Mike Van de Elzen: Chocolate fondant with salted caramel and hazelnuts

Just when we thought we had had enough rain, it came again, it's feeling a lot more like winter than spring! 

I'm going to try and watch the WRC cars at Jack's ridge tomorrow; it's going to be so wet!

This week Hazel, our oldest, was stoked when she found a chocolate bar that had been named after her! Of course we all know that's it's all about the hazelnut filling not her. But we won't tell her that.  

So I was thinking, it would be a good thing to try and recreate it in a more chefy way.  

I bring you a gooey chocolate fondant with some salted caramel and toasted hazelnuts for that Hazelella feel. But it's so much better. 

Chocolate fondant w salted caramel & hazelnuts 

30g butter, for greasing moulds  

200g dark cooking chocolate, broken into small pieces  

200g unsalted butter  

4 eggs  

150g caster sugar  

5 tbsp flour cocoa powder, for dusting  

Salted caramel  

1/2 cup caster sugar  

50g butter, cut into small cubes  

100ml cream  

1/2 tsp flaky salt  

1 cup Hazelnuts, roasted and crushed 

Preheat oven to 200*C.  

Grease 6 x 125ml moulds with first measure of butter, then place in fridge until ready to use. Melt chocolate and unsalted butter together in a saucepan over a low heat.  

Meanwhile, whisk together eggs and sugar in a bowl until combined.  

Add flour and whisk until smooth. Combine egg mix and chocolate and gently stir together. Spoon mix into moulds until ¾ filled.  

Place on baking tray and bake in oven for 12 minutes.  

To make the salted caramel  

Pour the sugar into a heavy pan and allow to melt down over a low heat. When melted, turn up the heat and allow to bubble until you achieve a nut brown caramel colour. Carefully whisk in the butter a bit at a time. Now whisk in the cream and return to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, add salt to taste.  

Serve the Fondants as soon as you can turn them out of the moulds with the salted caramel and toasted hazelnuts  

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