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Ingredients

For the soil

  • 1 bought chocolate loaf cake (un-iced), about 250g

Method

  • STEP 1

    Make the soil first. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Thinly slice the chocolate cake and lay on baking trays lined with baking parchment. Bake for 30 mins, turning the slices halfway, until crisp to the touch. Put in a food processor and whizz to crunchy crumbs. Will keep well for up to a week in an airtight tin.

  • STEP 2

    Make the fondants by brushing 6 dariole moulds well with melted butter. Chill for 1 min, then brush again. Put a spoon of cocoa powder in one and shake about so the whole inside is coated, then tip out the rest into the next and tap the bottom of the dariole to get out any excess. Repeat with all the darioles.

  • STEP 3

    Beat together the softened butter, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla to cream them, then beat in the eggs, followed by the flour. Stir in the melted chocolate and divide between the darioles. Chill for up to 24 hrs.

  • STEP 4

    To serve, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Bake the fondants for 10-12 mins – the top will be set, but you should feel a soft middle when you prod it. Add a small pile of soil to each plate and top with a cherry – or put the soil in a mini bucket or flowerpot. Add a spoon of cherry compote to each plate and top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Finally, carefully turn each chocolate fondant out onto the plate – they should come out easily. Serve immediately.

RECIPE TIPS
CHOOSING THE RIGHT CHOCOLATE: MILK

Milk chocolate contains far fewer cocoa

solids – around 20-40%. The aromatics

won’t be as prominent as they are in dark

chocolate, so just choose a bar that you

like the taste of.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT CHOCOLATE: WHITE

White chocolate contains no cocoa

solids – it is made from cocoa butter,

milk powders and sugar. White chocolate

is hard to melt and often seizes when

heated. In the Test Kitchen, we’ve found

that the cheaper varieties of white

chocolate are much less temperamental,

and best for cooking.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT CHOCOLATE: DARK

If your recipe requires dark chocolate,

look for one with over 68% cocoa solids

– the higher the percentage, the more

intense the flavour will be.

Chocolate that comes from a single

origin (such as Madagascar or Ghana) is

often of high quality, each origin being

praised for producing different flavours and

aromas, as a good coffee would be. Most

supermarkets stock their own single-origin

chocolate, which is great value and often

supported by The Fairtrade Foundation.

ALSO DISCOVER

Goes well with

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