Chocolate pots

"I’m sure there isn’t a single person on the planet who doesn’t love breaking through the lightest of cake crusts into a warm, gooey pot of chocolate. This is my faithful emergency recipe, for the times when I have dinner guests and not enough time to make dessert. It’s easily and quickly executed, even with spectators watching intently!" Poh Ling Yeow, Poh & Co.

• makes

  2

• prep

  7 minutes

• cook

  8 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 125 g unsalted butter, plus extra, for greasing
• 2 tsp plain flour, plus extra for ramekins
• 125 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 2 eggs, plus 2 yolks
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• crème chantilly (see Note), to serve

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200ºC or 190ºC fan-forced. To prepare the pots, use a pastry brush to grease the ramekins (or heatproof teacups with straight sides) with melted butter. When brushing the sides, use an upward stroke as this will help the batter rise evenly. Scoop a teaspoonful of plain flour into each ramekin then shake it around to coat the buttered surface thoroughly. Tap each ramekin upside down on a bench top to remove any excess flour.

To make the batter, melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Shake the pan so the butter coats the chocolate and allow to rest for about 2 minutes. Stir to ensure the chocolate is melted and emulsified with the butter. Set aside.

Combine the eggs, yolks and sugar in a medium mixing bowl and beat with an electric cake mixer until the mixture is thick and moussey. Add flour and chocolate mixture and fold together until combined, then pour immediately into prepared ramekins. You can prepare the pots up to this stage and refrigerate for a few hours, then bake when required.

Bake pots for 8 minutes for a runny centre or 9 minutes for a firmer centre, then whisk them to the dining table immediately as the tops will sink fast, but warn your guests of hot pots! Serve with a jug of unwhisked crème chantilly so the cream is of a pouring consistency.

Note

• Crème Chantilly is simply cream whisked or stirred with 10 per cent of the cream’s weight in icing sugar and a dash of vanilla extract. It’s a great for balancing out intense flavours and providing moisture. Instead of using vanilla, you could mix a dash of Grand Marnier or Frangelico into the crème Chantilly.

 This recipe is from Poh & Co. Airs 8pm Thursdays on SBS ONE.

Photograph by Randy Larcombe Photography.

Reproduced with permission from the book Same Same But Different by Poh Ling Yeow, published by ABC Books/HarperCollins Publishers Australia, 2014.

 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.