Chocolate Fondants

Chocolate fondants are quite an impressive dessert if you can get the consistency just right, so that it sits beautifully when plated, and oozes chocolate sauce as your spoon first breaks through the soft cake crust.  This is from a Gordon Ramsay recipe, and it came out perfectly on my first try.

Ingredients:
- 50g melted butter, for brushing
- Cocoa powder, for dusting
- 200g dark chocolate, best quality you can get, chopped into small pieces
- 200g butter, chopped into small pieces
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 4 egg yolks
- 200g plain flour

Preparing my chocolate fondants

Method:
1.  Using upward strokes, heavily brush the melted butter all over the inside of nine 150 ml pudding moulds. Place them into the fridge to chill.  Once chilled, brush more melted butter over the chilled butter, then add a spoonful of cocoa powder into the mould. Tip the mould so the powder completely coats the butter. Tap any excess cocoa out, and then repeat with all of the moulds.

2.  Place a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, and then slowly melt the chocolate and butter together. Remove the bowl from heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for about ten minutes.

3.  In another bowl whisk the eggs and yolks together with the sugar until thick and pale and the whisk leaves a trail. Sift the flour into the eggs, and then beat together.

4.  Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture in thirds, beating well between each addition until all the chocolate is added and the mixture is completely combined to a loose cake batter.

5.  Evenly divide the fondant between the moulds. (These can be frozen for up to a month and cooked from frozen.) If not freezing, chill for a minimum of 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.

6.  Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

7.  Place the fondants on a baking tray then cook for 10-12 minutes until the tops have formed a crust and they are starting to come away from the sides of their moulds. Remove from the oven, and then let them sit for 1 minute before turning out.

8.  Loosen the fondants by moving the tops very gently so they come away from the sides, easing them out of the moulds. Tip each one slightly onto your hand so you know that it has come away, then tip back into the mould, put a plate on top and turn it over.

9.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Don't forget to make meringues with the egg whites left from the fondant prep.

Chocolate Fondant served with Vanilla Ice Cream

Cheesy Chicken & Aubergine Dinner

This recipe is for a very easy, quick and still tasty dinner.  This should feed 6 people, with some left over for lunch!

Ingredients:

Chicken Breasts (skinless, boneless, and cut into nice bite sized chunks)

1 – 2 Aubergines (tops taken off, cut into chunks)

1 Pack Rosa tomatoes, 1 tin chopped tomatoes, tomato paste

Thyme and Oregano (fresh if possible) chopped finely

Garlic, chopped finely 

Salt and Pepper

Dried Chilli Flakes

Worcestershire Sauce

80g – 100g Mozzarella cheese, grated

Fresh Basil (two handfuls)

60g Parmesan, finely grated

Ciabatta bread

Cheesy Chicken and Aubergine Preparations

Method:

- Fry chicken breasts chunks in olive oil, garlic, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and a good dash of Worcestershire sauce

- Add aubergine chunks shortly after (you want them to get really nice and soft)

- Add thyme and oregano

- Once the aubergines are nicely browned add the tomatoes and the tin of tomatoes.  Also add tomato paste

- Add more Worcestershire sauce and spice to taste

- Turn to medium heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until the aubergine is soft and chicken is cooked through

- Add the mozzarella in small handfuls until sauce turns creamy and cheese is mixed through evenly

- Add basil just before serving

- Garnish with Parmesan

- Serve with Ciabatta bread

Cheesy Chicken and Aubergine Dinner served with Ciabatta Bread