot molten chocolate.

When your timer rings, immediately take the cakes from the oven and place them on a wire rack. The damp center of each cake will be barely visible and they may jiggle a bit when you move them to the cooling rack. Don’t worry. That’s the way they’re supposed to be.

Give the cakes 2 minutes to set up slightly. Then upend them on dessert plates or bowls. Use two forks to pull apart the tops to expose the chocolate sauce in the center.

Use a small ice cream scoop to drop vanilla ice cream in the center of the rich molten chocolate.

Serve immediately to rave reviews.

Yield: 9 cakes in large muffin tins, 6 cakes in large removable popover tins, 8 cakes in small soufflé dishes, 6 cakes in large soufflé dishes, or 6 cakes in disposable foil pot pie tins.

If you have leftover cakes, they can be reheated in the microwave, but they won’t be the same. They’ll still be tasty, but the centers will turn into moist cake rather than hot fudge sauce.

Hannah’s Note: If I want my dessert to be extra fancy, I make up some of the fruit sauce I use on potato pancakes and create little designs around the edge of large dessert plates while the Hot Fudge Sundae Cakes are baking. Mother prefers it that way. My sisters like it with their choice of ice cream. Andrea prefers chocolate, Michelle likes butterbrickle, and I think it tastes best with coffee ice cream.