Fondant de Nathalie

Fondant de Nathalie

I woke up this morning making great plans for the day e.g. cycling on the pathway along the river and seeing where that would lead me to. Have always wondered what I would find at the end of the path. No cars are allowed on it so we've always turned just before.

The sun was shining so the day looked promising. I walked out of the house and stopped. It was so cold.

16 years in Europe (including 6 months in a very snowy Rochester, NY) and I do not think that I've managed to embrace the cold. The mind spent the day cycling outside the house, but the body stayed indoors. The men arrived this morning to repair the heater so now I have heating going and then a new leak appeared. No showers till they come to repair it on Monday. But no worries, I have another 4 showers/bath in the house. No doubt once we start using them more leaks will be discovered. I do not know how many of these guys they have on the payroll, but when they constructed these houses they probably made sure they would give them enough work to do for years to come.

Hub's colleague and friend from Germany (but he's French-Serbian) would be dining chez nous tomorrow. Bottles will be uncorked and I am expected to furnish a few bites. I haven't gone grocery shopping this week since the car's gone, and will have to make do with my end-of-the-world food stock. Incidentally it's 11/11/11 today and the Chinese will be celebrating what they call "Singles' Day". Cheesy, huh?

I had all the ingredients required for a Fondant de Nathalie in Trish Deseine's I Love Cake book. It is actually almost like my own fondant recipe. This calls for overnight preparation wherever possible, whereas I usually make mine to be eaten on the spot. So I've gotten tomorrow's dessert out of the way and can concentrate on the rest of the menu.

What I really want is to blog about a recipe from the book. Because this book has been offered to me by a few precious friends when I left Modena, namely fellow members of my cooking club. JW will be visiting me in Shanghai next Saturday, by the way. We should be doing a spot of cooking together when she's here, which could include a pasta-making session with a few neighbours.

I've reduced the egg and the sugar. The fondant turned out really well and was a hit with both guest and family.

Fondant de Nathalie (adapted from I Love Cake) :

200g dark chocolate (if more than 50% cocoa increase the sugar)

200g butter

200g sugar

4 eggs

1 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F.

Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave oven.

Stir in the sugar and set aside to cool slightly.

Using a wooden spoon stir in an egg at a time.

Incorporate the flour and pour the batter into a paper-lined 20-cm round cake mould.

Bake for 22 minutes. The centre should still be slightly wobbly.

Remove the cake immediately from the mould and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Best consumed the next day.