Gordon Ramsay's Chocolate Fondant

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 50 g melted butter, for brushing
• cocoa powder, for dusting
• 200 g dark chocolate, best quality you can get, chopped into small pieces
• 200 g butter, chopped into small pieces
• 200 g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 200 g plain flour

Recipe

• 1 using upward strokes, heavily brush the melted butter all over the inside of nine 150 ml pudding moulds. place them into the fridge or freezer. once they are chilled, 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 out, and then repeat with all of the moulds.
• 2 place a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, and then slowly melt the chocolate and butter together. remove bowl from heat and stir until smooth. leave to cool for about ten minutes.
• 3 in another bowl whisk the eggs and yolks together with the sugar until thick and pale and the whisk leaves a trail. sift the flour into the eggs, and 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 into a jug, then evenly divide between the moulds. these can now be frozen for up to a month and cooked from frozen. if not freezing, chill for a minimum of 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.
• 6 heat the oven to 200/180/gas 6.
• 7 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, and then let them sit for 1 minute before turning out.
• 8 loosen the fondants by moving the tops very gently so they come away from the sides, easing them out of the moulds. tip each one slightly onto your hand so you know that it has come away, then tip back into the mould, put a plate on top and turn it over.
• 9 serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.