Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain's recipe for chocolate and star anise fondants

  • 20 mins
  • 2
  • Medium

Ingredients

  • For the coating
  • 50g unsalted butter, melted
  • cocoa powder, for dusting
  • For the fondants
  • 200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), melted
  • 200g unsalted butter, melted
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 4 whole medium eggs,
  • plus 4 egg yolks
  • 200g plain flour, sifted
  • 4 teaspoons star anise, ground with a pestle and mortar and passed through a small, fine sieve

Method

Chocolate fondants have a horrible reputation of being among the scariest desserts to bake. It took me until my late twenties to even attempt this beast. I want to tell you it went horribly wrong, that it was an inedible disaster. But I’m sorry to say it went really well, and it always has. This is a safe and easy recipe for a melt-in-the-middle sensation. Crusty on the outside, warm and gooey on the inside with the distinctive, lingering aroma of anise.

To make Nadiya’s chocolate and star anise fondants first coat the ramekins: Brush eight ramekins with melted butter, making upward strokes. Place the ramekins on a baking tray in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Take the ramekins out again and brush them once more with melted butter, and put them back in the freezer for 10 minutes. Take them out and dust the insides with cocoa powder, making sure to tap out any excess.
To make the fondants: Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, being careful not to allow the bowl to touch the water. Roughly chop the butter and add to the chocolate, stirring until it melts in.
Whisk the sugar and eggs until they are light and fluffy and doubled in size. This will take about five minutes in a stand mixer, or 5–10 minutes with a handheld mixer. Add the butter and chocolate mixture, and mix everything together. Now add the flour and star anise, and fold in using a large metal spoon.
Put the ramekins on a baking tray. Divide the mixture between the ramekins, leaving a 1cm gap at the top of each. Cook for 10–12 minutes, no longer. The fondants will start to come away from the sides of the ramekins.
Take the fondants out of the oven, and leave in the ramekins for one minute only. They will still be hot, but they need to be turned out straight away and served, otherwise the residual heat will cook them right through.
You can freeze the fondants before baking, ready for another occasion. If you are cooking from frozen, cook at 200C/fan 180C for 17 minutes.
■ Nadiya’s Kitchen is published by Michael Joseph priced £20.

About The Author

Nadiya Hussain won the sixth series of BBC's The Great British Bake Off. She is a columnist for The Times Magazine and Essentials Magazine, has signed publishing deals and her first cookery book Nadiya's Kitchen is out now. She is also regular reporter for The One Show and a guest panellist on Loose Women.

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