Moelleux au Chocolat

Firstly, I'm sorry for my lack of blogging lately! I don't know where the last couple of weeks have gone actually - they've flown by and I seem to have been ridiculously busy. A couple of days ago I got back from a wonderful trip to Barcelona, which I will be blogging about in the not-too-distant future I hope, because there a lot of food-orientated things I'd like to share with you. For now though, I'll leave you with this recipe that is certain to get your tastebuds going. Granted, today's beautifully sunny weather here in Aix does not particularly make me want to bake this, but when have I ever been known to refuse chocolate?!

How often do you go down the dessert aisle at the supermarket and hope that today will be the day that the Gü chocolate fondant puddings will be on offer? But oh, that would be too good to be true! And it's always when I really fancy something far too chocolatey, when a bar of Cadbury's just doesn't do the job. I simply can't justify spending over £3 on two tiny desserts though, even if I do convince myself that it's worth it because you get to keep the little ramekins they come in. Well fear not, because I have found a recipe for them (courtesy of Rachel Khoo's TV programme that I am just a little bit in love with still!) so you can make them whenever you want! They might even taste better. And they've got a little twist, because not only does the chocolate come oozing out when you break into it, but a pool of caramel too. If this hasn't got your tastebuds going, I don't know what will!!

Considering how impressive these desserts look, there's not really much too them. You don't even need ramekins, because I improvised with a little coffee cup. The key is to not cook them for too long, because it's the fact that they're a little under-cooked that means you get the melted chocolate in the middle. This is also why it's important to let the mixture chill in the fridge for at least an hour before cooking. Surprisingly, the caramel sauce is very simple to make too. And literally all you need is sugar and cream. Yes, they're not the healthiest of desserts, but then that's what makes them taste soooo wonderfully delicious! Give them a go and you can bake away to your heart's content...without having to worry whether or not there's an offer on at Sainsbury's!

Moelleux au Chocolat     makes 6

Ingredients:
For the sponge:
150g Dark Chocolate (so it tastes as chocolatey as possible!)
85g Butter
170g Sugar
85g Flour
6 Eggs
Cocoa Powder

For the caramel sauce:
150g Sugar
150ml Cream

Method:

1. Start off by making the sponge. Melt the butter and chocolate in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring gently.
2. Whilst this is melting, grease the ramekins (or coffee cups in my case!) with butter and coat in cocoa powder.
3. In a mixing bowl, stir the sugar and flour together.
4. Add the melted butter and chocolate and stir through.
5. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and add to the mixture, sitrring through again thoroughly.
6. Put the mixture into the ramekins so they are about two thirds full.
7. Place in the fridge and chill for at least an hour.
8. Whilst the mixture is chilling, get on with the caramel sauce. Sprinkle enough sugar to cover the bottom of a medium-sized saucepan.
9. Cook until it melts and turns golden brown and then add the rest of the sugar.
10. Continue cooking until it turns the colour of Coke.
11. Add the cream. Stand back at this point as it does boil up.
12. Cook until it coats the back of a spoon (or reaches 108 degrees if you have a themometer!).
13. Pour into a bowl and cool in the fridge, but it does have to stay runny.
14. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
15. Remove the chilled ramekins from the fridge.
16. Transfer the caramel sauce to a piping bag (or a sandwich bag in my case!).
17. Push the end of the piping bag into the mixture and squeeze some of the caramel sauce out.
18. Place in the oven for 15 minutes, until they are cooked around the edges, but still gooey in the middle.
19. Turn the ramekins upside down onto a small plate and enjoy! You will not be disappointed, I promise! Well, I wasn't anyway...
    

 

Also, I apologise for the lack of real photos of the finished product for this post. I recently deleted all the photos on my camera, which I literally NEVER do. Now I know why. I forgot to upload the beautiful photos I took of my moelleux au chocolat onto my laptop. Typical. I definitely won't be doing that again anyway. I've included some chocolate-y pictures despite this, as I don't think you can get a dessert that's more chocolate-y! It just gives me an excuse to make them again I guess!!