For the chocolate fondants:
220g unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting
250g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids or higher), chopped
4 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
150g sugar
30g plain flour, sifted
Icing sugar for serving
A pinch of salt
For the mascarpone cream:
6 Tbsp of mascarpone
30g of icing sugar
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease six medium sized ramekins with butter and dust with cocoa powder.
Place the chocolate and butter into a bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan, on a medium / low fire, with about 1 inch of boiling water inside, so that the water doesn’t touch the bowl. Stir until the chocolate is completely dissolved and smooth. Add a pinch of grided salt.
Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs, egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until pale and doubled in volume; this will take about 3 to 5 minutes.
Fold in the melted chocolate mixture very gently so you don’t cook the eggs. Add the flour and whisk until smooth.
Pour into the prepared moulds, dividing equally. At this point you can either refrigerate your mixture for later use or you can bake it straight away.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes (or 12 if it has been refrigerated), or until slightly puffed and just set around the sides. Let the fondants rest for 3 to 4 minutes.
In the meanwhile make your mascarpone cream by simply mixing the mascarpone and the icing sugar together.
To serve, run the tip of your knife around the mold to release your puddings, tip the moulds onto a plate and lightly tap the bottom to release fondants. Dust with icing sugar and serve with the mascarpone cream.
Caramel Centre
Ingredients:
100g caster sugar
110g of double cream
20g of butter
To Make:
Place the cream in a sauce pan and bring it to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow it to stand.
Tip 25g of sugar into a saucepan and allow it to melt. Once melted add another 25g of sugar, allow it to melt again. Repeat 2 more times until you run out of sugar. Once all the sugar is melted leave it to caramelise until it turns into a dark amber colour.
Take the pan off the heat and add the butter, taking care as it might bubble and spit. Stir using a spatula and pour in to the cream gently as it might spit again.
Put the saucepan with the cream and caramel back on the hob and heat until it reaches 108C.
Pour into a Pyrex dish, cover with cling film and allow it to cool in the fridge.
Once cooled scoop some into a piping bag. At this stage your ramekins should be filled with the chocolate mixture and placed in the fridge to cool down and solidify a bit.
Snip the tip of the piping bag and place it in the centre of the fondant. Pipe a dollop of caramel. Bake immediately as stated in the fondant recipe.