Chocolate Fondant - A true chocolate heaven!

Gooey chocolate fondant 

Chocolate fondant, served with Crème Fraiche

Soft and gooey centre...just perfect!

This is an exceptional pudding for a true chocoholic. The thought of a rich spongy cake filled with a gooey centre is enough to make them goes weak in the knee. Timing is of the utter most important when making this pudding. You want the cake just be cooked enough to have a moist sponge-like texture on the outside, yet when cut into it, you are greeted with a melting river of rich chocolate sauce...mmmm. The best thing about this recipe is that the fondant mixture can be make days in advance and freeze until there comes a time when you need to feed you chocolate urges.

Recipe:

(makes 4)

25g melted butter, for bushing the ramekins

cocoa powder, for dusting

100g good quality dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa, chopped into small pieces

100g butter, room temperature

100g caster sugar

2 medium free-range eggs plus 2 yolk

100g flour, sifted

Good quality vanilla ice cream or crème fraiche, to serve

Icing sugar, for dusting

Prepare the moulds. Brush the melted butter all over the inside of the ramekins and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to chill. Brush more butter over the now chilled butter, then add a good spoonful of cocoa powder into the ramekins. Tip the ramekins so that the powder completely coats the butter and pour away any excess cocoa. This help to prevent the fondant from sticking to the side and thereby rise evenly.

Slowly melt the chocolate and the butter together in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, careful not to let the base of the bowl touches the water.. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and yolks together with the sugar until thick and pale. To test, the mixture should be thick enough for the whisk to leave a trail or it should coat the back of a spoon. Gently fold in the melted chocolate and butter in thirds, and then sifted flour, until the mixture is complete combined to a loose cake batter. 

Divide the fondant mixture evenly between the ramekins and chill . The fondant can now be chill for at least 20 minutes until needed, or even frozen for up to a month.

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC. Place the fondant on a baking tray for 8-10 minutes until the tops have formed a crust and they are starting to come away from the sides of the ramekins. If cook from frozen, add another 4 minutes to the cooking time. Remove from the oven and leave to sit for 1 minutes before turning out.

Serves immediately with a dust of icing sugar and some vanilla ice cream or crème fraiche.