Dolci al Cioccolato

These individual flourless chocolate confections are as much soufflés as they are cakes, incorporating a French meringue in a chocolate–egg yolk base. During baking, the meringue expands and the water in the mixture turns to steam, causing the cake to rise. The cakes are served warm, their centers still slightly liquid, in a pool of chilled, coffee-flavored custard cream sauce.

The cakes can be baked in 125-milliliter (4-ounce) individual soufflé molds, in fluted molds, or, as we do