Foolproof chocolate & coffee fondants
Gooey chocolate puds are a restaurant classic and mastering this show-off dessert is a lot easier than you think
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Prep:20 mins
Cook:12 mins
Plus chilling - Serves 6
- More effort
Nutrition per serving
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kcal 635
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fat 42g
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saturates 23g
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carbs 60g
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sugars 44g
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fibre 2g
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protein 9g
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salt 0.52g
Ingredients
- 175g butter, plus extra melted butter for greasing
- cocoa powder, for dusting
- 175g good-quality dark chocolate (we used 70%)
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 50ml good-quality black coffee (we used espresso coffee)
- 85g plain flour
- vanilla ice cream, to serve
Tip
Restaurant tipChef's tricks to ensure a perfect fondant are greasing the moulds twice, getting cooking time perfect and making the mixture well in advance and cooking from chilled.Restaurant tip
A pastry chef would never make fondants at the last minute, as they hold so well in the fridge or freezer. They can be made several hours ahead and chilled before cooking; or freeze, then cook from frozen for 15 minutes.Restaurant tip
Add a splash of coffee to the fondants, to make them even more ‘after-dinner’.Restaurant tip
You can make the fondant without the coffee and add other flavours. A dash of rum, some chopped stem ginger, a sprinkling of cinnamon or even a small pinch of chilli powder all work well.Restaurant tip
The secret to getting the gooey middle is timing. Don’t leave it to chance or estimate – make sure you set a timer to exactly 12 minutes.
Method
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Use a pastry brush to grease 6 dariole moulds or individual pudding basins really well and place in the fridge for the butter to set. Then grease again, dust with cocoa powder and set aside.
Melt the butter and chocolate together over a pan of barely simmering water, then remove. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and eggs together until light and fluffy. Fold the chocolate and beaten egg together, then add the coffee and finally fold through the flour.
Divide the mixture between the darioles. The puddings can now be frozen or chilled. Place on a baking tray and bake for exactly 12 mins until the mixture has puffed up and formed a crust but still has a slight wobble to it. Turn the puddings out onto serving plates and serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream for a great contrast of hot and cold.
