Alice Medrich had an article in Fine Cooking Magazine describing chocolate lava cakes as precisely timed individual souffles that were undercooked enough to ooze "chocolate lava" when broken open. She proposed a more flexible method by cooking a souffle batter with a center of chocolate ganache that didn't fail if over baked. I found this recipe on the web, but Medrich gives much more elegant variations in her article. This recipe version serves 10.

Ingredients

Ganache
4 oz good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
3 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Batter
14 oz good quality semi-sweet chocolate
8 oz unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla
6 eggs, separated
2/3 cup cake flour, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar

Ganache

Chop the chocolate into thick slivers and place in a bowl.