Baking brave on World Baking Day

Today Stork have sponsored World baking day. World baking day is all about baking brave and  getting out of your baking comfort zone and making something which really tests your baking knowledge and skills.

There are recipes ranked from the easiest at level 1 to the hardest at level 100 (the ultimate challenge) which looks immense and serves 30 people!

I chose Level 24 - Lava cake which I always thought would be complicated, I didn't get how you could have a cake cooked properly with a molten middle! There were recipes on there that would have tested my skills and knowledge a lot more, but these have been on my to do list for a while so what better time than to cross them off?

Ingredients: 

250g cooking chocolate

250g butter

5 medium eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

75g caster sugar

35g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Extra butter and caster sugar for greasing ramekins (cups)

Method:

Melt the chocolate and butter together over a Bain Marie (pan of hot, not boiling water, with a bowl over the top.)

Whilst the chocolate and butter are slowly melting beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together. 

Once the melted chocolate has cooled to blood temperature (you don't want scrambled egg) mix into the egg and sugar.

Stir in the flour with a spatular until just incorporated. 

Divide the mix between the ramekins (or cups) which have been pre greased with the butter and then lined with caster sugar. Only fill the vessel around 3/4 full to allow room for the cakes to rise slightly whilst baking. 

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 230C.

The cakes are done when a cocktail stick inserted 1/2 cm in from the edge comes out clean. 

A kneel in front of the oven praying moment, not for the cake though, for my Emma Bridgwater mugs! 

In the absence of ramekins I improvised and used mugs!

All that's left then is to enjoy! These cakes are delicious either eaten warm from the oven or cooled and eaten later with a coffee and a good movie. 

So, I can say that I baked brave on World Baking day, hopefully the World baking day recipes will stay around for a while so that I can try a few more. 

Let me know if you have a go at baking brave, it doesn't have to be today, get in the kitchen and do something creative, you never know you might even enjoy it!