Baked Chocolate Fondant Squares
Dense, fudgy chocolate squares baked in the oven, with a pinch of salt to sharpen the dark chocolate. A simple sweet snack that needs no leavening and no stovetop.
- Total
- 54 min
- Prep 12 · Cook 27 · Rest 15
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Whisking · Folding
- Sweet
- Oven
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 175°C. Line a 20 cm square baking tin with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang on two sides.
~3 min
-
Put 150 g dark chocolate and 100 g butter in a heatproof bowl. Set the bowl in the oven for 5 minutes, until both are fully melted. Stir with a spatula until smooth, then let the bowl sit on the counter for 5 minutes to cool slightly.
~10 min
Gentle oven heat melts chocolate and butter without scorching, and brief cooling prevents hot mixture from cooking the eggs.
Chop the dark chocolate before melting so it melts evenly in the 5 minutes, and let the bowl cool until it is warm, not hot, before it meets the eggs.
-
While step 2 waits
While the chocolate cools, whisk 3 eggs with 120 g sugar in a small bowl for 2 minutes, until the mixture is pale and slightly thickened.
~2 min
Whisking eggs and sugar aerates them, building structure that helps the dense squares stay tender rather than rubbery.
Whisking Whisk briskly in a circular motion until the mixture turns pale and thickens slightly; under-whisking leaves it thin and grainy.
-
Pour the warm chocolate mixture into the eggs and whisk until evenly combined. Add 80 g flour, 0.5 tsp salt and 60 ml water, then fold with the spatula just until no dry flour remains. The batter will be thick and glossy.
~4 min
Folding gently after adding flour limits gluten development, keeping the baked squares fudgy instead of tough and cakey.
Folding Use a spatula to cut down, sweep across and lift, turning the bowl, stopping the moment no dry flour remains to avoid toughening the batter.
-
Scrape the batter into the lined tin and smooth the top. Bake for 22 minutes, until the edges are set and a toothpick inserted 3 cm from the edge comes out with a few moist crumbs. The centre should still feel soft.
~22 min
Pulling while the centre is slightly underdone lets residual heat finish it, so the middle stays soft and fudgy.
Pull the tin from the oven while the centre still looks slightly underdone. These squares set as they cool, and that soft middle is what keeps them fudgy rather than dry.
-
Leave the tin on a rack for 15 minutes to firm up, then lift the slab out by the parchment and cut into 8 squares.
~15 min
Cooling in the tin lets the structure set, so the slab cuts cleanly instead of crumbling.