Chocolate Fondant with Nori

To prepare the nori

1. Place 2 nori sheets on a shallow dish and soak for 5 minutes in tepid water. Remove. Using your hands or a fine sieve squeeze out excess water. It is important that excess water is removed in this recipe, otherwise it will impair the final flavour.

2. Tear and mash into a paste. Set aside.

To prepare the fondant

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and place a baking tray in the oven to heat. Grease 8 moulds with butter and dust lightly with cocoa powder.

1. Break the chocolate into a bowl and add the butter. Stand the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water and heat gently until melted. Don’t let the water touch the bowl. Add the nori paste to the chocolate and mix gently. Leave on a very low heat.

2. Whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar in a large bowl until thick and pale. Whisk in half the chocolate nori mixture and continue whisking for one minute. Add the remainder and whisk again.

3. Fold the flour in gently. The mixture can be refrigerated at this point until ready to use.

4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared moulds, up to 7/8 full, place on heated baking tray and bake in centre of oven for 15 minutes until the tops are springy. (If you have made this ahead of time and placed it in fridge you will need to increase the cooking time to 20 minutes.)

5. Remove from the oven and tip the cooked fondant out of the Dario mould onto a serving plate and serve immediately with a scoop of brown bread ice cream or cream and a few raspberries scattered on the side if in season. If cooked properly each mould will ooze some molten lava chocolate with nori from the centre.

Cook’s Tip

To be really sure that the fondants behave dramatically, spoon the mixture into the moulds until half full, place one large or two small dark or milk chocolate buttons in the centre and top up the mixture as before. The chocolate will melt and is guaranteed to ooze out deliciously.