Recipe of a Week: Easier than you ever would have expected Chocolate Fondant

Creme brule, tiramisu, cheesecake, and.... chocolate fondant! These are the favorites which always catch my eye on a restaurant's dessert menu, and although each one of them are delicious favorites in their own way, it's not often that I come across one that is done incredibly well. Creme brule without a crunchy top, tiramisu with too soggy of angel fingers, cheesecake which is too gelatinous...

Chocolate fondant is probably the one that seemed the hardest to get right of the lot ("How do they get the hot, liquidy, chocolate center into the middle of the cake? Do they inject it like a jelly donut?"). So I knew that undertaking this difficult treat would be hit or miss.... until I realized it's not difficult at all. In fact, this seemingly impossible French dessert is so simple, the French probably would prefer that I don't tell you how to do it. But who cares what the French think, right?
You'll need:

50 g (half of a bar) dark chocolate - 70% seems to be perfect
50 g butter
60g powdered sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
50 g flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

2-3 ramekins or baking rings

cocoa powder for dusting

Start with a small pot with a bowl in (double boiler), and melt the butter and chocolate together. Stir until completely melted and evenly mixed together, then remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.











Next, mix the egg and egg yolk with the powdered sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Then, whisk in the chocolate butter mixture by hand, and then finally sift in the flour/baking powder and fold in until the entire batter is nice and smooth.













Pour the batter evenly between 2-3 ramekins/baking rings, which have been buttered and dusted with cocoa powder, and place in a preheated (170C/350F) oven.













This is the only tricky part. You can't let them cook too long, and they have to cook long enough for the tops to be baked. If you take them out too early, the fondant is still runny. Take them out too late, and you have a brownie. You'll thus need to watch it closely and remove them right when you see the top has just become baked. I've found that 170 C for 14 minutes is perfect.

This will ensure a deliciously baked outside, and a soft, gooey, chocolatey center. Fondant!

Remove the warm fondants from the ramekins/baking rings, and place on a plate, dust with powdered sugar, and garnish in one of several different ways - fresh fruit sauce, ice cream or sorbet, fresh mint, vanilla sauce, chocolate sauce, or just eat it plain.


The next time you receive a snide look from an arrogant waiter in a restaurant because their fondant is amazing, you look that waiter right in the eyes and let that S.O.B. know that you can do it just the same!

Fondant!