Happy Valentine’s Day! For Valentine’s Day I’m sharing Chocolate Heart of Darkness Cakes, individual sized chocolate cakes with a rich and molten truffle center. Topped with whipped cream, they are an absolute delight to share with that special someone.
But there’s also another reason I’m sharing a celebratory cake recipe today. I checked back through my posts and I published my first post on February 14, 2013. It’s Spicy Southern Kitchen’s 1 Year Anniversary!
For my very first post I shared Almond Cake with Amaretto Filling. Probably my favorite cake recipe ever. Are there any other almond cake lovers out there? Next to almond cake, my second love is chocolate cake and these mini-sized Heart of Darkness Cakes really fit the bill. Plus there’s something so Valentine’s Day-ie about individual sized desserts. Then everyone feels like that mini cake was made just for them. And that’s what Valentine’s Day is about- making our loved ones feel special.
And today I want to make the readers of Spicy Southern Kitchen feel special- because you are so special to me. Thank you to all who have taken the time to read Spicy Southern Kitchen and give me feed back on the recipes. I have gotten to know so many wonderful food bloggers from around the country and the world. I have learned so much about food and cooking from y’all and how wonderful to be able to share a common passion with so many people.
To celebrate I’m having a giveaway for a $50 Sur La Table Gift Card (I can spend hours in that store. There’s so much to look at.) and I’m also giving away a copy of my favorite cookbook- Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville’s New South Kitchen
. This cookbook is full of delicious modern twists on southern foods. The Tomato Pie is to die for!
PS- They have a new cookbook coming out in April that I’m super excited about!
Chocolate Heart of Darkness Cakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Truffle Centers
- 8 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
Chocolate Cocoa Cakes
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into tablespoon size pieces; plus 2 teaspoons butter melted
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 8 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 3 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Make the Chocolate Truffle Center. Place 8 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate in a small bowl. Bring 3/4 cup heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour over chopped chocolate. Let sit 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth.
- Pour mixture onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper and use a rubber spatula to spread into a smooth layer, almost to the edges of pan. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes or freezer for 15 minutes.
- Line a plate with wax paper. Remove chocolate/cream mixture from refrigerator and portion into 12 heaping tablespoon size portions. Wearing disposable gloves, roll each into a ball and place on plate. Place in freezer while preparing cake batter.
- Make Cake Batter. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat 12 individual nonstick muffin cups with melted butter.
- Sift together flour and cocoa powder onto a large sheet of wax paper.
- Melt 8 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate and the butter in a double boiler and stir until smooth. (I just use a heavy bottomed saucepan set over fairly low heat. You could also use the microwave.)
- Place 3 eggs, 2 egg yolks, and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes.
- With mixer on low, gradually add melted chocolate/butter mixture. Gradually add flour mixture.
- Once incorporated, stop mixer and scrape down sides. Add vanilla and mix on medium to combine. Use a rubber spatula to make sure batter is evenly mixed.
- Pour 3 heaping tablespoons of batter into each muffin cup. Place in center of oven for 5 minutes.
- Remove truffles from freezer. Remove muffin tray from oven and place a truffle in the center of each cake, pressing halfway down into batter. Return to oven and bake for 16 to 18 minutes.
- Let cool at room temperature for 20 minutes. Give cakes a slight twist to loosen and they should easily come out of the cups. Serve while still warm or rewarm in the microwave.
- Serve with whipped cream.
Nutrition
Recipe Source: Death by Chocolate Cakes: An Astonishing Array of Chocolate Enchantments
Disclosure: Spicy Southern Kitchen is an amazon.com affiliate.
I don’t have a favorite, yet.
The Better Home cookbook =)
I tend to use “The Newlywed Kitchen” fairly often!
I love Southern Living
My favorite cookbook has to be the classic Betty Crocker that was handed down to me by my mother!! Happy Anniversary! 🙂
My favorite cookbook is my old standby Betty Crocker cookbook.
I love all my cookbooks, but the one I use most often is a really old Betty Crocker cookbook.
I like How to Cook Without a Book by Pam Anderson
“Cotton Country Cooking” is my favorite cookbook.
I love my Vegetarian Fix It cookbook I have!
I’ve made my own from torn out pages of magazines, recipes people have given me, and things I found on the web!
Google, I guess. I tend to google the main ingredient and go from there.
I do not have a favorite cookbook. I usually get my recipes from magazines or the internet!
My favorite is an italian cookbook my grandmother gave to me.
Right now my favorite cookbook is Isa Does It. Most of the meals can be made in the 1/2 hour range with flavors that have depth and nuance. It’s amazing what deliciousness can happen in that short of time!
It changes by the day but right now I’m loving The Kind Diet.
My favorite is a cookbook my church put together. I have so many memories of sitting down with that book, picking a recipe, and then running to ask my mom if I could make it.
My favorite cookbook is the looneyspoons cookbook 😀
don’t have any cookbooks so don’t have a fav, i get my recipes off the net
I don’t have one yet! Still looking!
My favorite is an old copy of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. It sounds funny, but it’s a classic old cookbook.
Currently I am liking the Keepers recipe book by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion.
I usually use pinterest or google what I’m looking for. We have a Chicago Diner cookbook that is pretty awesome though.
RIght now it is The Book of Burger
Rachael Ray
I have a lo carb one that is cool
Asking which cookbook is my favourite is like asking a Mother which child she likes best. You just don’t!
I don’t have any…let alone have a favorite!
I use a Betty Crocker cookbook that my mother got and used back in the 80’s,
I love Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau!
Betty crocker
I have an old Farmers Wives Canning/ Cookbook that tell great secrets!
Oh my oh my, do these look good!!! i wish I hadn’t been so behind on my blog reading so I would have seen this before Valentine’s Day because it would have been the perfect dessert! Although I guess I don’t really need a holiday to make something this tasty. What a special treat it will be 🙂
I’m a firm believer you don’t need a holiday to make a special dessert 😉
Hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day Amy!
Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over Again
Congratulations on your first year blogging! I just found your blog and am in love already. I can’t wait to try making this recipe this weekend.
Thank you so much Jamie 🙂
Over the years my grandma put together a binder with her favorite recipes, that’s my favorite
The Pioneer Woman Cookbook is one of my favs!
I love the annual Southern Living cookbooks
I like Ina Garten Foolproof
I love Ina Garten’s cookbooks.
My favorite cookbook is Taste of Palm Springs – it has such yummy recipes!
I always love the Pillsbury Bakeoff’s cookbooks.
I like my old Betty Crocker cookbook.
My favorite is “Fix It and Forget It”. It’s a crockpot cook book. I use it all the time. In fact, I’m on my second copy.
My favorite cookbook is a local cookbook from the small town my grandma lives! The local church put it all together and it has some delicious things in it!
I love looking at church cookbooks! I have a few old ones with recipes from my grandfather in it. I will keep it forever!
Mine is the fannie farmer cookbook.
My favorite is Small Plates and Sweet Treats – such a beautiful gluten-free cook book:)
I haven’t seen that one before! Will have to look for it as I am trying to do more gluten-free cooking 🙂
My favorite cookbook is the Joy of Cooking. It has been very helpful in terms of giving detailed instructions on how to not just cook a dish but on essentials in cooking in general.
Congrats on the anniversary! 🙂
And I totally agree that almonds make food (life?) better! I’m a little sad you didn’t add some marzipan (or something) to this recipe, but I guess chocoholics need their fix without any of that fluff. 😛
Thanks Hanna! I just may have to retry it with some marzipan 🙂
That chocolate centre looks so perfect and chocolately…mmmm
I have a cookbook that was put out by our local search and rescue a few years back and it is so good. I use it regularly.
Community cookbooks are always so much fun to look through!
I love my Cooking Light 5 ingredient dinners.
Pioneer woman
Italian
Morgan Freeman and friends…Caribbean cooking for a cause
My favorite cookbook is rachels Ray’s 30 minutes or less cookbook.
I am always a fan of The Pioneer Woman cookbooks – including her most recent book of holiday delights !
Plum by Plum Bistro
I love the fix it and forget it crock pot cook book. It does wonders for my fast pace family.
The Joy of Cooking
My favorite cookbook is The Picky Palate Cookbook!
The joy of cooking is my fave
I love Patricia Cornwell’s “Food to Die For”. She’s my favorite author and these recipes are seen throughout her novels, and they are delicious 🙂
The Best of Bridge collection – they’re such easy to follow recipes that are really tasty!
Better homes and gardens. Thanks for the chance to win.
any martha stweart cookbook:)
America’s Test Kitchen has been a favorite in our house.
My favorite is still the red and white betty crocker cookbook that was passed down from my mom!
Thanks for the chance to win!
Entered the rafflecopter form as “Wild Orchid”
wildorchid985 AT gmail DOT com
My favorite is the joy of cooking or betty crocker.
A Christmas Cook book from the 1950’s
I’d have to go with my good old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook! It’s my go to for any basic recipes and new ones too! It’s like having my grandma in my cupboard! 🙂
coriwestphal at msn dot com
the joy of cooking
A “Mountain Woman” Cookbook my Mother in Law gave me 🙂
The only one I’ve ever had was the Betty Crocker Cookbook from way back in the day.
Joy of Cooking is my favorite
The Joy of Cooking is great for the basics!
Caribbean Vegan is one of my favorite cookbooks.
My good old Better homes and garden cookbook
David Lebovitz’s Scooped!
I’m going thru a “100 Best Soup Recipes” cookbook right now. Soup seems only natural with the weather we’re having these days 🙂
My favorite is “Bittersweet” by Alice Medrich.
There are so many that I love, but I’m especially fans of Baking Illustrated and the Alton Brown Good Eats cookbooks.
Happy blog-anniversary and wishing you many more years of blogging.
Your chocolate heart of darkness cake look awesome….perhaps the best I have ever laid my eyes on….!! I am going to make these for my chocoholic daughter 🙂
My favorite cook book of all time is Delia Complete Cookery Course
I WANT CHOCOLATEEEE!
The Cake Bible is a classic in my house.
Ah these look so good! My favorite cookbook is the Better Homes & Gardens 75th anniversary cookbook
Your killing me with these cakes! They look AMAZING!!
oh boy, these just look unbelievable! i think if anybody made these for me on valentines i’d fall immediately in love with them. great post!
http://thehobbitkitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/roasted-vegetable-chickpea-stew.html
I like the Taste of Home cookbook – Mom’s Best Meals.
I love my vegan cookbook.
I have a cookbook from the 80s that is my favorite. It’s a compilation of recipes from church members.
My favorite cookbook is one that my grandmother hand wrote, it’s at least 50 to 60 years old. 😉
Pioneer Woman Cookbook
My favorite cookbook is the Gluten-Free Bible.
I don’t really have a favorite.
But happy anniversary!
I like Home Cooking with Jean-Georges.
I like Chloe’s Kitchen!
Pioneer Woman Cookbook
My favourite cook book is Kraft’s
I like The Joy of Cooking
I like my Meatless cookbook by Martha Stewart.
My “go to” cookbook, is Fannie Farmer Cookbook. It has a little of everything.
I grew up with Betty Crocker.
I really like the Pioneer Woman Cookbook! Happy 1 year!
I like better homes and Gardens cookbook but I usually get recipes off the internet.
i like smitten kitchen
I like a Pioneer Woman cookbook.
I have several Taste of Home cookbooks that are awesome but I think my favorite is their recent holiday cookbook.
How it all vegan.
Fb username pleanne bodnar
My favorite is the Smitten Kitchen cookbook.
I love easy recipes so my go to is Betty Crocker.
My go to cookbook has been Better Homes and Gardens which since have used since high school home ec.
Southern living!
I love my mother’s Betty Crocker Cakes & Pastries cookbook–I have admired the pictures since childhood, and feel very nostalgic when I see this book.
Maida Heatter Book of Great American Desserts. An oldie but goodie for a baking fiend like myself.
I don’t have any cookbooks
The Good Housekeeping Cook Book I used to have a old one.
My sister in law had made my husband and I a cook book with all my Mother in Law’s best recipes. We use this book so often.
I am biased! My daughter has a cookbook out and I use it quite a lot Vegan Comfort Foods From Around the World by Veronica Grace (lowfatvegachef.com) Great healthy food that is still tasty!
That’s a tough question. I love cookbooks! I love all of the Moosewood Cookbooks but the one I probably pull out more than any other is the Southern Living Cookbook.
My favorite cookbook is The Joy of Cooking- I use it frequently for basics and staples.
My favorite is Beard on Food by James Beard. It is more than a cookbook, but more of a food journal with recipes.
My favorite cookbook is “Calling All Cooks.” It belonged to my aunt and I still have little pieces of paper sticking out of some of the pages she had marked. There is a note saying that it was given to her by her sister in 1983!!
My favorite cookbook is the one my Dad & Mom wrote for me with all of our family favorites for a wedding gift!
The internet!
love the cakes, especially the filling!
Oh my gosh Christin – what an AWESOME milestone!!! And how perfect it is that it’s on Valentine’s Day!!! I think that makes it extra special, don’t you? I have to tell you – I have always loved these cakes with their chewy/crunchy outside and decadent chocolate, molten center. I think they are the PERFECT Valentine and ANNIVERSARY post! Well done! Pinned! Congrats on your anniversary! I’m so glad I found you and have you as a blogger friend!
Right now my favorite cookbook is The Smitten Kitchen.
Congrats on 1 year! I like The New Way to Cook Light by Cooking Light.
I liked an Anthony Bourdain cookbook I received.
My favorite cookbook is my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook with the red and white cover. It is a three ring binder style so I can easily remove the page I need for easy reference. All the pages are the heavy stock and shiny so they can actually be wiped off. It is the perfect cookbook!
Drool!
The Joy of Cooking will always be my favorite.
Either the Betty Crocker original cookbook or the Joy of Cooking-love them both and still use them.
Happy Anniversary, Christin! I am so glad that I found your blog because you have so many fabulous recipes. Thanks so much for the giveaway, I love Sur La Table! And this Chocolate Heart of Darkness cake sounds pretty amazing! My favorite cookbook is The Flavor Bible, which is really a reference book rather than a cookbook, but I love it!
Thank you Ashley! I have never seen the Flavor Bible. I will have to check it out!
Happy Valentine’s day and happy blogiversary, darling! These lovely little cakes look likt the msot perfect way to celebrate it all. They look delicious, and that truffle filling sounds out-of-this-world good!
Have a wonderful weekend! <3
Thanks Consuelo! Happy Valentine’s day to you too!
My very favorite is a homemade cookbook of family recipes
I love every Pioneer Woman cookbook I have. Ree’s recipes are so approachable and undaunting. And so many helpful pictures!
What is my favorite cook book? I have a cook book called “joy of cooking” that my mother gave to me when I first got married (lets just say, a long time ago lol). And I have used that book so many times, some of the pages have gotten torn and a couple even lost.
Oh wow, Pure Goodness Christin!! 🙂 Those look delicious, all I can think about now is lava cakes! I could eat a couple of these right now. I am gonna try making these!
I am currently reading The New Pâtissiers. I have a lot of cookbooks and subscribe to a lot of cooking magazines but I really don’t have a favorite.
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
Happy Valentine’s Day Michael! Hope you have been able to shovel out of the snow.
My very favorite is a homemade cookbook of family recipes. My current favorite published cookbook is the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook but I love so many of them!
My Good Housekeeping cookbook is my favorite.
my favorite cookbook was my grandmothers cookbook. she made so many yummy traditional italian foods
My favorite cookbook is The Homemade Pantry!
An old recipie book from my grandmother
My very favourite cook is Baking by James Peterson. It’s a wonderful book.
I like the Joy of Cooking
The original Joy of Cooking
I forgot to include that one of my favorite cookbooks is The Food You Crave by Ellie Kreiger!
I love that cookbook too Marcie! I love her food and her personality.
Happy 1 year Blogversary!
These cakes make me smile – all that ooey gooey chocolate! mmm mmm mmm!
I love almond cake too, my mom makes a Sri Lankan traditional cashew cake that is also a fav of mine – but chocolate is my true love! Thanks for sharing these!
oooh! A cashew cake sounds amazing! Happy Valentine’s Day Shashi!
Happy anniversary to your blog! These cakes look so scrumptious, and Sur la Table is probably my favorite store. My wish list is a mile long! Have a great weekend, Christin!
Thanks Marcie! My wish list is a mile long too. I’d like to have everything in the store. Someday I’m going to have to build a house that’s basically just a giant kitchen!
my favorite cook book right now is how to cook without a book
My favorite cookbook is all the Southern Living cookbooks ever published! 🙂
I love all of the Southern Living cookbooks too 🙂
Happy 1 year anniversary Christin! So glad to have found your blog with so many wonderful recipes. I love almond desserts and your Almond Cake looks incredible and so do these mini chocolate molten cakes! These are perfect for Valentine’s Day. Hope you have a great weekend Christin and wishing all good things for you and your family this year 🙂
Thank you Kelly! Happy Valentine’s Day. Hope you have a wonderful weekend too.
Happy 1 year anniversary!! I wanted to shout: “me, me, me!!” when you asked for almond lovers. My favorite sweets just might be this type of chocolate molten cake and then something almond-y (maybe just in reverse order vs. your preference). : ) These little cakes are screaming my name and I’m thrilled just to see that oozing center! Thank you!
And what a terrific giveaway. I LOVE sur la table so much! Have a great V-Day!
Thank you Monica! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Happy one year anniversary!!! Such a fun giveaway! And these cakes look awesome – especially with that truffle center!
Thank You Ashley! Hope the ice is melting and you can get out and about this weekend!
Happy Valentine’s Day! These cakes look like a perfect dessert!
Happy Valentine’s Day Medeja!
Happy 1st anniversary to your blog!! I love my Williams-Sonoma cookbook 🙂
Thank you Ashley! Williams-Sonoma has some great recipes!