Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth with The Anchor Spa’s Chef Kendall Thigpen’s Molten Lava Cake

September 20, 2022

Need to satisfy your late-night sweet tooth craving? New Haven local Kendall Thigpen, Chef at The Anchor Spa has you covered. With every great chef and recipe, there comes an even greater backstory. Growing up, you could always find him alongside his great-grandmother and grandmother in the kitchen cooking up meals for the entire family. It’s from his roots, his family, where he finds his greatest source of inspiration that he brings to the New Haven culinary scene.

“My great grandmother NEVER let us change the channel when visiting. That resulted in watching a lot of Emeril and Julia Child, which in turn, piqued my interest in cooking,” Thigpen remembers.

After three years of working his way up the ladder in the restaurant industry, he found himself at the helm of The Anchor Spa in the heart of downtown New Haven. With a longstanding run on College Street, The Anchor Spa has welcomed celebrities, including the likes of Lucille Ball, Jim Morrison, and Yale alumna Jodie Foster. Following its reopening in 2016, The Anchor Spa continues to serve up its famous jerk-style favorites and classic cocktails. Chef Kendall Thigpen’s favorite menu item? The rasta pasta.

When he’s not serving up dishes at The Anchor Spa, Chef Kendall Thigpen also enjoys making simple recipes at home. So, if you’re looking for an easy-to-make dessert to satisfy your late-night sweet tooth craving, try out Chef Kendall Thigpen’s recipe for his decadent chocolate Molten Lava Cake:

Ingredients

• 6 oz. Semi-sweet chips
• 4 oz. Unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4th cup of sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 T flour

Instructions

• Melt butter and chocolate with a double boiler.
• Mix eggs, egg yolks, sugar and salt together.
• Slowly mix in 1/3 of the chocolate butter mixture with the egg mixture.
• Take the egg chocolate mixture and pour it with the rest of the chocolate.
• Mix in flour.
• In 4″ aluminum tins, spray non-stick and ladle 6 Oz. of the batter into each tin.
• Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.
• Enjoy with whip cream or vanilla ice cream!

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