German cookbook editor and writer Chrisin Geweke was only four years old when she discovered a love of baking while helping her mother conjure all kinds of sweet treats. She hopes the recipes in her new cookbook, Fairytale Baking, will bring up childhood memories for other people – just like the fairytales that begin each chapter.

These mini lava cakes are from the chocolate-themed chapter Mother Holle (from the German fairytale of the same name).

Mini Lava Cakes

Makes 6–8

Ingredients

½ cup (120g) butter
100g dark chocolate
100g milk chocolate
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp sugar
1½ tbsp vanilla sugar
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
About 50g white chocolate

Also:
Butter, for greasing
Cocoa powder, for dusting

Method

Preheat the oven to 210C (410F). Butter six to eight small silicone baking moulds or ovenproof cups, about 8cm in diameter. Dust the moulds with cocoa powder.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, break both types of chocolate into pieces. Take the saucepan off the heat. Add the chocolate to the melted, hot butter and stir to melt. Leave the mixture to cool.

Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla sugar for a few minutes until thick and foamy. Slowly stir in the cooled chocolate butter. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt and gently fold into the mixture. Divide the batter among the moulds to fill them about three-quarters full. Coarsely chop the white chocolate. Push a few pieces into the centre of each cake, ensuring that the white chocolate is completely covered with batter.

Bake the cakes for 8–10 minutes, depending on the mould size. They should still be liquid in the centre. (If you want to be sure, bake a trial lava cake to check how long they take to cook to perfection.)

Remove the lava cakes from the oven and leave to cool briefly. Invert onto serving plates and serve warm.

Images and Text from Fairytale Baking, by Christin Gewek. Photography by Yelda Yilmaz. Published this month by Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99.