Chocolate Fondant Puddings

I'm back! I have just moved house so you have to excuse the radio silence on the blog the past few weeks. This weeks post is again chocolate related but it does date back to Easter Sunday so after my chocolate fast I couldn't help but do a chocolate related desert. I spent Easter in Cheltenham with my sister, Aisling, and her boyfriend, Matt. After having a lovely lunch in a country pub with Matts family we went home to prepare another feast. It is tradition in my family, as I'm sure it is in many other houses, to have spring lamb on Easter Sunday. I requested that this be on the menu Easter Sunday as it was my first Easter away from home. They didn't disappoint. We had the most delicious Spring Lamb with all the trimmings.. Roast potatoes, roasted carrots and parsnips, cauliflower and leek in cheese sauce, gravy and of course mint sauce. I didn't help out for dinner at all.. but I was in charge of desert. 

Which brings me to my choice of desert as you can tell from the title, Chocolate Fondant Puddings. It was actually suggested to me by my cousin a few weeks ago that I should do this recipe on my blog (if you're reading this Ryan sorry you didn't get to sample- next time!). I researched the recipe and tweaked it to my liking. There were three of us for dinner but this recipe made 4/5 depending on the size of your ramekins. I got five out of it because these ramekins were quite small but looking back I probably could have got 6 out of it. I popped 2 of them in the freezer for Aisling and Matt to have at a later date. Again like my cookie recipe you can just pop these in the freezer and take out whenever you need them. Just be sure to wrap well with cling film. I could not get over how simple these were to make. I always wondered when I got this desert in a restaurant how they got the outside sponge cooked so well but the inside to remain all gooey. Well it all comes down to timing. Just follow my recipe below and you too can have perfect Chocolate Fondant Deserts. 

Ingredients

100g Dark Chocolate
100g Butter
100g Caster Sugar
100g Self Raising Flour
2 Eggs
1 Egg Yolk

Extra butter and cocoa powder to prepare the ramekins.

Method

Place the chocolate, butter and sugar together in a heatproof bowl and melt over a saucepan of simmering water. Be sure not to let the bottom of the bowl touch the water. When melted and well combined take off the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

While your mix cools you can prepare your ramekins. Grease the ramekins with butter and then dust with cocoa powder. This will make it easier to remove your puddings from the ramekins to serve.

After your mix has cooled slightly whisk in the eggs. When well combined add the flour. You can add a drop of vanilla extract at this point but this is completely optional. I added a tablespoon of maple syrup to my mix but again this is completely optional.. I just saw it in my sisters cupboard and threw a spoon in for good measure!!

Then divide the mixture equally between the ramekins. If you are preparing these in advance just pop them in the fridge until ready to bake. Ideally they should rest in the fridge for about an hour before baking so ensure you have this time when preparing them. When ready to bake place in the oven at 190C for 13-15 minutes. If cooking from frozen cook for an extra 2-3 minutes. When baked the top of the pudding should have a sponge like texture and springs back to touch.

Once baked remove from the oven and run a butter knife carefully around the edge of the ramekin. What I did was ran the knife along the top of the ramekin and gently pressed into the pudding separating it from the glass. Then you can tip the pudding straight onto a plate or what I did was tip the pudding onto a paper towel in my hand and then placed onto the plate.

These puddings are best served hot so straight to the table with them (or the couch in our case!). Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

I hope you try this recipe. If you do please let me know how it turned out. You can find me on instagram, twitter and now facebook too! Quick disclaimer.. I would like to thank Matt for the use of his camera and photography skills for the pictures on this post. If it was possible I would do all my baking in Cheltenham for pictures like these!

Happy Baking!

O x

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

So this post is a bit late.. Sorry I was MIA last week. Work got a little crazy and the weekend got even crazier!! So this week I baked Chocolate Chip Cookies. I found it very hard to get the consistency just right in these cookies but finally managed to get a winning combination. These cookies are what I call 'Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies' as they have a crisp edge but a yummy chewy centre. I have always been a fan of cookies or 'biscuits' as we call them at home. I remember in both my grannies houses there was always a stash of biscuits in the biscuit barrel when we went to visit. The poor women would barely get a hello from me and I was off in search of the sugary goodness! I remember my Lala always had 'Club Bars' in hers and with my Nana it was a variety but I always remember there being 'Fig Rolls' left at the bottom when all the chocolate covered ones were gone!! Such great memories..! 

Anyway what I am trying to say is in an Irish house hold there is always a stash of biscuits in case 'visitors' called unexpectedly and the "mortification" if someone calls unexpectedly and you have nothing in the house.. I can hear my own mother now "And I haven't a bit here to offer you with the tea". Well, my cookie recipe is perfect for freezing. No I don't mean freezing the baked cookies but freezing the dough. So if someone calls to say they'll be over in 20 mins there is no excuse for not having the house smelling like freshly baked cookies when they arrive!

Just follow my simple recipe for the dough and how to bake them, then at the end I will show you the best way to freeze them.

Ingredients

325g Plain Flour

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1tsp Salt

200g Butter (Soft, at room temp)

150g Caster Sugar

150g Soft Brown Sugar

1tsp Vanilla Extract

2 Eggs

300g Dark Chocolate Chips

Prepare

Preheat oven to 190C / Gas Mark 5. Line a baking tray with Parchment Paper.

Method

Begin by combining the flour, bicarb and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl (if using a free standing mixer use this bowl here) add the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract and mix to combine. If you're using a free standing mixer use paddle attachment or use hand held whisk and beat until creamy.

Then beat in your eggs. Once eggs have been incorporated gradually beat in your flour. I had my mixer at a medium speed for all these steps. Be sure to stop mixing every once in a while and scrape down any ingredients that may be stuck to the side of the bowl and scrape the bottom of the bowl too.. any places the mixer may have missed. Once flour has been combined stir in your chocolate chips (do not beat or whisk as you don't want them breaking). I have mentioned in my recipe 'Dark Chocolate Chips' .. You can use whatever type of chocolate you prefer. I just prefer the dark chocolate chips because I like the sharp taste of the dark chocolate against the sweetness of the cookie. So now you should be left with a nice pliable dough like below. 

Now, what you can do here is split the dough into two halves and roll out into large sausage shapes and cut accordingly. These rolls can be wrapped in cling film and placed in the fridge until ready to use. They are easier to cut went they have been in the fridge for about 20-30 mins. For me, using an ice-cream scoop, I scooped out equal (ish) portions and placed on the baking tray as seen below. 

I placed them in the oven for 9-11 mins. Be careful not to over cook as they will be very hard and you won't have that yummy chewy consistency. Be sure to leave plenty of space between them as they will spread!!

If you want to freeze your dough all you have to do is place the tray into the freezer when you have the cookies placed on it. You can obviously place more cookies on the tray if you're freezing them but just make sure they're not touching.

Place in the freezer for about one hour. When they have frozen just take the tray out of the freezer and place your cookie dough balls into a zip lock bag and put back into the freezer. They will not stick together when they have frozen. When you want to bake them from frozen just take them out of the freezer, straight onto a baking tray and place into your preheated oven. 

Alternatively if you used the rolled dough method you can just placed the wrapped roll of cookie dough in the freezer and take it out of the freezer and put into the fridge a couple of hours before cooking or until soft enough to cut.

If frozen they will obviously take a little longer to cook; about 13-15 minutes. Just keep an eye on them. You will know they're done because they will look a lovely gold brown colour all over.

Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee or you could do it like the Americans do have it with a nice cold glass of milk.

These cookies are honestly so so easy to make and very handy to have in the freezer whenever you have guests coming around. I hope you enjoy making them. Please let me know if you try them and what you think of them. If you have any questions just comment below or you can find me on instagram or twitter.

Happy Baking!

O x

(I just love the tulips this time of year..!!)