Easy (Quite Sweet) Chocolate Fondants

It’s Mother’s Day here in the States, and I’d planned to do a post on my mom’s coffee cake recipe, which is the best thing ever and perfect for Mother’s Day brunch or breakfast in bed. Alas, I’m still getting used to the lighting in my new kitchen and I HATE the pics I took of the recipe, so I’ll have to make it again (I know, the sacrifices I make…).

So in lieu of cinnamon-sugar goodness, I bring you the gooey, chocolate-y goodness of sweet chocolate fondants (lava cakes).

I adapted this from a lemon white chocolate lava cake recipe my mom and I tried a few months ago. What’s great about these chocolate fondants vs. a lot of chocolate souffle-like recipes is that you don’t end up wasting gobs of egg whites or egg yolks due to separation, and they’re not temperamental at all (no sad, deflated souffles here!).

Also, they are the easiest thing ever and take under a half hour from start to finish. And with them being chocolate, they’re a total crowd-pleaser.  

If you’re looking for the best chocolate molten lava cake recipe ever, I’ve got you covered as well!  It’s more bittersweet and slightly more souffle-like than these fondants (which are quite sweet), but is still insanely easy, fast, and naturally gluten-free.

Want proof that these are the easiest, fastest thing ever? Well, a few months ago, when I tried the recipe for the first time, I had my family in town and a friend over. We’d made a big, elaborate dinner and were sitting on the couch in a food coma, drinking wine and talking.

I got up and went into the kitchen—open kitchen, I might add, so they could see me—made these and put them in the oven, then came back to the living room and sat back down. About 10 minutes later, my mom goes, “Should we go ahead and get dessert going?” “It’ll be ready in about 5 minutes,” I said. They couldn’t believe I’d thrown this together in mere minutes with no fuss at all.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Put the butter and chocolate chips in a large bowl and microwave for 1 minute, 20 seconds. This melts everything so you can whisk it all together.

Whisk the butter and chocolate, then whisk in the powdered sugar.

Add the eggs and egg yolk, whisk in. Go ahead and add the vanilla, pinch of salt, and any extract if you’re using it.

Flour, you know the drill.

Et voila. That seriously took like five minutes, right? And most of that was trying to figure out where on earth you put the powdered sugar, and whether you wanted to use orange or hazelnut extract…

Pour into greased ramekins or a greased muffin tin (I prefer silicone, if you’re going this route). Ramekins would be my first choice, but both work equally well.

Place the ramekins or muffin tin on a baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes, until the sides are firm and center is still soft and wiggly.

Definitely err on the side of undercooked, they’ll still bake a little bit and solidify/set up once you pull them out of the oven.

Let stand for a few minutes to cool, then serve while they’re still hot. With vanilla ice cream if you roll that way. Or plain if you don’t. I like the purity of the chocolate lava all by itself.

I was so stoked to find a great go-to recipe like this that wasn’t fussy or time-consuming, and have made it a few times since first trying it.

I prefer it in small ramekins because I feel like the surface area-to-gooey center ratio is perfect, and that the muffin tin ones were a little cake-y (though I think I may have left them in the oven a minute or two too long).

Other chocolate treats you’ll love:

• Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake With Peanut Butter Glaze
• A Flourless Chocolate Cake…That’s NOT Too Sweet Or Rich
• Dark Chocolate Olive Oil Skillet Banana Bread
• Addictive Dark Chocolate, Peanut Butter, & Tahini Bark

Sweet Chocolate Fondants (Lava Cakes)

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 13 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 33 minutes

You won't believe how easy these chocolate fondants (quite sweet chocolate lava cakes) are to make...and how delicious!

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Ingredients

• 4 ounces of dark chocolate chips
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup of powdered sugar (you could increase this slightly, it could stand to be a little sweeter)
• 3 whole eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 6 tablespoons of flour
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray 4 custard cups or ramekins liberally with non-stick spray and place on a baking sheet. Note, I used two small ramekins and one larger one, but I wouldn’t recommend that because the batter in the larger ramekin had trouble reaching the right consistency inside and out.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate in a large, microwavable bowl for 1 minute and 20 seconds. Whisk together till completely melted.
3. Add powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla, and whisk until combined.
4. Add eggs and the one egg yolk with a pinch of salt, and combine this as well.
5. Finally, whisk in the flour.
6. Pour the mixture evenly into the sprayed cups or ramekins. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the sides are firm and center is soft.
7. Once cooled, invert onto a plate (if it’ll let you), and serve (with ice cream, if that’s how you roll).

Notes

• Personally I like these on the undercooked side