Wedding Cake- Before and After

One of my favorite parts of wedding planning was tastings.  I expected to have a hard time choosing which baker to hire but for me the decision was clear- Christine Dahl.  Her cakes were head and shoulders above everyone else’s in my opinion.  Mark preffered Montecito Confections so we ended up getting our Half Dome groom’s cake from them.   Our wedding cake had two flavors: devil’s food with chocolate ganache, white chocolate mousse, raspberries and hazelnuts and lemon chiffon with lemon curd, raspberries and white chocolate mousse.  The groom’s cake was Tiramisu.  Both were a big hit with our guests.   So, why am I writing about this tonight?  We dug into the top of our wedding cake in our hotel on our wedding night but we did put part of it in the freezer the next day.  We decided since we didn’t package it well we should eat it on our 6 month anniversary instead of one year.  Our 6 month anniversary was Monday but we forgot until I was cleaning out the freezer tonight.  Mark was worried it would make us sick but we had to try it.  It wasn’t too bad, but definitely didn’t taste like our wedding day.  I really liked the fondant, but then I love Cadbury eggs so I guess that makes sense.   

Lava Flow Chocolate Cake

I have been tempted not to share this recipe since we have been able to wow so many dinner guests with this amazing yet simple cake, but it’s really too good not to share. While Mark and I were on our honeymoon in Costa Rica we spent a few nights at the Four Seasons Papagayo. During our stay we made one of the best decisions of our lives (or maybe just our culinary lives) and took a cooking class. In that class we learned how to make their mouth-watering lava cake.

Four Seasons Lava Cake, with our adaptations
Ingredients
-2 c semisweet chocolate chips or 1 c chocolate chips and 1 large dark chocolate bar
-1 c butter, sliced
-1 c powdered sugar
-3 egg yolks
-4 whole eggs
-1/2 c flour

Melt chocolate and butter in a glass bowl in the microwave at 30 second intervals. Stir until smooth. Fold in sugar. Fold in flour. Add eggs little by little. Divide between 6 ramekins greased cups. Bake at 375 degrees until outside is cooked and center is still gooey. The recipe says 10-15 minutes but it usually takes ours about 20. Let cool for a minute, go around the edge of the cup with a knife to loosen. Place a plate on top of the ramekin and turn upside down until cake falls out on plate. Top with powdered sugar.