BACI MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F. with the rack in the middle. Butter six (4 ounce or 1/2 cup) ramekins and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Melt the chocolate with the butter in a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan. Warm the eggs in their shells in a small bowl of warm--not hot--tap water for 5 minutes. Dry the eggs and crack them into a large bowl (preferably the bowl of a stand mixer). Beat the eggs with the sugar at medium-high speed until they are thick and pale and ribbon when the beater is lifted up (turn off beater first, of course!), 4 to 5 minutes in a stand mixer, longer with a hand-held. Add the flour, the vanilla, and the salt and mix on medium-low speed until blended. Add the chocolate and mix until the batter is smooth. Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins and smooth the tops. Set the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet and push a Baci candy, tip end down, into the center of each ramekin. Bake the cakes in the oven until the cake portion is set when touched lightly with your finger, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cakes cool slightly for 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge of each ramekin, then invert a dessert plate over each ramekin. Invert each ramekin onto the plate, then carefully lift off ramekins. Serve the cakes warm with small scoops of ice cream.