In Europe it’s a Chocolate Fondant, in the states it’s Molten Lava Cake, and everywhere it’s delicious. I am amazed at how simple and quick this recipe is for such a decadent desert. The 2 gotchas with this one is melting/mixing the chocolate and butter too hot or too long, and baking the wrong amount of time: 1 minute in either direction will yield the wrong cake.
We use Ghirardelli baking chocolate, which is readily available in San Francisco, with 3/4 60% cacao bittersweet and 1/4 100% cacao unsweetened chocolate. It’s rich, and the sugar balances out the rich bitterness quite well.
Chocolate Fondant / Molten Lava Cake
-
Prep Time:
15m
-
Cook Time:
10m
-
Total Time:
25m
Ingredients
- Cocoa powder for dusting
- 2 oz 70% bittersweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
- 4 1/2 tbsp. Salted butter, cut into small chunks
- 2 Large eggs
- 1/3 c Granulated white sugar
- 1/4 c All-purpose flour, sifted
- Vanilla bean ice cream
Instructions
- Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 450ºF.
- Bring 1/4" water in a small sauce pan to a simmer.
- Brush two 6 or 7-oz. ramekins with butter, covering the bottom and vertically up the sides. Dust lightly with cocoa powder.
- In a heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Place the bowl over the sauce pan with the simmering water. Stir continually, slow and controlled with a spatula, until smooth, blended, and melted. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
Warnings: Don't let the bowl touch the water, and keep the heat on very low. Don't over cook, or the butter will begin to separate and you'll need to start over.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar vigorously until completely blended and frothy.
- Using a large spatula, gently fold in the chocolate mixture until smooth and blended. You want to keep the air in the mixture to get a good rise during the bake.
- One third at a time, sift the flour over the batter and with your spatula gently fold together until just blended. If you add too much flour at once, you risk a lumpy batter and may end up over mixing.
- Divide the batter among the prepared ramekins and bake 10-12 minutes, or until the tops are just firm when lightly touched. 11 minutes was quite perfect for our latest batch.
- Let rest 1 minute after removing from oven. Hold the ramekins with a mitt or rag and gently let it slide out onto a plate upside down. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Dust with cocoa powder if you like.
Butter and dust the ramekins:
Divide the mixture between 2 ramekins. Here are our 7-oz Corningware around 3/4 full:
Served upside down:
