Chocolate Molten Lava Cake Fondue

An edible chocolate fondue?

Ever since I watched this video by Ann Reardon, I could not get it out of my head. I mean, how brilliant is that? In fact, go ahead and click on the link. I'll wait. 

I rarely go for recipes that have too many steps or seem too complicated. Call me lazy: I like recipes that can be done under an hour. But when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to give that a shot. Ann Reardon calls this a modern interpretation of a lava cake, and well, I don't need any more convincing to break out my baker hat. Call it a brownie, or even an edible fondue bowl. Me, I'm content to leave the terminology to others, and just stick to what I do best (eating).

Picture by R

This is one recipe where having a microwave would be handy. It makes tempering chocolate (for the chocolate disc), and making chocolate ganache a breeze.

The Brownie 

I made a few changes to the recipe, such as going back to my tried-and-true brownie recipe from Alice Medrich, and increased the quantity 1.5 times to make a taller brownie to hold more molten chocolate. 

Once the brownie has cooled to room temperature, you can shape the brownie to your desired form. Cut out a hole in the center. 

Pro-tip! You'll have to increase baking time to compensate if baking in larger quantities. But it's no big deal either if the centre is a little runny, since you'll be cutting it out anyway...

(Tempered) Chocolate Disc

Adapted from Ann Reardon's instructive video. For more information of tempering chocolate, check out David Lebovitz's guide and also from thekitchn's site.  

Ingredients

70 + 30g dark chocolate

Steps

1) Break 70g of chocolate into small pieces, and microwave it for 30s. Remove from microwave and stir well.  

2) Repeat in intervals of 10s, until all the chocolate has just melted. Be careful not to leave the chocolate in the microwave unattended for too long or you might burn the chocolate. 

3) Add the 30g of chocolate to the melted chocolate, and stir, until some of the chocolate has just melted, and the temperature of the melted chocolate has cooled to about body temperature. Fish out what's left of the 30g chocolate, and set aside. The melted chocolate in the bowl is now tempered.

4) Using an offset spatula*, spread the chocolate onto a piece of baking paper and let cool. Just as the chocolate is firm but not yet set, cut the shape of the disc you desire. This chocolate piece goes over the brownie and conceals the hole. 

5) Cover the chocolate with another sheet of baking paper and place something flat and heavy over the top. Allow the chocolate to set in the fridge. 

*Try to get the chocolate surface to be as smooth as possible. Otherwise, when you pour the hot chocolate ganache over the chocolate disc, it could melt unevenly.

You'll want your chocolate disc to have a smoother texture than mine, which was a tad too uneven.

Chocolate Fondue

To be made about 10 minutes before you are ready to serve.
Ann uses a combination of 40g milk chocolate + 140g dark, but you're free to go off in any direction that you like. I did my fondue her way: by nuking chocolate pieces in the microwave and then mixing cream into the chocolate. 

If you want to do it the old-fashioned way, I included a tried-and-tested recipe from Sherry Yard's Secret of Baking. 

Ingredients

180g dark chocolate 
180g heavy cream

Steps
1) Using a serrated knife, chop chocolate into the size of peas. Big chunks would not melt. Keep the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl.
2) Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, to the point where the cream will bubble furiously and rise up the pan.
3) Immediately pour the boiling cream into the bowl of chocolate. Tap the bowl onto a coaster or kitchen towel to settle the cream into every crevices of the chopped chocolate, and let it sit for 1 minute. 
4) Using a silicone spatula, slowly stir the mixture in luxurious circular movements, starting from the centre and moving outwards to the sides. Stir until all the chocolate has meld into the cream, about 2 minutes. It may look done after a minute, but keep going to ensure a homogenous mixture. Be careful not to stir too much air into the mixture. 
5) For the purpose of this recipe, serve immediately while hot. 

Putting it All Together

(Optional) Ingredients 
Powdered sugar, for decoration
Strawberries, marshmallow etc, for dipping. 

Steps
1) Peel the chocolate disc off the baking paper and put the disc carefully over the brownie (smoother side up!), making sure to conceal the hole. 
2) If desired, sprinkle powdered sugar over the chocolate disc. 

3) Serve. In front of everybody, pour the hot chocolate ganache over the chocolate disc where the hole is. Bask in the appreciative oooooo-es and ahhhhhh-s when the chocolate ganache melts through the chocolate disc and into the hole. 
4) Break out the marshmallow and strawberries. Enjoy! You earned it.