Fondant au Chocolat Salé (Salted Chocolate Fondant Cake)

One hour away from having the best chocolate fondant cake of your life. I promise.

Before moving to France in 2015, I had never tried fondant au chocolate. To me, the word “fondant” always made me think of chocolate lava cake (moelleux au chocolat). I did not know about this velvety, chocolatey, dense goodness. It wasn’t until I began working as an au pair that I saw fondant au chocolate being made in the kitchen by the mother I worked for. I watched her as she melted the dark chocolate (70%) and butter, mixed in the eggs and flour, and buttered the spring pan. She prepared the gateau so effortlessly and the result was decadent.

The KitchenAid and I became well acquainted over a short period of time. Eventually, I was making fondant au chocolat on a weekly basis. Switching up the flavors depending on the season (lemon in the summer, pumpkin in the fall), experimenting with the composition (adding whipped egg whites, only using yolks), and experimenting with sizes (large spring pan, personal sized muffin tins). The experimentation has led me to a few fondant au chocolat recipes I swear by.

Scroll down for the recipe.

Enjoy!

Fondant au Chocolate Salé (Salted Chocolate Fondant)

My Salted Chocolate Fondant cake served for a party of 8.

Fondant au Chocolat Salé (Salted Chocolate Fondant Cake)

The recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes

• Bake time: 35-40 minutes

• Total time: 2 hours (cake must sit in fridge for at least 1 hour)

• Cuisine: French

• Keywords: chocolate, chocolate cake, salted chocolate, french

Ingredients

• 115g dark baking chocolate

• 140g salted butter

• 145g sugar (145 of regular white sugar OR 100g of raw sugar and 45g white sugar) I find raw sugar gives it more of a caramel flavor.

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 160g eggs (usually about 3 large eggs)

• 20g flour

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 260 degrees F (or 125 degrees C)

• Start by taking a springform pan (18cm or 9x3 inches). Butter the pan lightly and place a piece of wax paper over the bottom part. Once you add the top part and close the springform pan (with the paper still in place), cut the excess paper off. Add a spoonful of flour and make sure it coats the sides of the pan (to prevent sticking later). Set pan aside.

• Take a small-medium size bowl (glass or metal) and put in the 115g of dark chocolate and the 140g of butter.

• Place the bowl on top of a boiling pot of water. This is known as a “bain-marie”.

• Once the butter and chocolate are melted and combined well, set the bowl aside to cool a bit.

• In a separate bowl, add the 160g of eggs, the 145g of sugar, and the 1/4 tsp of salt. Whip the eggs and sugar together with a mixer or hand mixer on medium-high for 7-8 minutes. They should become fluffy, creamy, and light in color.

• At this point, add the 20g of flour to the egg mixture and mix until combined on medium speed. Once combined, add the melted chocolate mixture and mix on medium speed until the batter is one color. Scrape down the sides to make sure the batter us fully incorporated.

• Pour the batter into the springform pan. Tap the pan against the counter to get out any air bubbles. Place pan in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.

• Once cake is done baking, place it on the countertop or rack to cool down. Once you’re able to touch it, wrap the pan with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to set for a two hours. You can of course skip this step and eat it slightly warm with some ice cream—but I find the flavor really comes together after setting in the fridge and serving it at room temperature.