Love and coffee : Chocolate fondants with a melting heart of coffee infused caramel.

Hi there!!

This post calls for a bit of challenge and lots of love.

Mister F and I are all lovey-dovey at the moment. The upcoming celebration of our 10th year anniversary might be for something in this.

Nah... We're always all lovey-dovey!! :)

When asked by De'Longhi to come up with a recipe using coffee (and their fantastic Icona Vintage coffee machine), I decided to make a little treat for Mister F that would melt his heart as much as he makes mine melt sometimes with his cute smile.

Recently a friend asked me how we managed to stay together for so long, and since a so young age.
My answer was : "he might be the one..."

Look at me, all teary and emotional over my keyboard ...

Well, enough sentimental details! This is the recipe I came up with : a delicious and indulgent Chocolate Coulant cake with a coffee infused caramel heart. Rich and deep in flavour.

Ingredients for the caramel :

• 150g caster sugar
• 120ml double cream
• a strong shot of espresso
• 30g butter

1. Start by heating 50g of sugar in pan.
2. When the sugar is melting and starting to turn brown, add 50g of sugar.
3. Repeat again for the remaining the 50g of sugar.
4. In another pan, heat the cream until boiling point.
5. When all the sugar is melted and turned amber color, turn off the heat and add little pieces of butter. With a heat resistant spatula or a whisk, incorporate the butter.
6. Then, pour the boiling cream a little at a time over the caramel and stir. Be careful as the caramel can make some really hot projections.
7. Turn the caramel back on heat until it reaches 104°.
8. Pour in a ceramic dish and cover to contact with cling wrap. Let cool down completely before making  the cakes.

For the cake batter : 

• 80g of dark chocolate (70% minimum for me)
• 40g unsalted butter
• 1 egg +1 egg yolk
• 2 TBsp of sugar
• 1tsp of espresso
• tiny pinch of salt
• 2 1/2 Tbsp sifted flour.

1. Preheat your oven at 200°.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bain marie.
3. Whisk the eggs with the sugar, vanilla and salt.
4. Add the melted chocolate/butter and mix well.
5. Add the flour and incorporate with a spatula.
6. Prep your individual baking tins with butter and a little flour to prevent the cake from sticking.
7. Pour the cake batter halfway through the height of the tins.
8. Add a generous teaspoon of coffee infused caramel.
9. Cover with some more chocolate cake batter.
10. Bake for 8-9 minutes
11. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
12. Eat without waiting!!

You can serve this delicious little cakes with a dollop of coffee ice cream. That's what I plan to do so the recipe for my espresso ice cream should follow in the upcoming days (or weeks depending how busy I'm with the market!! )

I hope you enjoyed this recipe.

If you look out for the hashtag #coffeechallenge on twitter, you should be able to see the other participants recipes.