Gordon Ramsay’s chocolate fondant is crisp on the outside with a molten chocolate centre that flows out when you cut into it, made with dark chocolate, butter, eggs, sugar and just a little flour. Takes 15 to 20 minutes in the oven. Serves 4.
This is the Bread Street Kitchen recipe, where Ramsay says “the perfect chocolate fondant holds its shape when you turn it out onto the plate but releases a stream of molten chocolate as you cut into it with a spoon.” He calls it his favourite dessert on The F Word, where he also reveals a restaurant trick: always bake an extra one so you can test it before sending the rest to the table.
The tip nobody talks about is the cocoa powder. In the video Ramsay says the moulds need to be “buttered and dusted in cocoa powder.” Most recipes only butter them. The cocoa creates a thin shell that helps the fondant slide out cleanly without sticking, and it adds another layer of chocolate flavour to the crust.
Gordon Ramsay Chocolate Fondant
Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Intermediate4
servings15
minutes20
minutes620
kcal35
minutesFrom Bread Street Kitchen: dark chocolate and butter melted together, folded into whisked eggs and sugar with sifted flour, baked in buttered and cocoa-dusted moulds at 190°C until the centre still moves. Served immediately with vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients
150g (5 oz) butter, plus extra for greasing
150g (5 oz) dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
75g (2¾ oz) plain flour
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
200g (7 oz) caster sugar
Cocoa powder, for dusting the moulds
Vanilla ice cream, crème fraîche or whipped cream, to serve
Directions
- Prepare the moulds: Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan / 375°F / Gas 5). Grease 4 x 220ml dariole moulds or ramekins with butter, then dust with cocoa powder. Place on a baking sheet.
- Melt the chocolate: Put the butter and chocolate into a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Don’t let the bowl touch the water. Leave until melted, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, sift over the flour and whisk it in.
- Make the batter: In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks and sugar until combined. Whisk this into the chocolate mixture until smooth. Add the flour in three stages, folding gently each time so you don’t knock the air out.
- Bake: Pour into the prepared moulds, filling three-quarters full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. They’re ready when you shake each one gently and only the middle moves a little.
- Turn out and serve: Using a sharp knife, gently loosen around the inside edge of each mould. Invert onto a serving plate and serve immediately with vanilla ice cream.
FAQs
How do you know when a chocolate fondant is done?
Ramsay uses two methods. In BSK he says to shake the mould gently after 15 minutes. If only the centre moves a little, it’s ready. On The F Word he explains the stakes: “if they come out undercooked, they’ll collapse. If they come out overcooked, they’ll be dry.”
His restaurant trick is to always bake an extra one. You cut that one open to check, and if the centre is still liquid, the others are perfect. “That’s why we put an extra one in there,” he says. “If it’s perfect, they’ll be talking about it for years.”
Why does Ramsay dust the moulds with cocoa powder?
Butter alone can leave the fondant stuck to the sides. The cocoa powder creates a dry layer between the butter and the batter, so when you run a knife around the edge and flip, it slides out cleanly.
It also means the outside has a thin cocoa crust instead of a greasy film. Most home recipes skip this step, which is why their fondants crack or stick when turning out.
What chocolate should you use?
Ramsay says on The F Word “the better the chocolate, the better the fondant.” The BSK recipe specifies 60-70% cocoa solids. Go higher than 70% and the centre won’t flow properly because there isn’t enough cocoa butter. Go lower and it tastes too sweet with 200g of sugar already in the batter.
Make sure there’s no water anywhere near the chocolate while melting. Ramsay warns that water “makes it go all grainy and it sort of seizes up.”
Can you make chocolate fondants ahead of time?
You can prepare the batter and fill the moulds, then chill them in the fridge for up to a day. Add 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time because they’re going in cold. Ramsay’s BSK recipe says it “easily doubles” if you’re feeding more people, so making a batch of 8 in advance for a dinner party works well.
Don’t freeze them though. The centre needs to be liquid, and freezing changes how the batter sets, so you lose the molten middle.
How is this different from a chocolate pudding or lava cake?
Same dish, different names. British menus call it a chocolate fondant or melt-in-the-middle pudding. American menus call it a lava cake or molten chocolate cake. Ramsay always calls it a fondant. The technique is identical: a thin baked shell around a liquid chocolate centre.
If you want a full-sized chocolate cake to slice at the table instead of individual puddings, his chocolate mint cake is completely flourless with mint caramel shards folded through, and his chocolate cake with ginger cream is a lighter sponge with ganache on top.
