Chocolate Fondant Pudding

I love chocolate. No surprise. I love dessert. No surprise. Naturally, I love chocolate fondant. It is one of my favourite desserts to order if it's on the menu and will almost always order it unless there is a good lemon tart on offer.  I saw these on thelittleloaf's blog recently and immediately bookmarked it to make. Some recipes are on my bookmarked list forever and others just go straight to the top of the Q. I simply could not wait to make my own. However, it is dangerous knowing I can make my own as I ended up eating these for a whole week... well the recipe did make 4! Gu might just go out of business soon ;p 

It took a few tries to get the oven temperature correct - first one was undercooked so it collapsed when I turned it out and one of them was overcooked so there was no gooey middle. I did manage to get it right after that and they were absolutely delicious. Well worth the effort and the nervous anticipation whilst it's cooking wondering if it's going to turn out ok. Obviously in the name of research I had to keep making them until they were perfect :) 

I am also submitting this to Jac's bookmarked recipes for Dec

 first try - a gooey mess as my oven temperature was inaccurate but delicious nonetheless 

 second time - almost perfect! I would have preferred it slightly runnier 

 I love this picture :) 

Recipe from thelittleloaf which was adapted from a Jamie magazine recipe, with very minor modifications of my own.

175g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

25g salted butter, at room temperature

75g golden caster sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

25g plain flour

• Preheat the oven to 200C. 
• Butter 4 ramekin dishes and dust with cocoa powder. Shake off the excess powder. 
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over a pan of barely simmering water. 
• Set aside to cool slightly.
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time and then add the vanilla extract. 
• Stir in the flour until just combined and then gently mix in the melted chocolate. 
• Pour into the ramekins in equal portions. 
• Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes (it will depend on your oven).
• It should be set around the edges but still soft in the center. 
• Note: the uncooked batter keeps well in the fridge, just remember to increase cooking time by a few minutes if cooking from chilled.