Chocolate Fondant & A Long Weekend

If you have work or school tomorrow then I would advise you to stop reading now.I'd hate to make you jealous.Luckily for me I have the pleasure of a rare long weekend this week.For no apparent reason my school is closed tomorrow and as a result my weekend actually began today .Honestly,I could do a four day week every week.Anyway to kick start my weekend,I decided to whip up something easy yet deliciously decadent.And this chocolate fondant from Lorraine Pascale's book Baking Made Easy is decadence personified.

This recipe is so simple.It contains very few ingredients,most of which you will definitely have on hand.The butter is melted and the finely chopped chocolate is added,melted by the residual heat from the butter.In the meantime the eggs are whipped with the sugar to a mousse like texture.The melted butter and chocolate is then stirred through followed by the flour.The mixture is then divided up between the individual ramekins and popped into the oven to bake.

Looking back now,choosing black plates was a disastrous decision seen as condensation can clearly be seen because of how hot the fondants were,but at the time my mind was probably more preoccupied with getting my teeth into them,than choosing suitable serving plates.

Lorraine's book states that these little babies only take about 10-12 minutes.Now usually I take everything out about 2 minutes earlier then what a recipe states as my oven is like a super oven and cooks everything in about half the time.However,these were different.These actually ended up taking more like 15 minutes to cook but trust me,the wait was worth it.If you don't believe me,feast your eyes on the mouth watering molten centre of the fondant below!

Just look at that volcano of melted chocolate!
Overall,these were delicious and I really couldn't fault the flavour.My only slight alteration for the next time I make them would be to use a darker chocolate with a higher cocoa content,purely just to achieve a darker colour on the sponge.But really it's what's on the inside that counts ;)

Chocolate Fondants
110g(4oz)butter,plus 40g(1 1/2 oz)extra,melted for greasing
1 tbsp cocoa
110g(4oz)caster sugar,plus 1 tbsp extra for coating
110g(4oz)good quality chocolate finely chopped
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
110g(4oz)plain flour

1.Grease 4 dariole mould or ramekins with the 40g melted butter.Mix the cocoa powder and tbsp of caster sugar in a bowl then put this mixture in the mould,tilting and turning them so the mixture sticks to the butter.Tip out any excess.
2.Melt the rest of the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat.Remove from the heat and add the chocolate and leave to melt.
3.Preheat the oven to 180C(350F)Gas mark 4.Whisk the eggs and yolks in a large bowl until they start to thicken.Then gradually add the sugar in 2-3 additions,whisking all the time.The mixture should become thick,pale and mousse-like.
4.Stir the melted chocolate and butter mixture then gradually pour it into the whisked eggs,whisking all the time.The chocolate is heavy and sinks to the bottom so check none is hiding!Sift in the flour and whisk briefly.
5.Divide the mixture among the prepared moulds and bake for 10-12 minutes(mine took 15).The tops should be firm and the middle should remain molten.
6.Once the fondants are ready,leave to cool for a minute or two,then use oven gloves to place a serving plate upside down on top of the mould.Hold everything together and turn the whole lot over so the plate is now on the bottom.Put the plate on the work surface and gently shake the mould until the fondant plops out.If you find it refuses to come out take a small knife and run it between the mould and the fondant to loosen it a little.
7.Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.