Page 622 - YC Cooking School

3. Mix the sugar with the flour, rather than with the eggs

In conventional cake batter recipes, the sugar and eggs are combined to form a light
and fluffy mixture before flour is later added. Interestingly enough, when making a
chocolate fondant, the flour and sugar are mixed together before combining them
with the other ingredients. When sugar and egg are whisked, a stable batter with air
pockets is created, which leads to a baked cake or fondant with a firm texture.
Another helpful reason to mix sugar with flour is that it helps to prevent any flour
lumps from forming in the batter.
4. Do a test run first
Baking the fondant is quite exciting in that you can control the amount of soft center
you’d like the end result to have. First do a test by placing one fondant pudding into

the oven and baking for the recommended time given in the recipe. Check the results
and make sure that you’re happy with them. Remember that the soft centre of a
fondant is essentially an undercooked batter so the more time you bake it for, the
firmer and more cake-like it will be.
5. Add a LINDT LINDORchocolate ball for extra indulgence
A cheat’s way to ensure the chocolate fondant centre is always runny is to push a
LINDT LINDOR ball into the middle of the baked pudding once it has come out the
oven. Allow a few moments for it to melt so that once you serve and break open the

pudding the liquid LINDOR gushes out.

Infuse a little extra flavour
With the chocolate and butter melting away slowly, there’s an ideal opportunity to infuse a
natural flavour. Orange peels, cinnamon sticks and vanilla pods all work really well for

imparting a gentle flavour and aroma. Depending on how strong you’d like the added
flavour to be, you can infuse for 5, 10 or even 15 minutes. Remember to remove them from
the chocolate before continuing with the recipe.

Prepare the moulds for baking

Traditionally, a chocolate fondant dessert is served unmolded and free-standing. This
means that greasing the rings or moulds you’re using is super important. There’s nothing
worse than working hard to create a beautiful chocolate creation, only to have it flop onto
your plate. Spread soft butter evenly over the entire mould surface and then add a layer of
sugar or cocoa powder and tap out the excess. This extra layer helps the fondant to release
more easily from the mould and also adds a decorative finish.

Remember to only pipe or spoon in the fondant mixture once you’re ready to bake and
serve. If using aluminium or stainless steel rings, it’s best to place them onto baking paper
so that you can slide them easily onto a plate and release from the mould.

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