We’re carrying on with the Easter recipes with this chocolate fondant with vanilla cream, a very simple recipe to make and yet incredibly indulgent. All you need to do is make individual little chocolate fondants and a vanilla pastry cream.
If you’d rather make one large cake, that’s obviously possible. In that case, I’d recommend using an 18 cm diameter ring.
It’s a dessert I made four-handed (not that you’ll need that many, mind you, it’s a simple recipe I told you!) with Mikaël (mika_patisserie on Instagram). Together we made a delicious vanilla flan (and I absolutely must tell you about it here as soon as possible, the recipe is incredible!) then we made use of the flan’s chilling time to make these little fondants.
How do you make the vanilla cream?
To make this chocolate fondant, we decided to use the vanilla cream from the flan (we had a little left over and it would have been a shame not to use it) as an accompaniment. Granted, it’s not traditional. If that doesn’t suit you, feel free to make a crème anglaise (I’ll point you to the recipe: here). But this cream is so delicious that I’d still recommend giving it a try, just to see!
It’s not a pastry cream like you’d usually find (for filling choux buns or the like). Here, a certain amount of unwhipped cream is added to the cold, loosened vanilla cream. So it’s not a diplomat cream either (in a diplomat cream, the pastry cream is set with gelatine and the cream is whipped into chantilly cream). It makes it wonderfully smooth; it’s not at all dense, I promise you.
Something to bear in mind though: once your little fondants are covered with vanilla cream, it’s time to eat. Whatever you do, don’t leave them sitting in the fridge for hours for the evening meal, the cream will simply form a skin (just like a pastry cream left to cool without cling film pressed onto its surface). If you want to save a little time, you can at a push prepare the cream (so blend the pastry cream to loosen it + add the cream) and put it in a piping bag, or in a bowl but with cling film pressed firmly onto the surface. If you put the cream in a bowl, give it a quick whisk again before serving.
How do you make a really fondant fondant?
I’d love to tell you to follow the recipe to the letter but unfortunately, that won’t be enough. You’ll have to test the baking of the cake in YOUR oven. Even if you follow the recipe to the letter, use rings of the right size and bake for the time indicated, you might not get the result you want. And no, it won’t be the recipe’s fault 😉 Every oven is different. In fact, it was the first time we’d made this recipe in Mika’s oven. We went for 10 minutes of baking (the time I gave in an old recipe of mine) and it was too long. If I were to do it again, I’d bake for 9 minutes for a fondant centre and 8 minutes for a molten centre. The most important thing is to write down what you do so you can confirm the baking time or not.
Ingredients & preparation
3 components · Full recipe
Vanilla Cream
Ingredients
- 200 g (7.1 oz) de lait entier
- 35 g (1.2 oz) de jaunes d’œuf
- 30 g (1.1 oz) de sucre
- 20 g (0.7 oz) de maïzena
- 55 g (1.9 oz) de crème liquide entière
- 1/2 gousse de vanille bio de Madagascar Norohy
Method
1
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale.
2
Add the cornstarch and mix.
3
In a saucepan, heat the milk with the seeds and half a vanilla pod. Pour it in 3 additions over the previous mixture through a sieve, mixing between each addition. Pour everything back into the saucepan and whisk over medium heat until the cream thickens.
4
Transfer the cream to a wide shallow dish, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and allow to cool slightly before refrigerating.
5
When the pastry cream has cooled well (it can be slightly warm), remove it from the refrigerator and place it in a bowl. Loosen it with an immersion blender until perfectly smooth.
6
Add the full-fat liquid cream and blend again with the immersion blender. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and set aside.
Chocolate Fondant
Ingredients
- 3 œufs
- 100 g (3.5 oz) de chocolat noir Equatoriale 55% de Valrhona
- 100 g (3.5 oz) de beurre demi-sel
- 90 g (3.2 oz) de sucre
- 50 g (1.8 oz) de farine
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F (390°F).
2
Generously butter 6 circles of 7 cm (2.8 in) in diameter. You can also line them with a strip of parchment paper (I had no problem unmolding without it).
3
Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave.
4
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar for 5 minutes.
5
Add the chocolate mixture and melted butter and fold in gently with a spatula. Then add the flour in a rain and the fleur de sel. Mix one final time.
6
Fill the circles with batter up to halfway (the fondant will rise during baking).
7
Bake for about 9 minutes (adjust according to your oven and the desired result).
8
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Generously butter 6 circles of 7 cm (2.8 in) in diameter. You can also line them with a strip of parchment paper.
Assembly
Ingredients
- Aucun
Method
1
When ready to serve, spoon some vanilla cream over the fondant.
2
Add small chocolate decorations on top, as you wish.
3
This fondant is even better enjoyed at room temperature, served with its well-chilled vanilla cream.
4
Once the cream has been placed on top of the fondant, serve immediately. Otherwise the cream will form a skin…
5
When ready to serve, spoon some vanilla cream over the fondant. Add small chocolate decorations on top, as you wish. Enjoy promptly. This fondant is even better if prepared 2-3 days in advance and reheated in the oven at 200°C / 400°F for about 10 minutes.
Questions fréquentes
Comment faire la crème vanille ?
For this chocolate fondant, we decided to use the vanilla custard from the flan (we had a little left over and it would have been a shame to waste it) as an accompaniment. I know it’s not traditional. If that doesn’t work for you, feel free to make a crème anglaise instead (I’ll refer you to the recipe: here). But this cream is so delicious that I still recommend giving it a try, just to see! It’s not a standard pastry cream as you’d normally find (used to fill choux pastries and the like). Here, a certain amount of unwhipped single cream is added to the cold, loosened vanilla cream. So it’s not a crème diplomate either (in a crème diplomate, the pastry cream is set with gelatine and the cream is whipped to a chantilly). This gives it a lovely silkiness — it’s not dense at all, I promise. One thing to bear in mind: once your little fondants are covered with the vanilla cream, it’s time to eat. Don’t leave them sitting in the fridge for hours before a dinner, as the cream will simply form a skin (just like a pastry cream left to cool without cling film pressed to the surface). If you want to save a little time, you can prepare the cream in advance (blitz the pastry cream to loosen it + add the single cream) and transfer it to a piping bag, or to a bowl covered tightly with cling film. If you put it in a bowl, just give it a quick whisk before serving.
Comment faire un fondant bien fondant ?
I’d love to tell you to simply follow the recipe to the letter, but unfortunately that won’t be enough. You’ll need to test the baking time in YOUR own oven. Even if you follow the recipe to the letter, use rings of the right size and bake for the indicated time, you may not get the result you’re after. And no, it won’t be the recipe’s fault 😉 Every oven is different. As it happens, this was the first time we made this recipe in Mika’s oven. We started with 10 minutes (the time I used to give in an old recipe of mine) — and it was too much. Next time, I’d go with 9 minutes for a soft fudgy centre, or 8 minutes for a molten lava centre. The most important thing is to note down what you do, so you can validate or adjust the baking time. For this chocolate fondant with vanilla cream, I used Valrhona’s Équatorial Noir 55% dark chocolate and Norohy’s organic Madagascar vanilla.
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