Chocolate Fondant is a restaurant-level dessert that is actually very quick and easy to make at home. Its difference from cupcakes and brownies is the liquid chocolate inside and the crispy crust that prevents the liquid mass inside from leaking out until it is pressed or cut with a dessert fork or knife.
витікання шоколаду при розрізанні
As always, let's start with a brief excursion into history.
Chocolate fondant is a chocolate dessert of French cuisine. It is actually quite “young.” Its appearance is credited to Michel Bras, the chef of the three-star Michelin restaurant Laguiole. In the early 80s, this chef was looking for a new recipe for a chocolate dessert, and his searches and experiments materialized into a delicate cake with a liquid chocolate filling inside.
There is an alternative version of the origin of fondant. It is quite interesting in that this dessert was created as a result of... a mistake by the chef of the New York restaurant “Lafayette,” Jean-Georges Vongerichten, in 1987. He was making a regular chocolate cake but took the baked goods out of the oven too early, resulting in the same consistency of the dessert with a liquid filling inside.
Be that as it may, chocolate fondant is a fairly simple dessert. The classic recipe requires very few ingredients: butter, eggs, chocolate, flour, and sugar. However, as an improvisation, you can add alcohol, cream, nuts, and spices. In fact, we went this route by adding 30 ml of Baileys liqueur and 2 grams of baking powder to the chocolate batter.
For 5 servings, the ingredient list is as follows:
2 eggs at room temperature
50 g dark chocolate
50 g butter
50 g sugar
50 g sifted flour
a pinch of salt
2 g baking powder
30 ml Baileys liqueur.
продуктовий набір
The process of making chocolate fondant is quite simple, as it requires minimal effort and kitchen devices.
Melting the Chocolate
We melt the chocolate and butter in a water bath. It is important to stir the mixture periodically to prevent the chocolate from burning to the sides of the container. We allocate 10-15 minutes for this process.
в процесі розтоплення
розтоплене масло з шоколадом
Whisking Eggs with Sugar
Using a regular mixer, whisk until the mixture changes color from deep yellow (depending on the yolk color) to pale yellow and increases in volume. This will take about 5-7 minutes. That is, by the time the chocolate with butter melts, the egg-sugar mixture will already be ready.
Sifting the Flour
To aerate it. We start forming the batter. Into the bowl with the egg-sugar mixture, we add the melted butter with chocolate and mix.
просіяне борошно
Gradually add the sifted flour, gently mixing with a silicone spatula. Add the liqueur and mix. Finally, add a pinch of salt and 2 grams of baking powder, and also mix gently. Now our batter is ready.
Pouring the Batter into Molds
We have small silicone molds for cupcakes. They should be filled to ⅔ of their volume, as they will rise during baking. From this amount of ingredients, we were able to fill five molds. Since our molds are silicone, there is no need to do a “French shirt” beforehand, that is, to grease them with butter and dust with flour. The baked goods do not stick to their walls.
розливаємо фондани по формам
Baking
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake the fondants for 7-8 minutes in convection mode.
фондани в процесі випікання
You can increase the time depending on the molds you are using. If they are taller, you may need to increase the time to 10 minutes. In any case, even if you overbake the fondants in the oven, you will end up with delicious chocolate cupcakes, so there’s no need to worry if something doesn’t turn out right.
фондани після випічки
Cook and enjoy with pleasure! ;)
вуа-ля!
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