Eric Wolitzky's Godiva Chocolate Lava Cake

I really enjoyed Top Chef Just Desserts, and although I was thrilled that Yigit Pura, a local boy, won, I admired Eric Wolitzky, a baker, for his ambition and great recipes. Competing against pastry chefs must have been daunting, but he became better and better with presentation as the series went on. It's not all about the flavor, we learned in this show, but a lot about presentation. However, I had no doubts that Eric Woltizky, pastry chef at New York City's Baked, was a fabulous baker! One of the tough things for the viewer is not tasting the creations. With shows like Project Runway, I know what I like, and what works, but with cooking shows, I have to take the word of the judges on taste.

This month Eric Wolitzky's recipe for Godiva Chocolate Lava Cake appeared in  Food & Wine Magazine. Now's your chance to give it a taste. It's not a difficult cake, and I adore bundt cakes! The fudge glaze makes it beautiful, but you can leave it off if you don't have time. The cake is great by itself. The original recipe uses Godiva Dark Chocolate Callets. It was a Godiva challenge. If you don't have Godiva, you can always substitute the dark chocolate you do have on hand. Just make sure it's the highest quality! No counting calories on this one, and forget cholesterol.

ERIC WOLITZKY'S GODIVA CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE

Ingredients
4 ounces Godiva Dark Chocolate Callets
1/2 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon espresso powder
1 cup sour cream
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups pecans (finely chopped or ground in food processor)
1 teaspoon salt
1- 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder
(plus more for dusting pan)
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla
2- 1/4 sticks butter
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder.

In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over Godiva Dark Chocolate Callets and espresso powder and whisk until smooth. Whisk in sour cream and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together flour, ground pecans, confectioners' sugar, cocoa and salt.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 mins). Turn mixer to low and add eggs, yolks and vanilla slowly, scraping down the bowl as necessary until well combined.

Add the dry mixture in three additions alternating with two additions of the chocolate sour cream mixture.

Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth batter and bake for no longer than 45 mins. The edges should start to pull away from sides of pan and the top will looked cracked. A cake tester placed in center will be very wet. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 1½ hrs. Invert onto serving plate and let cool, about 2 hrs. Pour fudge glaze over top of cake and let set for 10 mins.

Fudge Glaze (optional for me!)

2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 tablespoon honey
4 ounces Godiva Dark Chocolate callets
1 or 2 tablespoons Godiva Mocha Liqueur (optional)
1/4 cup Godiva White Chocolate callets

In a medium saucepan combine cream, cocoa powder, espresso powder, corn syrup and honey. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and add the chocolate callets. Whisk and continue cooking for 2 minutes until mixture is bubbling. Take off heat and let cool completely. Pour glaze over top of cake and let set for at least 10 minutes. Melt white chocolate callets and drizzle over cake before serving.

Photo: Food & Wine Magazine