Fondant au Chocolat (Authentic Recipe)

Enjoy the easiest among classic French desserts - fondant au chocolat - made with simple ingredients, yet rich, with a smooth dark chocolate melt-in-your-mouth texture and heavenly delicious. For the ultimate chocolate experience, try the famous fondant Baulois.

This cake doesn't take any effort or much time to make. But you need to exercise patience while waiting for it to bake and cool off before taking the first bite.

Jump to:

• Fondant au chocolat vs. moelleux au chocolat
• Fondant au chocolate recipe
• Ingredients
• How to make cake fondant au chocolat
• Expert Tips
• Storing and freezing
• How to serve fondant au chocolat
• Recipe FAQ
• Love French chocolate desserts? Try these next!
• Recipe card
• Comments

You won't regret it. The cake's silky texture and rich chocolate flavor will keep you wanting more.

And if you have ever heard about heavenly cakes, this is your dessert dream come true... the dessert created in the seaside resort of La Baule, France, in 1980.

Fondant au chocolat vs. moelleux au chocolat

There is always confusion between fondant au chocolat and moelleux au chocolat. While they may look similar, one big secret separates them. So, what is it?

When it comes to texture, the fondant's center can range from barely moist to super moist, depending on the baking time. It is almost flour-free and has a wet and creamy center due to intermediate cooking.

Moelleux au Chocolat is a denser cake with a firm exterior. It is less rich in eggs and chocolate and contains more flour than the chocolate fondant cake. 

But don't confuse both with le mi-cuit and le coeur coulant, which have a running center (cœur moelleux in French) and are served in individual portions.

Fondant au chocolate recipe

• The fondant au chocolate recipe (recette fondant au chocolate) is easy and quick to make. Even a beginner baker with "zero" experience will succeed.

• The cake's taste is totally irresistible: it has a melting texture and a meringue-like thin crust.

• Besides a note of salted butter caramel sauce, fondant au chocolate closely resembles the original Fondant Baulois®. Its recipe is a mystery: the trademark owners Marie-Sophie and Stéphane Boullier keep it secret.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

• Chocolate is the main recipe's ingredient. Choose high-quality 70% dark chocolate (or chocolat noir) by Lindt or another trusted brand. Experiment by combining dark and milk chocolate in a 1:1 ratio if desired.

• Butter: The recipe calls for salted butter (butter with Guérande sea salt is the best), but you can replace it with semi-salted butter. To substitute, use unsalted butter with an added couple of pinches of salt or fleur de sel.

• Sugar: Use light brown sugar or replace it with dark brown sugar or muscovado sugar to intensify the caramel flavor and moisture of the cake. Read more about ingredients that keep a cake moist.

• Eggs: Use large eggs at room temperature.

• Salted butter caramel, store-bought or homemade, is a signature of Fondant Baulois. I used this salted caramel topping.

• Flour: The recipe calls for a small amount of all-purpose flour. For a gluten-free version, replace it with potato starch.

How to make cake fondant au chocolat

The key to the success of fondant au chocolat is using top-quality chocolate and respecting the resting and chilling time.

So plan this cake in advance: the batter will need to rest for 2 hours at room temperature before baking and at least 4 hours, better overnight, after baking.

Step 1. Prepare an 8-inch (20 cm) springform pan or a cake ring wrapped with aluminum foil making its bottom.

Step 2. Using softened butter, grease the bottom and sides of the pan or ring and line it with parchment paper. Place the prepared cake ring on a baking sheet.

Step 3. To make the cake batter, chop the chocolate and cut the butter into small cubes or pieces (photo 1).

Step 4. Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler or bain marie, occasionally stirring with a wooden spoon (photo 2). Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes.

Pro tip: Alternatively, use the microwave with 30-second increments or the stovetop with low heat.

Step 5. Place salted butter caramel in a microwave-safe bowl, warm it in the microwave, and add it to the melted chocolate mixture.

Step 6. Place sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl and whisk with an electric mixer for 5 minutes. The mixture will double in volume and look foamy (photo 3).

Step 7. Pour the cooled melted chocolate and butter mixture into the eggs and sugar preparation and whisk on low speed. Add the sifted flour and gently mix with a rubber spatula (photo 4).

Step 8. Pour the batter into the prepared mold and let it rest for 2 hours at room temperature; no need to cover the mold (photo 5).

Step 9. Heat the oven to 410°F (210°). Bring the mold to the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes. Then lower the oven temperature to 250°F (120°C) and bake for another 40 minutes.

Pro tip: Watch out for creating meringue crust and a slightly wobbly center on top of the cake.

Step 10. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature (photo 6). Then refrigerate it for at least 4 hours, better overnight.

Step 11. The next day, unmold the cake and let it stay at room temperature for 2-3 hours before serving to regain its melting texture. Bon appétit!

Pro tip: To unmold the cake from the cake ring, pass a thin knife between the parchment paper and the ring to loosen the cake from the edges.

Expert Tips

1. Opt for a mold with a removable bottom or a cake ring wrapped with aluminum foil. Using a regular cake tin makes it challenging to remove the cake.
2. For the best results, use an 8-inch (20 cm) pan to make the recipe: the baking time is calculated to get the right texture of the cake. Refer to this simple cake pan calculator if you need to re-calculate ingredients for another cake pan size. However, you will need to experiment with the baking time to get the desired texture.
3. Don't overbake the cake. The cake is ready when the thin crust appears on the top, and the center is slightly wobbly.
4. Respect the resting and chilling time for authentic fondant au chocolate experience.
5. For slicing, use a long sharp knife dipped in hot water, dying it out between slices.

Storing and freezing

You can store commercially made Fondant Baulois® for up to 3 weeks at room temperature, but I wouldn't recommend keeping the homemade version this way.

Store homemade fondant au chocolat in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. You can also freeze it for up to 1 month and thaw it in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a few hours.

How to serve fondant au chocolat

Enjoy this super-rich chocolate cake on multiple occasions and throughout the day accompanied:

• crème Anglaise (vanilla custard)
• a scoop of ice cream
• sugar-free whipped cream
• creme Chantilly
• orange salad
• fresh red fruit

Recipe FAQ

Love French chocolate desserts? Try these next!

• French Chocolate Crepes
• French Chocolate Cake
• Royal Chocolate Cake
• French Chocolate Fondant Cake
• French Chocolate Raspberry Tart

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.