Hot Chocolate Fondants (Gordon Ramsay)

Me? A non-professional chef baking these heavenly chocolate fondants with oozing and flowing chocolate mousse?

Hot chocolate fondants - Gordon Ramsay's recipe

Yes! I did!

Can't help telling myself... Not bad, huh!

Hot chocolate fondants? For the benefit of those who don't know... They are chocolate kind of puddings which have the consistency of a moist chocolate cake on the outside with warm gooey flowing chocolate embedded inside. The puddings MUST be eaten warm, immediately after baking and preferably with vanilla ice cream or vanilla custard. Are hot chocolate fondants and molten lava cakes the same? Accordingly to Wikipedia, I think they are the same!

Seeing these flowing chocolate out of these puddings, I'm feeling proud of myself! Unlike the molten lava cakes that I have baked previously, these hot chocolate fondants made from the recipe in the book, Gordon Ramsay's Great British Pub Food are slightly different with their mousse-like chocolate centers and so they are actually more technical to bake.

Besides this recipe, Gordon Ramsay also have simpler hot chocolate fondant recipe in the book, Gordon Ramsay makes it easy or here. Yen (Eat your Heart Out) had baked this recipe recently and I can see that they are almost similar to the molten lava cakes that I have baked previously. Comparing all recipes, I have decided to explore and bake these ones with mousse-like chocolate centers... mainly for my curiosity.

As this is my first time baking with this Gordon Ramsay's recipe, I'm thrilled that it works too!!! ... but with a little bit of trial and errors of, course!

In order to conquer this slightly more technical bake, these are what I did:

1) As suggested in this recipe, these chocolate fondants can be one day ahead and I did the same... I mixed the pudding batter a day before and refrigerate until they are ready to bake. Not to worry... the texture of this batter won't change on the next day.

2) Prior baking, I have prepared the photography setting so that I can... Get ready. Get set. Bake!!!

3) Immediately after baking, I have to be quick to capture these heavenly moments!!! Snap! Snap!

4) Wish life is always rosy but not always... Like I mentioned before, the success of these bakes are highly depending on the oven temperature and baking timing and so I have decided to bake these puddings in three batches with three different temperatures and baking time...

• First is 160°C fan forced for 11 minutes and I ended with two sloppy puddings! Too messy that I can't even take a photo of them.
• Second is 160°C fan forced for 15 minutes and I ended with two cake-like mousse-like pudding with soft chocolaty inside... Sad to see that there is nothing flowy from their insides.
• Third is 180°C fan forced for 11 minutes and I ended with two perfect chocolate fondants with flowy inside! Lucky? I think so!!!

5) Now, I need to relax and enjoy these mousse-y treats to the fullest!

Finish? Not really! I have to do the dishwashing... LOL!

As shown in these pictures, these are what I did...

whip whip whip!!!

I have to do this gently!

This recipe makes 6 puddings.

These two puddings look firm!

Perhaps too firm!!!

This is my third bake and I was feeling lucky with this!!!

I didn't know if my fondants are going to be successful but made a pouring custard in advance in regardless.

Not bad, huh! Lucky that I have two successful puddings to enjoy!!!

After enjoying Paula Deen's molten lava cakes and Gordon Ramsay's hot chocolate fondant, I'm asking myself now... Which is better? Saucy vs Mousse-y? Both are equally heavenly good but for some reasons (this is purely my and my family's personal preferences), we love the saucy one more!

Here's the recipe from the book, Gordon Ramsay's Great British Pub Food

(with my notes and modification in blue)

Serves 6
90g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease

100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
(I used Callebaut ones with 70% cocoa)

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

50g caster sugar

20g plain flour

To serve, good-quality vanilla ice cream (or homemade vanilla pouring custard)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Butter 6 small ramekins or pudding moulds and stand them on a baking tray.

Put the butter and chocolate into a heatproof bowl and set it over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir frequently until the butter and chocolate have melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl using an electric beater. Keep whisking until the mixture is pale, thick and has roughly tripled in volume. Carefully fold in the chocolate mixture, followed by the flour. Spoon the mixture into the buttered ramekins, dividing it equally. The puddings can be prepared a day ahead to this stage and kept in the fridge. - I did the same

Bake the chocolate fondants just before serving, allowing 7-8 mins (or if taking them straight from the fridge, bake for 10-11 mins). They should be set on the outside, but the centre should be soft and slightly runny. Mine works when I baked them at 180°C fan forced for 11 mins.

To unmould, run a thin flexible knife around each pudding and invert it onto a serving plate. Serve at once, with vanilla ice cream but I like to enjoy mine with homemade vanilla pouring custard.

Homemade Vanilla Pouring Custard mostly adapted from Crème Anglaise in my previous post

Make enough to serve 6 chocolate fondant
1 egg yolks
20g cup sugar
100ml milk, scalded while whisking egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla paste or seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean

Whisk egg yolks and sugar in the bowl by hand until thick and pale.

Whisk in hot milk into the eggs mixture until well combined. Pour the custard mixture into a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until thickened. The custard will look just slightly thickened and you can gauge this by the layer of thicker custard formed on the sides of heated saucepan. Remove the saucepan from heat. Pour custard into a container and chill until ready to serve.

Happy Baking
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