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Today is my blogoversary! Well, truth be told, it was actually yesterday, but it’s all good. My blog, being only a year old, hardly knows the difference and hardly cares which day I choose to celebrate it. Like a little child, I can schedule the celebration for a more convenient day, and it is none the wiser. I’ve had a lot going on lately and I can’t always find the time to post when I want to, so it made more sense to delay my blogoversary celebration by a day so that both my blog and I could enjoy it at our leisure.

It’s funny to look back and think about how and why I started this blog. It really was purely on a whim, just for fun and just as a hobby. I never expected to get all that much out of it. I only posted a handful of times in those first few months, and I shudder to look back on what I was posting. The recipes were fine, although they were neither low carb nor gluten free, and the writing was okay too. But the pictures were gawd-awful! Blurry, artificially lit, and completely uncomposed, such as in these Pumpkin Spice Muffins, or these Maple Walnut Squares. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing and I didn’t realize how much good pictures make or break a blog. But I pride myself on being a quick study and although I really still don’t know what I am doing, I have figured out a few good tricks that work for me and my food. And so many people compliment my photography, I have to believe I am doing something right!

My blog also now has a much greater purpose for me than it did back in it’s infancy. Discovering that I was facing a life-long struggle with diabetes was scary, no question, but my blog has helped immensely. I had to relearn how to cook and bake in ways that wouldn’t put my health at risk, and being able to share my adventures with my readers, successful or not, has kept me on task. It’s helped me maintain the joy I’ve always felt in the kitchen, the excitement when peeking into the oven, knowing that something interesting (and tasty, we hope!) was about to emerge forthwith. And to have some of my readers recreate my dishes and like them is an even better vindication of my blog’s existence.

My blog has been very good to me. It has connected me with some wonderful new friends and exposed me to a whole new world of food. It has brought me a few interesting opportunities that I am just beginning to explore, and perhaps a few more will come along as well. I am grateful for all of this, for my friends and my readers and the whole amazing blogging community. I’ve long had my eye on these delicious lava cakes from Susan at The Urban Baker, one of the amazing people I have connected with through my blog. They seemed like the perfect decadent treat with which to celebrate my blog’s birthday. The original recipe from which Susan adapted hers took so little flour, it was easy to make a low-carb version. I cut the recipe in half so it only made two cakes. One for me, one for my blog!

The Results: These cakes taste as good as they look and I think that’s saying a lot. Deep and chocolatey, with a gooey, melted center that pours out when you break it open. Can you ask any more of a molten chocolate cake? One small word of warning, though. Be sure to butter the ramekins very well, and don’t forget to dust them with cocoa powder or flour. I forgot on my first cake and ended up with only half a cake on my plate, the rest having remained stubbornly behind in the ramekin. It hardly mattered to me, it still tasted great, but it wouldn’t go over so well if you were serving it to guests.

Molten Chocolate Cakes – adapted from The Urban Baker

4 tbsp butter, plus extra for buttering ramekins

6 squares Lindt 85% cacao chocolate

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp granulated erythritol

1 tsp flour

Preheat oven to 450F and butter two 4oz ramekins well. Dust ramekins with cocoa powder and set aside.

Melt butter and chocolate together in a small bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth.

In a medium bowl, beat egg, egg yolk and erythritol together until lightened in colour and thickened. Add chocolate mixture and mix until combined. Stir in flour.

Divide between ramekins. At this point, you could cover and chill for later, just bring back to room temperature before baking.

Bake 6-7 minutes. Sides will be set but center will still be soft.

Invert onto a plate and let sit for 10 seconds or so, then lift one side of ramekin. Cake will fall out onto plate. Serve immediately.