Monday, March 31, 2008

Best Dessert Ever. Best! Ever!

The ovens in the Yum Yum kitchen were working overtime this weekend. We were invited over to Sue MKAFFGGF's house for some "Beer and Steer" and I offered to bring the veggies and dessert. I figured I'd go with a classic steakhouse theme and make roasted asparagus, creamed spinach and cheesecake. But not just any cheesecake. Oh no, I had to get all fancy and make little individual lemon cheesecakes. (Note to self: labor-intensive desserts are off the list until the Sugar Baby leaves for college.) So I whipped up the batter for cheesecake and the directions said to lay a sheet of plastic wrap over a mini-muffin pan and then put the batter in. ("Don't worry!" the cookbook said. "The plastic wrap won't burn or melt!") Hmmm. Seems so counter-intuitive to put THIN PLASTIC in a 400 degree oven, but whatever.
Mr. Goodbar commented that it didn't look like such a good idea. "The book says it's okay!" I snapped. It had already been a long day. I put the pans in the oven and 30 minutes later-- ding! The timer went off. The house was filled with a light, lemony scent.
And the plastic wrap seemingly disappeared.*
Like any normal person might suspect, I now had plastic-infused cheesecakes, two dirty mini-mufin pans and no dessert to bring.
I breezed through my cookbooks and decided on these: Chocolate Espresso Lava Cakes. Only I didn't have any espresso powder, so instead I used almond extract. Let me tell you, these were incredible. Seriously delicious. The crusty outside was like a crisp, chewy cookie and the inside was all fudgy melty gooey. Unbelievable. If I had to be stranded on a desert isle with only one dessert (not candy, of course, just dessert), I'd pick this. And no, it's not like your typical lava cake. This one was different, I promise. I can't believe I was able to make something so good. So unbelievably good. And it was easy, too. Way more easy than plastic cheesecake. I love you forever, Chocolate Lava Cakes.

*When we got to Sue MKAFFGGF's house, I related this story to them. The Golden Nose said he had just read about cooking with plastic wrap and showed me the book. It said only certain types of plastic wrap can be heated. All the others throw off carcinogenic toxins into your food. And NEVER EVER heat it over 170 degrees. Okay, so what the heck???!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

okay, so where's the (plastic-free) recipe for this gooey goodness??

Banner looks great!

xoxo

Ms. Chops said...

Miss YY,

Seeing as I directly participated in this chocolate yumminess, I can attest to the deliciousness of this dessert. Me and the Golden Nose promptly scarfed up the leftover desserts the next day. They re-warmed marvelously, if we do say so ourselves! Cheesecakes are for sissies- chocolate triumphs again!!