Individual Chocolate Cakes with Salted Butter Caramel Sauce

If you frequent A Bee Bakes, you’ve probably noticed that I’m a huge fan of David Lebovitz. He’s an American chef who bakes, cooks, and writes out of Paris. He has yet to let me down with a recipe and this one is another one of his.

I don’t really know how to describe this cake, so I went with “individual.” I struggled to find the perfect word:

Light? Nope, there’s definitely sugar, butter, and chocolate.

Airy? Not really, because while it’s airy and light in texture, it’s still rich in taste.

Fondant (meaning melted inside) or Lava? Almost. It has a soft center that oozes a bit when struck with a fork, but it’s not your typical, fudge rushing out fondant au chocolat. So, almost, but nope.

Spongy? Meh, see above re. light and airy.

Chocolate? When I think of chocolate cake, I think of a traditional American cake with a thick layer of chocolate buttercream or chocolate icing. This is not that.

Warm? David uses this term and I think it’s the best to describe the cake. It is indeed served warm.

To be the best judge, you’d better just try it yourself. If you aren’t already sold on the chocolate cake part of it, then perhaps knowing that its served with an easy and decadent caramel sauce, you might be. It’s not a super salty caramel. Instead, it’s a caramel used with salted butter and the option of adding a pinch or two of salt at the end. It’s perfect. And it goes perfectly with the cake. In fact, it almost makes the cake a fondant au caramel, or a caramel filled lava cake. When I make this, I halve the cake recipe to make 4 little cakes and keep the caramel sauce as is. Who doesn’t like having some additional caramel sauce in the fridge?

Thanks again, David Lebovitz!