Double chocolate brownie cakes

This is Week #6 of my 2011 cooking challenge! Click on the above graphic to view all P&TC recipes. All recipes created for this challenge come from the Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2010. 

Although I do adore chocolate, there are a handful of foods I place before it on my Foods I Love list. I rarely crave chocolate, but if it is set before me I will not turn it down. There are only a few chocolatey treats that make my stomach rumble just by thinking about them. Chocolate caramel brownies are one, Twix bars are another, but that is basically it. So when I set out to make this recipe, I thought, Eh, I'll be able to resist them, no problem!

Sooo I was kinda wrong about that. Once I sunk my teeth in for my "test bite," I knew I was in trouble. These little "cakes" are perfectly delicious. They are rich, but not too rich. They are just the right kind of chocolatey gooey-ness.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 8 cups in a standard-size muffin pan.

In a small saucepan, melt 1 stick, plus 2 tablespoons of butter. Add 1 ounce of chopped milk chocolate (or milk chocolate chips) and whisk until it is melted. Let cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together:

3 tablespoons cake flour

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, add:

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

Using a handheld mixer, beat together until pale and thick, about 5 minutes.

Beat in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Beat in the melted chocolate-butter mixture and the dry ingredients in 3 additions, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula.

Stir in 4 ounces of additional chopped milk chocolate (or milk chocolate chips).

The mixture will be a bit chunky.

Spoon the batter into 8 muffin cups and bake for about 22 minutes, or until the cakes are risen and springy.

Let the cakes cool and turn them out onto a wire rack. Serve warm, with ice cream. Mmmmmmmmm.

Click here for a printable recipe!