Chili's White Chocolate Molten Cake

adapted from: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3

1 box Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Butter

       Recipe Golden Cake Mix

2/3 c. water

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened

3 eggs

18 oz. (3 cups) white chocolate chips

1/4 c. plus 2 tsp. heavy whipping cream

1 (16 oz.) box frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed

8 scoops vanilla ice cream

*This recipe looks very long, but it is just detailed, because this is so easy!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Make the cake batter following the directions on the box and pour 1/2 cup of batter into the greased cups of a large (Texas-size) muffin pan.  If your pan has six cups, bake the cakes in two batches of 4 cakes each.  Bake for 25-30 minutes (mine were plenty done at 25 min.) or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean.  Let cool for 15 minutes, then turn all of the cakes out of the pan.  

While the cakes cool, measure 9 oz. or 1 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips into a microwave-safe dish.  Add the heavy cream and microwave for 30 seconds.  Stir; then microwave for 30 seconds more.  Let this cool for 15-20 minutes to thicken.  The cakes will be served upside down, so you may have to slice a bit of the dome top off each cake to help it lay flat when inverted.  A serrated knife works best for this.  After you've flipped over all of the cooled cakes, use a sharp paring knife to cut out a 1 1/2-inch diameter cylindrical chunk in the center of the bottom (now the top) of each cake.  The hole should be about 1 1/2-inches deep.  Remove chunk and slice off the top.  Spoon 2-3 Tablespoons of the white chocolate filling into each of the holes.  Place the top back over the filled cupcake, then store the cakes in a sealed container in the refrigerator.  

Make the strawberry sauce by pureeing the strawberries with syrup in a blender until smooth.  When you're ready to serve, pour the remaining 9 oz. (1 1/2 cups) of white chocolate chips into a microwave-safe dish and microwave for 30 seconds, then stir and microwave for 30 seconds more.  Heat up each cake in the microwave for 30 seconds or until you see the filling bubble.  Drizzle the strawberry sauce onto each serving plate.  Place a warm cake on the strawberry sauce, then place a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the top of the cake.  Drizzle approximately 1 1/2 Tablespoons of melted white chocolate over the ice cream and serve right away with a spoon.  Repeat for each dessert.  Makes 8 desserts.  

Jenn's Notes:  Right when I saw this recipe, I had to make it, therefore I made due with what I had in my pantry.  Instead of using the recommended cake mix, I used a French Vanilla one.  It turned out extremely light and fluffy and because of that, it absorbed a lot of the molten filling.  I would like to try again with the right cake mix and see how it turns out.  Next time, I would only microwave the hollowed-out cake by itself, hurry and add the molten filling, top with ice cream and serve.  That way, it won't have much time to absorb the filling.  I served with this banana ice cream, drizzled with white chocolate and garnished with coconut!  It was yummy, but not very oozy?  I love this idea though!