Chocolate fondant

Chocolate fondant

A gooey prepare-ahead dessert that's perfect for entertaining - it's all a matter of timing...

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Makes 9 fondants

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Prep 45 mins plus chilling
Freezable

Can be frozen uncooked

Method

  1. 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.
  2. 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 mins.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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 mins or up to the night before. To bake from frozen, simply carry on as stated, adding 5 mins more to the cooking time.
  6. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Place the fondants on a baking tray, then cook for 10-12 mins 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 min before turning out.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Sit a fondant in the middle of each plate. Using a large spoon dipped in hot water, scoop a 'quenelle' of ice cream.
  10. Carefully place the ice cream on top of the fondant, then serve immediately. Repeat with the rest of the fondants.
Try

Tins or ramekins?

As we make the fondants in such great volumes in my restaurants we use disposable 150ml aluminium muffin tins, but ramekins work just as well. The cooking times I have given here are for ramekins but if you want to use the muffin tins then 10 mins in the oven will be fine.

9 puddings for 8 guests

If you are making the fondants for a dinner party I would advise you cook one extra as an 'insurance policy' that you can test for doneness. If everything goes according to plan I'm sure there will be no shortage of guests wanting second helpings.

Variations

Once you have mastered the fondants it's very easy to adapt their flavour. For a boozy version add a generous splash of Baileys to the melted chocolate. You can also make a chocolate and orange version by adding the finely grated zest of 1 large orange and an optional splash of orange liqueur.

PER SERVING

581 kcalories, protein 9g, carbohydrate 52g, fat 40 g, saturated fat 21g, fibre 0g, sugar 30g, salt 0.55 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2008.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo phoenix3

    22 October 2008

    phoenix3 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I have never made fondants before because I thought that they were difficult to make but used this recipe and they turned out perfectly so thank you Gordon and Good food. They freeze very well uncooked and the timings given for cooking are spot on.

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  • Binder photo Baksy

    23 October 2008

    Baksy rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I have made this so many times and it's always a hit! Brilliant recipe!

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  • Binder photo Patrick

    24 October 2008

    Patrick commented on this recipe

    it makes me crazy

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  • Binder photo Paul

    24 October 2008

    Paul commented on this recipe

    2 die 4 but what else would you expect from the master

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  • Binder photo Mary S

    25 October 2008

    Mary S commented on this recipe

    Absolutely gorgeous! Not difficult to make either.

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  • Binder photo Madeleine G.

    28 October 2008

    Madeleine G. commented on this recipe

    Incredibly amaizing! I really liked the way is explained, will try it tomorrow. Thanks!

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  • Binder photo red flower

    02 November 2008

    red flower rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really easy recipe to follow and turned out perfectly!

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  • Binder photo jonboy

    02 November 2008

    jonboy commented on this recipe

    easy to follow and the best dessert we have tasted ever!!!!

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  • Binder photo Andy

    03 November 2008

    Andy rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fantastic !!!! bit fiddly but well worth the hassle. They looked and tasted great. They will be made again ! I would suggest getting the Ice Cream out aprox 5 mins before use. Ours was too solid. Also DON'T stir the sugar mix. on the 3rd attempt my daughter suggested I read the instructions and didn't stir the water and sugar, and it worked. Andy.

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  • Binder photo Leanne

    04 November 2008

    Leanne rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Consistency turned out brilliantly. When I next make it, I'm going to use the best quality chocolate & butter I can to make it more chocolatey.

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  • Binder photo little-cook

    04 November 2008

    little-cook commented on this recipe

    i am 11 and by everyones comments i might just try it out.. also thanks everyone for giving me tips. And thakyou gordan xx!

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  • Binder photo little-cook

    04 November 2008

    little-cook commented on this recipe

    i mean thank you*

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  • Binder photo katy

    05 November 2008

    katy rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    absolutely amazing! i'm the sort of person that manages to turn "foolproof recipes" into a disaster, but this came out perfectly! I'm very impressed, and i'm definitely going to do this again! thank you Gordon!!!

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  • Binder photo my_dunh

    09 November 2008

    my_dunh rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    AMAZING recipe!! It's such a simple pudding to make yet is so impressive, I had everyone thnking I'd been slaving away for ages making them. I made mine in mini pudding tins to make them look christmassy..... we're definitely having them on christmas day now that we've tried them!

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  • Binder photo tinkerbelle

    14 November 2008

    tinkerbelle commented on this recipe

    I have had great difficulty trying to get 150mm foil muffin tins. Searched the net but no luck. I do not want to use ramekins as I think they would be easier to get out of foil. I have promised to do these for Christmas lunch. Can anybody suggest were I can obtain them? Thank you

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  • Binder photo Cathy

    16 November 2008

    Cathy commented on this recipe

    This is the best recipe I have found for fondants and works perfectly! I love the fact you don't have to cook them immediately, especially if you're only making them for fewer people because you can save the rest in the freezer for a rainy day. This recipe also works well using gluten free flour. And I used 6 whole eggs instead of the 4 eggs and 4 egg yolks as the recipe says - I'm not one for wastage.

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  • Binder photo Cathy

    16 November 2008

    Cathy commented on this recipe

    Tinkerbelle, sorry forgot to say - I have tried this recipe in both ceramic and foil ramekins and they both work fine and come out first time, the trick is the butter and cocoa powder lining; it has to be thick. As for getting the foil ramekins, I got mine in a local cookware shop. And depending where you live, you should be able to get them from a shop called Steamer Trading: http://www.steamer.co.uk/index.php?pageid=home_page

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  • Binder photo shelby

    17 November 2008

    shelby commented on this recipe

    After seeing everyone attempting to make chocolate fondants on tv and failing i was getting alittle nervous about it coming out of the oven, but after making this on friday night for a dinner party, i was really pleased that it turned out perfect. Really really recommend anyone making this fondant it is well worth the effort as it comes out fantastic and it tastes out of this world if you love chocolate. Chocoholics dream and it makes enough for the rest of the week. Go for it!

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  • Binder photo shelby

    21 November 2008

    shelby rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Nicky R

    23 November 2008

    Nicky R rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely fab! The best pudding I have ever made for a dinner party which went down a storm with my chocolate loving guests! A really classy dish.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Makes 9 fondants

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Prep 45 mins plus chilling
Freezable

Can be frozen uncooked

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
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PER SERVING

581 kcalories, protein 9g, carbohydrate 52g, fat 40 g, saturated fat 21g, fibre 0g, sugar 30g, salt 0.55 g

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