Chocolate Lava Cake with Orange Mascarpone Cream, Candied Kumquats and Cinnamon Vanilla Syrup

The droopy headed purple, green and white hellebores, with their delicate necks and happily painted petals are filling up the side yard, and bright citrus in every form is demanding your attention at the market. Tiny little orange kumquats turn into this chewy tart sweet delight when cooked in a simple syrup. Pair them with a chocolate lava cake, top it with orange mascarpone cream, and pour over the cinnamon vanilla syrup from the poached petite fruit…WOW!

Chocolate Lava Cake

• 215 g heavy cream
• 113 g butter (+ extra for greasing ramekins)
• 188 g sugar
• 50 g flour (King Arthur gluten free)
• 100 g cocoa
• 50 g egg yolk
• 125 g eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 4 ramekins.

Blend butter and sugar, slowly add eggs and then flour, cocoa and at the end the cream. Fill greased ramekins. Bake approximately 12 minutes. Run knife around the edges and invert onto a dessert plate.

Candied Kumquats

• Kumquats
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• salt – a pinch
• cream of tartar – a pinch
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 vanilla bean – split and seeds scraped

Prick the kumquats all over with a toothpick. In a shallow pot, add water to cover and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and let cool (about 30 minute) then drain. Repeat this step 2 more times. The fourth time, cover with 1 cup water. Add sugar, salt, cream of tartar, cinnamon stick and vanilla bean. Bring to a boil and immediately lower to a simmer for 1 hour uncovered. Cool. Your kitchen will be filled with the sweet aroma of orange cinnamon vanilla.

The kumquats should be a translucent dark amber. Remove them from the syrup with a slotted spoon onto a cooling rack to drain. When completely cooled, roll them in sugar. Refrigerate the syrup.

Orange Mascarpone Cream

• 1 orange – (zest for garnish) juice reduced over high heat to 1 tsp syrup
• 4 oz mascarpone cheese – room temperature
• 2 tbs confectioner sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream

In a stand mixer, whip mascarpone cheese and heavy cream until light and fluffy. Add sugar and cooled orange syrup. Refrigerate.

A Tuscan Tale

The cooking class was a short distance from the wine estate in a small Tuscan farmhouse kitchen. We were joined by a lovely jovial couple from Wales, in the pharmaceutical business, that had recently sold their chateau and vineyard in Bordeaux. As we’re all getting acquainted, the chef made his way over to me, and murmured in his rhythmic Italian accent, “I am sawray for whatd ‘appened tu you”. Looking nonplussed, I replied, “Pardon?” He continued, “you are de one, no? Wit de truffle ri-so-tto?” With a growing grin, I suddenly understood… “yes, yes, that was me!”

We’d had dinner the night before in the Michelin ristorante. It was a beautiful menu and I started out with the truffle risotto and a glass of Banfi Fontanelle Chardonnay, to be followed by the salt crusted turbot. The fragrant creamy risotto was piled high with truffles. Each bite melting in my mouth. When unexpectedly, the delectable third bite gave way to a hidden object, a metal object! Thankfully, there was no harm done, but what manifest itself from the risotto was a screw! As if that weren’t enough excitement for one meal, the branch like house-made breadsticks that reached high above the taper candles from their parmesan vase, caught fire.

The kitchen was shut down and a thorough investigative search done for the culprit! The mystery was solved – the guilty offender – the truffle shaver.

Case closed. Kitchen reopened. Molta bene, molta molta bene!

This chocolate lava cake recipe is from our cooking class. We made macerated strawberries and topped it with whipped cream and a light crunchy rice topping. I highly recommend the Castello Banfi vineyard estate, and don’t worry about the truffle shaver, I’m sure there will never be another loose screw in that kitchen!