12 Days of Christmas: Chocolate Lava Cakes

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me … Four colly chocolate lava cakes Three French Champagne cocktails Two sugar cookie turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tart!

Upon doing my research for my "12 Days of Christmas" blog feature, I quickly found out that a colly bird from the line "4 colly birds" is just a common black bird. Who wants a common black bird for Christmas!? Good thing my true love gives me five golden rings in the next line …

I was however inspired by the black bird's deep ebony color. I instantly thought of the deep dark ooey gooey center of a chocolate molten lava cake.

These chocolate molten lava cakes are perfect for any special occasion. It has become a tradition at my house to make them on New Year's Eve and I always serve them with vanilla (or peppermint) ice-cream and raspberries.

They are incredibly decadent and fancy (although easy to make). The key is to not over bake them. You want to pull them out of the oven before they are "done" so you get that runny chocolate center that bursts out when you dive in for your first bite.

I always make and serve them in ramekins. You can always flip them out onto plates (I never want to chance braking the cake though). Either way, they look adorable—little individual cakes for every guest.

Here's my mom's Chocolate Molten Cake recipe that we have been making for years as well as some of my favorite dark nail polish colors:

Chocolate Molten Cakes 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter 3 eggs 3 egg yokes 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup flour 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Butter 8 ramekins generously and dust lightly with baking cocoa. Melt chocolate and butter in a double broiler, stirring constantly. Remove from heat once completely melted and combined. Cool slightly.

Whisk eggs and egg yolks in a small bowl. Add the chocolate mixture, confectioners' sugar, flour and vanilla. Mix well. Divide among the prepared ramekins. Bake for 10-11 minutes or just until the centers look barely set (the inside should remain liquid). Do not over bake! Serve in ramekins or run a knife around the edges of the ramekins to loosen cakes. Flip cakes onto individual serving plates. Serve immediately with ice-cream and raspberries.

Makes 8 individual cakes.

Nail Polish

Another one of my very favorite things is neutral colored nail polish. Dark rich browns and grays are perfect for the holidays. Here are my (and my sister Abby's) favorite colors: