A creamy biscuit on the outside with warm melted chocolate on the inside and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this hedonistic chocolate treat is an experience to behold. This dessert recipe has an intense chocolate flavor so it is important to use a very good quality dark chocolate, preferably the French or Belgian kind. It is quite simple to do and takes only seven minutes to bake. Chef Philippe Chevrier shares his recipe, which he serves in his fancy gourmet restaurant, Domaine de Châteauvieux. For a truly epicurean experience, pair this with a lovely dessert wine like Loupiac. Dark coffee and mint tea also go well with the molten chocolate cookie with vanilla ice cream.
This dessert dish has been described as a mousse, souffle, brownie, cake, and pudding because it shares distinct characteristics with all of these popular chocolate easy desserts. It has the crustiness of brownies, the airiness of souffle, the denseness of cake, the moistness of pudding, and the richness of mousse. As they bake, they rise wonderfully and slowly deflate once they are removed from the oven. The origin of the recipe can be traced to New York Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten who was then baking sponge cake but removed it from the oven too early, and instead of throwing it in the bin found the moist center actually delightful. Guests loved the accidental treat and soon enough the dessert spread all over the United States and Europe, morphing into many versions.
Ingredients: ½ lbs. dark chocolate, 1.8 oz. sugar, 1 oz. butter, 3 eggs, ½ cup flour, cocoa powder, powdered sugar
Preparation Instructions: 
Melt the chocolate and butter. Mix the sugar, eggs, and flour. Add the mixture to the chocolate. Lightly grease baking paper (to be placed on molds) with butter. Set it on the round biscuit molds. Fill the molds with the chocolate mixture up till ¾ of its height. Cook in oven for about 7 minutes at 70°F. While baking, prepare the serving plates by decorating it with molten chocolate. After the biscuits are cooked, dust them lightly with some cocoa and icing sugar. Remove from molds. Place them at the serving plates. Finally, top/decorate with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream and with additional chocolate if desired.
Often served warm with whipped cream of crème fraiche, this version is served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The ice cream is placed on top of the chocolate biscuit and is more or less of the same size and volume as the biscuit. Chef Chevrier uses small circular tin molds to shape the lava cookie. Custard cups, individual ramekins, and muffin tins can also be used.
Source: www.gourmandia.com
Cooking Gourmet Recipes 101 