CHOCOLATE FONDANT - GORDON RAMSAY'S MASTERCLASS

It is not all piggies for the weekend.   I did baked some goodies too. 

One of them was these Chocolate Fondant- a recipe from Gordan Ramsay's Masterclass in BBC Good Food Magazine January 2011. I have bookmarked the recipe so long ago yet procrastinated till now.   

Everyone seems to be raving and drooling over these little molten cakes or lava cakes.  Finally, pluck up my courage and  fold up my sleeves and get down to baking them.    

Ingredients: 200gm Plain flour, 50 gm melted butter (for brushing) 4 eggs and  2 egg yolks, 200 gm butter, 200 gm good quality dark chocolate (mine was 70% cocoa from Australia, thanks May) 200 gm golden caster sugar which I don't have, so I substituted and reduced to just 180 gm brown sugar.

 Prepare the ramekins or aluminium foil moulds: brush with  melted butter in upward strokes.   Put about 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder into the ramekin and slowing shake it around to coat the ramekins evenly.  Pour out the excess cocoa powder.  Maybe it could be better to use aluminium foil moulds for easier removing. If so, remember to reduce the baking time. 

Melt butter with chopped chocolate over pot of simmering water.  Stir to combine and set aside to cool

 Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugar till pale and thick

 Fold in the chocolate mixture in 3 batches and blend well after each addition.

Divide batter  into the ramekins/moulds.  These can be frozen for up to a month. Place them in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes or overnight. 

Bake them at 200C for 10-12 minutes until top have formed a crust and are starting to come away from the sides of the moulds.  Remove from oven and leave for 1 min before turning out. 

Serve warm with salted caramel sauce and a quenelle of ice-cream.

The moment of truth - alas -there was no "molten lava" flowing from the center. When I tried to unmould the first ramekin, the whole cake fell out in a blob. So I put the rest to micro-wave just 1 more minute and it over-bake(cook)! That the mystery of  baking! 

But they are so delicious- warm, dark fluffy chocolate cake with the icy sweetness of the ice cream (which Sarah purposely went out to get after dinner!) and the salty/milky sweetness of the caramel sauce.  No wonder they deserve such high rating!  Both of us had a great time trying to get a nice quenelle (shaping the ice cream between 2 spoons to almost triangle shape) of ice cream for our cakes!       

  

Also baked a Moist Butter Cake .....

and a Coffee Butter Cake.