LILI HARRIS (Murfreesboro, Tennessee) enjoys playing baby dolls, coloring, watching movies, and swimming with her grandma, KATHY WILLIAMS. Kathy was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, and now lives in Murfreesboro. Lili shares that Grandma likes to bake yummy things and spend lots of time in her garden. “My grandma wanted my dad to have a good vocabulary, so she read books to him every night. My dad and I read books every night too,” Lili adds.
CAKE:
Vegetable shortening to prepare custard cups
6 ounces semisweet baking chocolate
6 ounces butter, softened, diced
3 large eggs
½ cup sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
VANILLA CREAM SAUCE:
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3 egg yolks
RASPBERRY GARNISH:
10 to 12 large raspberries, fresh or frozen
1 teaspoon sugar, more to taste
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 4 individual custard cups or ramekins and place on a cookie sheet.
2 TO MAKE THE CAKE, in a double boiler on low heat, melt the chocolate, stirring constantly. When melted, remove from the heat. Stir in the diced butter until it melts.
3 In a large bowl beat together the eggs and sugar. Stir in the melted chocolate and then the flour.
4 Pour the chocolate batter into the greased custard cups. Bake for approximately 12 minutes, until the edges are set. The middle should remain soft.
5 Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges of the cakes with a knife and transfer to 4 separate dessert plates while still warm.
6 TO MAKE THE VANILLA CREAM SAUCE, in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the cream and sugar. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the pan. Add the pod. Bring the mixture just to a boil (do not let it boil or it may curdle).
7 In a medium bowl whisk the egg yolks. Whisk half of the cream and sugar mixture into the egg yolks. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook until thickened, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Strain into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. This can be made ahead of time.
8 TO MAKE THE RASPBERRY GARNISH, put fresh or frozen raspberries in a food processor for a few seconds, add sugar to taste; then strain.
9 In a small saucepan, heat the strained raspberry mixture and add the cornstarch, stirring to mix well. Remove from the heat, transfer to a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use. This can be made ahead of time.
10 To serve, spoon the vanilla sauce around each chocolate lava cake on a dessert plate, and dot with the raspberry garnish.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS.