Chocolate puddle cakes and the Epicurean Classic

Two weeks ago I spent the weekend in Traverse City, Michigan to participate in the Epicurean Classic. The Epicurean Classic is an annual event that gathers cookbook authors, chefs and culinary professionals for two days of cooking demonstrations, wine seminars, and lots of tastings. It was the best of all worlds—top notch culinary people and nice, nice, locals all enjoying tasty food and drink.

I was there to promote Small Plates Perfect Wines, a book I collaborated on with two great guys from Kendall-Jackson, chef Justin Wangler and wine master Randy Ullom. The weekend was totally fun and everyone loved the recipes, especially the Warm Chocolate Puddle Cake so I thought I’d share it. But, first a little bit more about the Epicurean Classic and Traverse City.

The event itself is held at the Great Lakes Culinary Institute, which is situated right on the lake offering spectacular views of the bay and the peninsulas. The school has an awesome staff and student body, who were so great to turn over their kitchens and lend a helping hand to all of us visiting cooks.

And what a line up of “cooks” it was, from one of my all-time heroes Joyce Goldstein, the iconic Mediterranean expert to Raghavan Iyer, who made such a delicious curry dish I bought his tome on the subject despite it almost sending my luggage over the weight limit! Seriously, it was a weekend of heavy hitters that included cheese expert Laura Werlin, all-around great cook and author Diane Morgan, brilliant memoirist Kim Sunee, fun-loving Joey Altman, fabulous Santa Ynez chef Leonardo Curti, raw food master Matthew Kenney, savvy Cree Lefavour, southern belleMartha Foose, Mexican cuisine afficianado Deborah Schneider, sandwich queen Carlyn Berghoff , and fat and bone guru Jennifer MacLagan.

It was a busy weekend—so busy I never got to visit the wineries that line both peninsulas. I would have loved to tour a few, including Black Star Farms, which has a fairly unique set up that includes making cheese and eau de vin on site in addition to making wine.

Lucky for me, a bottle of Black Star Farms was opened with dessert on Thursday night I was able to join a group of friends at Cook’s House, a restaurant so tiny it barely seats a dozen diners. The restaurant’s miniscule kitchen turns out a handful of menu items, including a local fish, the walleye. That night it was pan roasted to a perfect, almost-crispness and served over a bed of arugula. It was so delicious it made me want to buy a fishing pole and head out to the lake.

The next night I was hosted by Firefly, a restaurant with the friendliest and most professional staff I’ve encountered in a long time. The chef, Thomas Kelly did a fantastic job creating a menu of small dishes from Small Plates Perfect Wines as well as from Deborah Schneider’s book, Cooking with the Seasons from Rancho La Puerta.

I made the puddle cakes during both of my demos and I learned as much as the audience. The first day I forgot the sugar and overcooked them a little—it’s just counterintuitive to pull cakes with a jiggling center out of the oven. The result was a cake that was more pudding than puddle in the center, but still totally delicious.

I paired this cake with Port, because the sweet chocolate and sugar will make wine without residual sugar taste a little astringent. But, if you want to serve it with red wine try eliminating the sugar and substituting red wine for the coffee liqueur.

Warm Chocolate Puddle Cakes
Makes 6 cakes

6 tablespoons unsalted butter 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus sugar to taste
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur. plus extra
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Heavily butter and lightly flour six 4- to 6-ounce ramekins. Knock out the excess flour.

In a double boiler over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, and the 1/3 cup sugar. Stir in the 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur. Whisk in the chocolate mixture, then fold in the flour. Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake until firm at edges and glossy and barely set in the center, 9 to 11 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes on the pan.

In a deep bowl, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Season to taste with sugar and coffee liqueur.

Run a sharp knife around edges of cakes to loosen. Invert each cake onto one of 6 small plates and top each with a dollop of the whipping cream.

What to drink: Kendall-Jackson Port or Vintner’s Reserve Zinfandel.