Just Three Words

Today I have only three words for you. . . Molten Chocolate Cakes.

Last night was Ladies' Night. This happens twice a month when John takes care of the girls and I get to go and spend some fun times with a few other American ladies. We chat and laugh and sometimes cry. We tell stories of our kids' antics, where we found that great imported cheese, and how things are going in our life with Father. Usually food is involved in some way; several weeks ago we met at Pizza Hut (yes, we have a Pizza Hut in our city and it is actually almost a fine-dining experience) where we tried their version of cheesecake and pronounced it "very good."

But last night Ladies' Night was at my house. True, it did mean that I didn't quite get away from the children, though they both agreeably went to sleep fairly early in the evening. Also, since John was managing them (except for nursing Chloe) I still was able to do my fair share of relaxing and chatting. And last night I had found a great recipe that I wanted to try for Molten Chocolate Cakes.

It was in the Joy of Cooking, hidden way away near the end of the cakes chapter. Their chapter on cakes is so extensive that I had never really read the whole thing until recently. But when I found this recipe, and looked over the ingredients, I was surprised to discover that something so decadent and rich could be easily made in my kitchen.

There are only five ingredients: chopped semisweet chocolate which is melted slowly with butter, egg whites which are beaten stiff with just a touch of cream of tartar to stabilize and sugar to sweeten. Then the egg whites are folded into the chocolate mixture and baked in a muffin tin that has been buttered and sugared. The mixture puffs high and then falls dramatically after being removed from the oven, and the centers stay gooey.

Voila! Molten Chocolate Cakes!

The Joy of Cooking said these were worthy of a elegant dinner party. Well, I am happy to tell you, they were also worthy of a lovely ladies' night. We ate our cakes, topped with fresh whipped cream, in my sparkly, twinkly living room, with our feet up on the coffee table and the Charlie Brown Christmas CD playing its jazzy themes in the background.

Ahh. Now that's nice.