| Valentine’s chocolate fondant
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Ingredients
5 eggs plus 5 extra yolks
125 g (4 oz) unrefined caster sugar
250 g (9 oz) bitter dark chocolate
250 g (9 oz) unsalted butter, plus a little extra for
greasing moulds
50 g (2 oz) plain flour
The day before your Valentine’s dinner, beat together the eggs and sugar in a bowl until pale.
Melt the chocolate and butter gently in a bowl set over a pan of hot water. Remove from the heat and slowly add to the egg mixture, beating until smooth. Fold in the flour. Pour into small, buttered moulds before the mixture begins to firm up. Chill in the fridge overnight.
The next day, preheat the oven to 180C, 350F or gas mark 4 and 20 minutes before serving bake the puddings for about 10-15 minutes until the centres dome and feel dry. Turn out and serve with a scoop of your favourite ice cream (you can put this in a brandy snap or wafer basket). Garnish with icing sugar, red berries, mint and caramel springs.
Caramel springs
Make a caramel by melting unrefined caster sugar in a heavy-based pan, adding a little water if desired. Once the sugar has caramelised and become a shade just darker than gold, take it from the heat quickly.
Take a spoon in one hand and a cold sharpening steel in the other. Dip the spoon into the hot caramel then lift it out, pulling a thin thread of caramel after it and quickly wind this thread five or six times around the steel. The caramel will set almost instantly. Carefully slide the caramel spring from the sharpening steel and place on a sheet of baking paper until ready to use.
Note: both recipes make more than you should need for two but any extra soufflé mix or fondant can be frozen for future use.
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