Warm Double Chocolate Brownie Cakes

Whenever you bake recipes from Emily Luchetti, you can pretty much bet you're in for a full treat. Everything she does has the right balance of ingredients, clear instructions and straightforward preparation. She also clearly has a fondness for chocolate and today's dessert focuses on her easy recipe for dessert brownies.

This is a brownie on the cakey side of the spectrum. The batter is baked in a muffin tin so the edges end up chewy like a brownie while the interior has a soft open crumb. There's melted chocolate that gets folded into the batter. There's also some cocoa powder to steel each bite with extra deep chocolate flavor. And then there's more chopped chocolate added to the batter that melts into the cake. It's definitely a triple threat. Served alongside your favorite ice cream, this is a good dose of pleasure for chocolate aficionados.

Bench notes:

- The eggs and sugar are beaten to the ribbon stage, which takes about 5 - 6 minutes on a stand mixer. This process aerates the batter and ensures the sugar is dissolved to avoid graininess. When you think you've reached the ribbon stage, lift the beater about 6" and let the ribbons of batter fall to the surface. If they hold for a second, it's ready.

- My cakes were done in 18 minutes. To avoid over baking and having them come out too dry, check yours early to see how they're doing. A toothpick inserted should come out with moist crumbs.

- I used semisweet chocolate, natural undutched cocoa and a scant 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

- The brownie cakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Warm Double Chocolate Brownie Cakes

adapted from Emily Luchetti for Food and Wine

Makes 8 cakes

5 oz butter

5 oz milk chocolate, chopped

3 T cake flour

1/3 C all-purpose flour

1/2 C cocoa powder

1/2 t salt

2 eggs

3/4 C sugar

1/2 t vanilla

vanilla ice cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 8 cups in a standard-sized muffin pan with butter and flour.

Melt butter in a saucepan and take off the heat. Add 1/5 (1 oz) of the chopped chocolate and whisk until melted. Cool slightly.

Whisk together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, cocoa powder and salt.

Beat eggs with the sugar until pale and thick and the mixture ribbons when you lift the whisk, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla extract. Beat in the melted chocolate and butter and then add the dry ingredients in three additions, scraping down the bowl. Stir in remaining chopped chocolate.

Portion the cake batter into prepared muffin cups and bake for about 22 minutes or until cakes are risen and spring back when lightly touched. Cool cakes in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack. Serve warm with ice cream.