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Photographs Francois Oberholster
Makes 6 x 180ml ramekins
Preparation time: 45 minutes (30 minutes in the fridge, 10 minutes in the oven)
Cooking time: 10–12 minutes
Oven temperature: 180°C
• 50g butter, melted
• cocoa
• 200g good-quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces or coarsely chopped
• 200g butter, cubed
• 4 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 200g (240ml) castor sugar
• 200g (360ml) cake flour
• 50g white or dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1. Brush 6 ramekins with the melted butter and then dust with cocoa. Turn the ramekins upside down and tap out any excess cocoa.
2. Melt the dark chocolate and butter together over low heat on the stove or in the microwave. Don’t overheat it. When it has melted, let it stand for 10 minutes to cool.
3. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and castor sugar together in a separate bowl until the mixture is light and fluffy; it’s ready when the mixture has thickened.
4. Sift the flour into the egg and sugar mixture and beat until blended. Add the melted chocolate mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate. Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven. Place the ramekins on a baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes until a crust forms and the puddings start to pull away from the sides. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 1 minute before carefully turning out the fondants.
• Don’t be too hasty when turning out the puddings, or they’ll break apart.
• Use a sharp knife to loosen the sides before turning them out.
• You can prepare the puddings a few hours beforehand and keep them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake them.
• You can also freeze the unbaked batter in the ramekins and then pop them in the oven straight from the freezer when you’re ready. Simply add about 5 minutes to the baking time.
• The puddings also freeze well once baked. Thaw and heat in the microwave before serving.
