Chocolate Lava Pie
When I worked at a restaurant in Wexford, my home town in Ireland, this was their bestseller. After making literally hundreds of these luscious chocolate tarts, I figured out the perfect timing to ensure that each one came out with just the right gooey chocolate center. I’ve tweaked the recipe here to make one big pie so you don’t need to fuss with individual dishes. Follow the instructions exactly to create the creamy lava in the middle and when you serve it at a dinner party you’ll get plenty of ooohs and ahhs.
Makes 8 servings
- 1 recipe Never-Fail Pie Crust
- 6 tablespoons (¾ stick/85 grams) butter
- ½ cup (3 ounces/85 grams) chopped bittersweet chocolate
- 2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup (57 grams) sugar
- ¼ cup (35 grams) all-purpose flour
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
2 Roll out the pie dough into a 13-inch round and lay it in the pie pan. Trim away any excess dough from around the edge.
3 Put the butter and chocolate in a small heatproof bowl and melt them together in the microwave or over a bain-marie. Set aside to cool while you beat the eggs.
4 Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a handheld electric mixer, beat the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar on high speed until the mixture is really fluffy and pale in color and forms a ribbon on the surface when the beater is lifted out. This takes around 4 minutes.
5 Decrease the mixer speed to low and drizzle in the cooled chocolate mixture. Turn off the machine and run a spatula around the bowl to make sure all the chocolate is mixed in.
6 Sift the flour over the chocolate mixture and gently fold it in until combined.
7 Pour the chocolate filling into your pie crust.
8 Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the edges are set but the center still jiggles slightly; take care not to overbake—you want a fudgy middle. Set aside on a wire rack to cool slightly.
9 Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream. Store any leftovers in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days.
