Fondant au Choclat

We had a rule in our house in France- no chocolate on school nights. This was a real bummer for us after we discovered a wonderful Swiss chocolate. It was especially hard on the parents because we had to enforce the rule for the kids without breaking it ourselves. UGH! Our solution came when our bread store changed ownership. The new owners started carrying a different selection of desserts, and we found one made of chocolate that we LOVED.

Over the 2 years that these new owners had the boulangerie, we built a relationship. The Misses started ordering their own bread and goodies, and my French progressed to the point that I could do more than simply ask for my baguette. They even started to tease us a bit about our "habit." You see, once we discovered the chocolate dessert that we LOVED, we bought 2 EVERY FRIDAY!! Sometimes on Saturday, too. It was quite an issue the few times that we went into buy our dessert and they didn't have any.

Time passed and our departure date was fast approaching. The news was traveling through the village that we were leaving, and earlier than expected. One morning, when my husband went to buy bread, the boulanger (bread maker) surprised him by explaining that she had asked her dessert maker to give us the recipe for the dessert we loved so much.

WOW! These recipes are generally pretty well guarded.

The day she gave us the recipe, she apologized because it was in French, and was very concerned that we might not understand it. I assured her we would do just fine, and thanked her profusely.

It is now about 5 months later, and we have finally attempted the loved dessert, the Fondant au Chocolat. We did try to use the French recipe, but Husband and I couldn't agree on what a couple of the terms mean. (I will be asking some of my French speaking cooking gurus for help soon.) In a desperate attempt to make this dessert (the Misses wanted it for their Grandpa's visit), I found a recipe, in English, from Gordon Ramsay. Here's how THAT went:

First we had the melting of the chocolate and the mixing of the butter, flour and sugar.

Then it was time to load the ramekins and bake.

They sure are pretty, but do the taste good? Do they taste like our beloved French dessert?

Double seals of approval!