This 5 ingredients French Chocolate Fondant Cake is the most decadent, rich, fudgy and delicious chocolate cake you will ever try! It is so quick and easy to prepare and will be ready in less than 40 minutes. A completely irresistible chocolate cake recipe you will want to make again and again!
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Why we love this recipe
There is nothing more delicious, decadent and irresistible than a fudgy Chocolate Fondant Cake. And what if I told you that it was one of the easiest, quickest chocolate cake to make, ever!?
Prepared with 5 basic ingredients only and ready in less than 40 minutes, this French chocolate cake is perfect for any special occasion, a dinner party or just to satisfy your chocolate cravings. It is so chocolatey, it's almost like bitting into a Chocolate Truffle!
What is a Chocolate Fondant Cake
A Chocolate Fondant Cake, called "Fondant au Chocolat" in French is a classic French chocolate cake that is super quick and easy to whip up. "Fondant" literally means "melting" in French, and that's exactly how I would describe this cake. A fudgy, gooey cake that oozes with chocolate!
In France, a "chocolate fondant" refers to a larger cake as opposed to a single, one-serve chocolate lava cake style dessert that is usually called "coulant au chocolat" or "moelleux au chocolat".
You can find the smaller, individual version of this dessert with my Chocolate Fondant Cakes for Two!
Ingredients
Five ingredients is all you need for this extra fudgy chocolate cake!
(Scroll Down to recipe card for all quantities)
What is the Chocolate Fondant made of:
- Chocolate: always use Cooking Chocolate and not eating chocolate for baking to insure it melts properly. I use a 70% Dark Chocolate for an intense chocolate flavour, but you could use a slightly less dark chocolate as well.
- Butter: Unsalted (although you could use salted butter for a slightly different flavour too).
- Sugar: Caster Sugar (Fine White Granulated Sugar). This recipe will work with Brown Sugar as well.
- Eggs: medium size and at room temperature.
- Flour: Plan / All-Purpose Flour, preferably sifted. I have not tried this recipe with a gluten-free flour substitute. To make a gluten free version of this cake, I would use my Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe instead.
Optionally, you can also finish the cake with with some cocoa powder just before serving it.
Optional Addition
- Coffee: for an even more intense flavour, you could add a little bit of instant coffee granules to the melted chocolate and butter.
- Sea Salt: just a pinch will elevate the flavours of the cake!
- Chocolate Chunks: for even more ooey gooey chocolate, add a little bit of small chocolate chunks to the batter before cooking it.
- Fruits: add some Orange Zest or a few berries last Raspberries on top of the cake.
How the make Chocolate Fondant Cake
This French Chocolate Cake is SO easy to make. You will need two mixing bowl (one has to be heat-proof) and a small 20 cm / 8 inch springform pan. No need for an electric mixer or stand mixer here!
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- Preheat your oven on 180'C/350'F. Prepare the 20cm/8inch Springform Pan by lining the bottom with baking paper and lightly greasing the edges with butter or oil.
- Photo 1: Finely chop the Chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl along with the cubed Butter.
- Photo 2: Melt and stir until smooth, either over a double boiler or in the microwave in 30 seconds increments. Set aside to cool down.
- Photo 3: In a separate larger bowl, whisk together the Eggs and Sugar.
- Photo 4: Whisk for about a minute; you should see some bubbles in the liquid. The more you whisk, the more air you will add to the batter which will make the cake fluffier rather than fudgy.
- Photo 5: Pour the melted Chocolate and Butter in the bowl with the Eggs and Sugar. Mix until just combined.
Make sure the melted chocolate/butter isn't too hot anymore or you risk cooking the eggs with the residual heat.
- Photo 6: Add the sifted Flour. You can also add a pinch of sea salt at this stage if you want.
- Photo 7: Whisk for a few seconds until just combined - you do not want to over-mix the batter at this point or the chocolate fondant cake will be chewier.
- Photo 8: Pour the cake batter into the prepared springform pan. If needed, spread the chocolate mixture around with a spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 20 to 22 minutes then remove from the oven. The centre of the cake should be just cooked but still be quite soft. Let the cake cool down completely before removing from the pan.
- Optionally, dust with Unsweetened Cocoa Powder just before serving.
Recipe FAQs
Use a good-quality dark cooking chocolate for the best results. A 70% cocoa solid chocolate is highly recommended here!
The only dairy ingredient used in this recipe is the butter. Although it can be substituted with a dairy-free alternative like margarine, note that the butter brings a lot of flavour to the cake.
Do not use a cake pan that is larger than 20 cm / 8 inch or the cake will be too thin and turn dry. If using a smaller cake pan, you might need to add a few minutes to the baking time.
I served this French Chocolate Cake with a homemade Strawberry Compote and some fresh Strawberries. You could also serve it with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream, some pouring Custard (Crème Anglaise) or simply a sprinkle of icing sugar / powdered sugar.
For an even more decadent cake, you could even top it with a dark chocolate ganache or a whipped ganache frosting!
Tips for Success
- Use a good-quality dark chocolate for the best results and flavours. I would avoid using milk chocolate here - you want to use a cooking chocolate as dark as you can find (max 70%) for the most decadent taste!
- Finely chop the Chocolate to help it melt more quickly. If you heat up the chocolate too much (which is often required when trying to melt large blocks of chocolate), you risk burning it with will result in a grainy texture in the cake.
- It is really important to use a small baking pan for this fondant recipe. If you use a pan than is larger than 20 cm / 8 inch, the cake will be very thin and will tend to be quite dry.
- Because all ovens are different, the baking time could vary. This chocolate cake is baked for a relatively short amount of time to keep its recognisable fudgy texture. For once, it is better to underbake than overbake this cake or it will turn quite dry! Finding the right baking time could take a few tries. I bake mine for exactly 20 minutes.
Storing & Freezing
This chocolate cake is best eaten fresh or within 48 hours, although it will stay fudgy for days. You can keep it at room temperature for 24 hours or in the fridge to store for longer. I recommend re-heating it up a little bit before serving when stored in the fridge for the best texture.
I do not recommend freezing this cake.
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Recipe
Chocolate Fondant Cake
Ingredients
- 200 gr (7 oz) Dark Cooking Chocolate, 70% chocolate recommended
- 150 gr (2/3 cup) Unsalted Butter
- 120 gr (1/2 cup) Caster Sugar, or fine white granulated sugar
- 4 Eggs, at room temperature
- 50 gr (1/3 cup) Plain / All-Purpose Flour
Instructions
- Preheat your oven on 180'C/350'F. Prepare the 20cm / 8inch Springform Pan (see note 1) by lining the bottom with baking paper and lightly greasing the edges with butter or oil.
- Finely chop the Chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl along with the cubed Butter. Melt over a double boiler or in the microwave in 30 seconds increments. Stir to combine until smooth then set aside to cool down.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the Eggs and Sugar for about a minute or until you can see small bubbles (see note 2). Pour in the melted Chocolate and Butter and whisk until combined.
- Add the sifted Flour and whisk until just combined.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared springform pan and spread it around with a spatula if required.
- Bake for 20 to 22 minutes (see note 3). Leave to cool down completely before serving.
Video
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Notes
- It is really important to use a small baking pan for this fondant recipe. If you use a pan than is larger than 20 cm / 8 inch, the cake will be very thin and will tend to be quite dry.
- The more you whisk the sugar and eggs, the more air you will add to the batter. This will make the cake more light and fluffy rather than fudgy.
- The centre of the cake should be just cooked but still be quite soft. Because all ovens are different, the baking time could vary. This cake is baked for a relatively short amount of time to keep its recognisable fudgy texture. For once, it is better to underbake than overbake this cake or it will turn quite dry! Finding the right baking time could take a few tries; I bake mine for exactly 20 minutes.
