Fondant

INGREDIENTS

50g melted butter , for brushing
cocoa powder , for dusting
200g good-quality dark chocolate , chopped into
small pieces
200g butter , in small pieces
200g golden caster sugar
4 eggs and 4 yolks
200g plain flour
Caramel sauce (see 'Goes well with') and vanilla
ice cream or orange sorbet, to serve

METHOD

First get your moulds ready. Using upward strokes,
heavily brush the melted butter all over the
inside of the pudding mould. Place the mould in
the fridge or freezer. Brush more melted butter
over the chilled butter, then add a good spoonful
of cocoa powder into the mould. Tip the mould so
the powder completely coats the butter. Tap any
excess cocoa back into the jar, then repeat with 1
the next mould.
Place a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water,
then slowly melt the chocolate and butter
together. Remove bowl from the heat and stir until
smooth. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and yolks
together with the sugar until thick and pale and
the whisk leaves a trail; use an electric whisk if
you want. Sift the flour into the eggs, then beat
together.
Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture in
thirds, beating well between each addition, until
all the chocolate is added and the mixture is
completely combined to a loose cake batter.
Tip the fondant batter into a jug, then evenly
divide between the moulds. The fondants can now be
frozen for up to a month and cooked from frozen.
Chill for at least 20 minutes or up to the night
before. To bake from frozen, simply carry on as
stated, adding 5 minutes more to the cooking time.
Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Place the
fondants on a baking tray, then cook for 10-12
minutes until the tops have formed a crust and they
are starting to come away from the sides of their
moulds. Remove from the oven, then leave to sit
for 1 minutes before turning out.
Loosen the fondants by moving the tops very gently
so they come away from the sides, easing them out
of the moulds. Tip each fondant slightly onto your
hand so you know it has come away, then tip back
into the mould ready to plate up.
Starting from the middle of each plate, squeeze a
spiral of caramel sauce - do all the plates you
need before you go on to the next stage.
Sit a fondant in the middle of each plate. Using a
large spoon dipped in hot water, scoop a
'quenelle' of ice cream.
Carefully place the ice cream on top of the
fondant, then serve immediately. Repeat with the
rest of the fondants.

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