A Simple Chocolate Fondant

Dessert | French

Prep time: 15 min Cook time: 15 min Servings: 6

Chocolate fondant, lava cake, self-saucing pudding, whatever you call it, this is the dessert I make when I want to impress without spending all afternoon in the kitchen. It's one I made many times at a restaurant in Melbourne called Gills Diner, and I think it was the first dessert I made for Katelyn and her sister when they came to eat at the restaurant.

Chocolate Fondant Explained

The chocolate

Use good dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids is the sweet spot. Anything less and it’ll taste like a regular chocolate sponge, anything darker and it can turn bitter. We melt the chocolate gently in a double boiler (also called a bain-marie) so the bowl doesn’t sit directly on the heat. Direct heat is the fastest way to burn or split chocolate. The steam from the simmering water below brings it up to temperature slowly and evenly. Don’t let the water touch the bottom of the bowl.

The batter

Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together until the mixture goes pale and ribbony. This is what gives the cake its lift, you’re whisking air into the eggs. Fold in the flour gently. Over mixing develops the gluten and the cake comes out stiff instead of soft. A pinch of salt is essential, it doesn’t taste salty, it just amplifies the chocolate flavour.

The bake

The whole trick is baking just long enough that the outside sets but the middle stays liquid. Hot oven, short time. 7 to 8 minutes at 200°C fan-forced is the sweet spot for 200ml ramekins. The top should be just set when you press it gently. Pull them out the second they look right, the residual heat keeps cooking the cakes while they sit. Run a knife around the edge after 2 minutes and invert onto plates.

Ingredient Notes

Dark chocolate: 70% cocoa is the right balance. Use good baking chocolate, the brand you reach for matters here because the chocolate is essentially the whole flavour of the dessert. Cheap compound chocolate won’t melt the same way and the flavour will let the whole thing down.

Eggs: Room temperature eggs whip up lighter and incorporate more air than cold ones. Take them out of the fridge 30 minutes before you start. The extra yolks are what give the cake its richness and help create the molten centre.

Caster sugar: Caster sugar dissolves faster than regular granulated sugar when whisked into the eggs, which means a smoother batter. If you only have granulated, you can pulse it in a food processor for 10 seconds to make caster at home.

Equipment

Mixing bowls
Heatproof bowl
Small saucepan
Whisk
Rubber spatula
Pastry brush
4 x 200ml ramekins
Oven tray
Pallet knife or small knife
Fine sieve

Ingredients

180g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
120g unsalted butter + 10g extra for greasing
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
35g (¼ cup) plain flour
pinch of salt
icing sugar and ice cream, to serve

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan forced (390°F).
Break up the chocolate into small pieces and put in a heatproof bowl with the butter. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water) and stir until melted. Set aside for 5 minutes.
Grease 4 x 200ml capacity ramekins with the extra butter.
Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl until it becomes lighter in colour. Fold in the flour and salt until smooth.
Fold in the chocolate mixture until just combined, then divide the batter evenly between the ramekins.
Place on an oven tray and bake for 7-8 minutes, until the top is just set.
Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 2 minutes. Run a pallet knife around the edges of the cakes to loosen, then invert onto serving plates. Dust with some icing sugar and serve immediately with ice cream.

Recipe notes

Chef Tips

Add the chocolate to the eggs slowly

The melted chocolate and butter mixture is hot, the eggs are raw. Pour the chocolate into the eggs in a steady stream while folding constantly to temper it in. Tipping it all in at once will scramble the yolks and you’ll end up with sweet chocolate omelette instead of a glossy batter.

Coat the ramekins with cocoa

After greasing the ramekins with soft butter, dust the insides with cocoa powder and tap out the excess. The cocoa gives the cake an extra layer of bittersweet crust on the outside and helps it release cleanly from the ramekin. Bonus: it looks better than flour or sugar.

Make them ahead

You can portion the batter into greased ramekins, cover with cling film and chill overnight. Bake straight from the fridge, just add 2 minutes to the cook time (9 to 10 minutes total). This is the move when you’ve got people coming for dinner and want a fancy dessert without the last-minute pressure.

Don’t open the oven door early

The cakes set quickly and a sudden temperature drop can cause them to deflate. Trust the timer for the first bake (7 to 8 minutes for fresh batter) and only check at the end. The top should look just set and slightly cracked at the edges.

Storage

These are best eaten the moment they come out of the oven. The whole point is the molten centre, which sets up firmer the longer you leave them. Unbaked batter in greased ramekins keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days, covered with cling film, and is honestly the best way to plan this dessert ahead. If you do end up with leftover baked cakes, they’ll keep at room temperature for a few hours but the centre will be set to a regular chocolate cake texture by then.

FAQs

Why is the centre fully cooked through? You’ve baked them a minute too long. The window between molten centre and fully set is tight, and it varies a bit depending on your ramekins and oven. Pull them out the second the top looks just set, the residual heat keeps cooking for another minute or two while they sit before inverting.

Can I make these gluten-free? Yes, swap the plain flour for a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour blend and it works almost identically. The recipe only uses 35g of flour so the texture isn’t heavily dependent on gluten.

What size ramekins should I use? 200ml capacity is the sweet spot. Smaller and the centre cooks through before the outside sets, larger and the cake collapses under its own weight when you invert it. If you only have 150ml ramekins, reduce the bake time to 5 to 6 minutes and check earlier.