Molten Chocolate Nutella Cakes

Happy World Nutella Day 2014!!! The dessert I am featuring today is a molten chocolate Nutella cake. These are basically individually-sized chocolate cakes with the flavor of Nutella, and a liquidy chocolate center. I have made molten chocolate cakes before, but they did not turn out as well as these did, and not only because these are Nutella-flavored. I used my own homemade Nutella for these cakes. One word of caution: I erred on the side of baking longer, because I would hate to serve a cake raw, especially one containing eggs. Therefore, I may have overbaked mine a tad. There was still a molten center, but not as molten as it could have been. Be sure to take the cakes out when the tops are just set and begin to crack, as they need to rest for five minutes before serving and will continue baking inside the ramekins. Of course, this is for optimal molten centers; it still tastes great, but will just be a simple cake if baked longer. The cake is also good cold or reheated in the microwave. Enjoy with a dusting of icing sugar and/or a dollop of extra Nutella!

Molten Chocolate Nutella Cakes
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
1 cup Nutella
1/4 - 1/2 cup icing sugar, optional*
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425◦F. Grease and flour four ramekins and place on a baking sheet.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and yolks with an electric mixer until pale yellow-colored and frothy, about three minutes. Mix in the flour. Mix in remaining ingredients. 
Divide batter evenly among ramekins. Bake for 12-14 minutes until cakes are just set and begin to crack on the top, do not overbake or the centers will not be molten. Let cool for five minutes. The cakes may then be loosened gently with a knife and turned onto a plate for presentation, but can also be served directly from the ramekins if preferred. 

*The amount of sugar depends on both your personal preferences and the type of Nutella you use. If commercial Nutella is used, no added sugar is necessary but 1/4 cup may be used for those with sweet preferences. If homemade Nutella is used, it depends of course on how sweet you made that, it it has almost as much sugar as normal Nutella, than it can be treated as normal Nutella, but if you held back on sugar like I did, 1/4 cup of sugar will do, but those with a sweet tooth may prefer 1/2 cup. 

Here you can see the molten center. On the back of the plate (it is more visible in the first photo) you can see a Nutella cookie. I will be featuring this soon! 

For more information on World Nutella Day, please visit: http://nutelladay.com/, as well as the blogs
 http://msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/ 
and
 http://bleedingespresso.com/