Christmas Dinner Party with Molten Lava Cakes

I have discovered that I love to throw a dinner party! I am in a dinner group with 7 other women that love to cook. We each a take a month and host a dinner for the rest. It is the best organized group thing I have ever done with friends - seriously! It was a genius idea (although not mine)... I mean, what can be better than going to a friend's house and being served a delicious meal and not having to lift a finger... or pay a bill! And the best part is you get to enjoy it amongst some of your favorite people. I was loving being the guest so much, I had no idea how much I would enjoy being the hostess!! I had a great time setting and decorating the table and planning the menu. I thought it would be fun to post it here for you all to look over. (Click on the links to see pictures...I was too busy that night to take pictures of the food!) Who knows, maybe there are a few of you out there that need some menu ideas for a dinner party? I liked this one because it was a good mix of simple, elegant and fun.

Christmas Dinner Party Menu
submitted by Brittany

appetizer: Holiday Brie en Croute

dinner: Cranberry Pork Roast

Fresh Green Beans with Honey Cashew Sauce

Roasted Root Vegetables

Buttermilk Rolls with Homemade Strawberry Jam

dessert: Molten Lava Cakes served with vanilla bean icecream

Since almost all the recipes are on the blog, I just posted the links... except for the decadent dessert Molten Lava Cakes. Oh wow. That is all that needs to be said. It is my own twist on this usually darkly delicious dessert. I like it just a smidgen sweeter and a little more fudgy rather than cakey.

Molten Lava Cakes
(adapted from The Neelys recipe on foodnetwork)
submitted by Brittany at The Sisters Cafe
 
1 cup butter (2 sticks), plus more for ramekins
4 tsp sugar (for sprinkling in ramekins)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch cayenne pepper
pinch nutmeg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 extra large eggs
5 extra large egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter 8 (6 oz) ramekins and sprinkle each with 1/2 tsp sugar.
In a saucepan combine butter, spices and chocolate over low heat until melted and smooth; stirring frequently. Cool slightly.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, eggs and yolks, and vanilla extract until creamy. Add melted chocolate to the batter and whisk together. Pour into prepared ramekins.
Bake cakes until the top is stiff and cracked and the edges are dark, about 12-14 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges with a small paring knife then invert onto plates while warm.
*If you over bake these cakes, they will not have a molten center. It will be more like a brownie. Hardly worth all this effort for a brownie!! So make sure you don't bake them too long.