Hot Chocolate Fondant

Feb 8 2008 by Jane Hall, The Journal

(Serves six)

RICH, hot, sticky and sweet, this dessert is chocolate heaven and presses all the right buttons as a chocolate lover’s comfort food.

While cooked on the outside, it’s sticky, gooey and melts in the middle. Make sure you only use high quality chocolate with a high cocoa content – you’ll really taste the difference.

INGREDIENTS

250g of unsalted butter

30g of cocoa powder

250g of plain chocolate

135g of plain flour

Two eggs

200g of caster sugar

METHOD

Grease six ramekins with butter, dust them with some of the cocoa powder and chill them in the freezer for at least 10 minutes. Break the chocolate into pieces and put in a heat-proof bowl that’s over water simmering in a pan. Once it’s all melted, gently mix in the butter.

Sieve the flour and remaining cocoa powder into a bowl. Whisk the eggs and sugar in another bowl until pale and fluffy. Then using a metal spoon, rather than stir, gently fold in the butter/chocolate mix, followed by the flour/cocoa powder mix. Spoon the mixture into the ramekins until each is three-quarters filled. Tap to remove air bubbles, cover with cling film and chill for at least a couple of hours.

This can be done well in advance as you can do the final cooking after you’ve finished your main course. Heat the oven to 200°C (gas mark 7), and bake the ramekins for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow them to cool for a couple of minutes and then turn them out on to individual serving plates. You could serve them with a chocolate sauce or fresh pouring cream.

Recipe taken from Oldfields Restaurants cookbook, Passion for Real Food, out now and available in good bookshops. For discounted copies contact us on (0191) 370-9595 or go to www.oldfieldsrestaurants.com