French Food Friday...Chocolate Fondant With Piment D'Espelette

recipe and photo from here

Bonjour mes belles,

As it is Easter, I am in the mood for some chocolate and this is the recipe that I have chosen as part of our lunch menu on Sunday.

The city of Bayonne has been famous for its chocolate since the seventeenth century, when the Jews, driven out of Spain and Portugal by the Inquisition, settled in the area and founded the chocolate industry that still remains today. Bayonne is a 3 hour drive from where we live, so perfect for a weekend break.

• 200g dark chocolate, 70 per cent cocoa solids, broken up
• 150g unsalted butter, plus a little extra for greasing
• 150g caster sugar
• 3 teaspoons piment d'Espelette (a chilli pepper grown in the Basque region of France)
• Pinch of salt
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 25g plain flour

TO SERVE: 

• 1 tablespoon icing sugar
• Whipped cream

 

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/mark 4. Grease and base-line a 22cm spring-form cake tin. Melt the chocolate and butter in a mixing bowl placed over a saucepan of barely simmering water. You can melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave for about 1½ minutes but do it in stages, stirring 2-3 times, so as not to overheat the chocolate. 
2. Cool a little, then stir in the sugar, piment d'Espelette, salt and eggs. Finally, stir in the flour. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 20 minutes. The centre should feel a little soft but there should not be a wobble. Take out of the oven and cool in the tin on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes. Release the sides but keep the cake on the base as it is fragile at this temperature. For a slightly more solid cake you can leave it for a couple of hours at room temperature before serving. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

A glass of port goes nicely with this dessert.

 

très bon vendredi à tous, Leeann x