Chocolate Fondant

Posted by Nicole:

Holidays have started and yes.... finally some time to bake! I love the feeling of coming home, the presence of my family and especially my bed (hehe!) after a week of being on campus. I wanted to welcome myself back home (lol, why would anyone do that!), but also treat my family members to some awesome cake. They haven't been baking recently either so I thought i'd treat them to some heartwarming chocolate fondant.

Isn't eating a chocolate fondant like the feeling of entering some place warm and familiar? Its just like returning home! The textures and temperatures are incredible - the cakey, slightly drier texture on the outside, and the warm, oozy chocolate sauce (or it is ganache?) on the inside, contrasted with the cold, creamy ice cream. Its seriously a party in your mouth!!

I got the recipe from Gordon Ramsay and its pretty easy to follow especially for a dessert that seems so difficult to master. 

Recipe adapted from Food.com

Ingredients

50 g melted butter, for brushing

Cocoa powder, for dusting

200 g dark chocolate, best quality you can get!

200 g butter, chopped into small pieces

200 g golden caster sugar

4 eggs

4 egg yolks

200 g plain flour

Instructions

1. Brush the melted butter all over the inside the moulds. Place them into the fridge or freezer. Once they are chilled, brush more melted butter over the chilled butter, then add a good spoonful of cocoa powder into the mould. Tip the mould so the powder completely coats the butter. Tap any excess cocoa out, and then repeat with all of the moulds.

I used pyrex glass bowl as my moulds. Make sure yours are oven safe!

2. Place a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, and then slowly melt the chocolate and butter together. Remove bowl from heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for about ten minutes.

3. In another bowl whisk the eggs and yolks together with the sugar until thick and pale and the whisk leaves a trail. Sift the flour into the eggs, and then beat together.

4. Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture in thirds, beating well between each addition until all the chocolate is added and the mixture is completely combined to a loose cake batter.

5. Tip the fondant into a jug, then evenly divide between the moulds. These can now be frozen for up to a month and cooked from frozen. If not freezing, chill for a minimum of 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.

6. Heat the oven to 180 Degrees C.

7. Place the fondants on a baking tray then cook for 10-12 minutes until the tops have formed a crust and they are starting to come away from the sides of their moulds. Remove from the oven, and then let them sit for 1 minute before turning out.

8. Loosen the fondants by moving the tops very gently so they come away from the sides, easing them out of the moulds. Tip each one slightly onto your hand so you know that it has come away, then tip back into the mould, put a plate on top and turn it over.

9. Serve with vanilla ice cream (I used coconut ice cream! The combination is still as awesome) 

Love, 

Nicole