70g(2.5 oz) ¼ of a tin tinned cherries in syrup (this is the drained weight)
1tspcherry liquor
1tspalmond liquor
50g(1 tbsp +1 tsp) unsalted buttermelted
50g(½ cup minus 2 tsp) cocoa powder
6eggs
2egg yolks
180g(¾ cup + 2 tbsp) golden caster sugar
180g(1 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
180g(¾ cup) dark chocolatemelted and slightly cooled
180g(¾ cup) unsalted buttermelted
Chocolate spider webs:
50g(¼ cup minus 2 tsp) dark chocolatemelted
To serve:
Cherry sorbet or ice cream
Instructions
Start by making your cherry filling. Blend the cherries and the liquors together until you have a liquid that’s about the thickness of double cream. It will probably be a little grainy, but that’s fine. You won’t really notice this when it’s cooked. You may need to add more cherries or more liquor until you get the right thickness. Pour the cherry liquid out into an ice cube tray. You want to fill each cube about ⅔rds full. Put in the freezer and leave to freeze. This is take a little longer (approx. 1 hour) than water due to the alcohol in the liquid.
70 g (2.5 oz) ¼ of a tin tinned cherries in syrup (this is the drained weight), 1 tsp cherry liquor, 1 tsp almond liquor
Next make your spider webs. Allow your chocolate to cool and thicken slightly, then pour it into a piping bag. Pipe out the webs onto a silicon baking mat or on parchement paper that has been placed on baking trays. Check out method 2 here for help drawing a spider's web. Place in the fridge until the chocolate has solidified and then very gently peel off using a palette knife and place on a plate in the fridge until you're ready to serve. You will get broken ones, so make extra...
50 g (¼ cup minus 2 tsp) dark chocolate
Next, prepare your ramekins and preheat your oven to 190C/375F (fan). Take a pastry brush, and brush the inside of 8 ramequins with butter in upward strokes. Place in the freezer for five minutes and then brush again with butter. Dust the inside of the ramequins with the cocoa powder. To do this, simply put a tbsp. of cocoa powder in the first ramequin and roll it around until the inside is completely covered. Pour out the excess and continue with the rest until all of the ramequins are coated.
50 g (1 tbsp +1 tsp) unsalted butter, 50 g (½ cup minus 2 tsp) cocoa powder
Now make your fondant. Using a mixer or a hand whisk, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar until they’re fluffy and the whisk leaves a trail. Gently mix in the flour. Then mix together your melted chocolate and melted butter and very slowly pour it into your egg/sugar/flour mixture, mixing all the time, until completely combined. Place 2 tbsp. of this mixture in each ramequin, and then place a cherry ice cube on top in the middle. Add the remaining fondant mix to each of the ramequins, completely covering the ice cube. Now place in the oven, directly on the shelf for 10-12 minutes, until the outside is cooked and the inside is gooey but warm.
6 eggs, 2 egg yolks, 180 g (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) golden caster sugar, 180 g (1 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, 180 g (¾ cup) dark chocolate, 180 g (¾ cup) unsalted butter
If you wish, you can freeze these fondants before cooking. If you do, then cover and place in the freezer. Cook straight from frozen at the same temperature (190C/375F (fan)) but add 5 minutes to the cooking time.
Once cooked, place on a plate with a scoop of sorbet or ice-cream next to it. Gently place one of your chocolate spider webs on top of the sorbet/ice-cream and serve.
Cherry sorbet or ice cream
Notes
*It’s worth making one or two extra of these so that you can cut it open and test it once cooked – to make sure you aren’t serving up fondants that are still cold or frozen in the middle. Fondants are notoriously tricky to get perfect in the middle and oven temperatures vary (despite what temperature you set!). Making an extra one will help to ensure you get it right for the rest of your fondants. *You can replace the tinned cherries with fresh or frozen cherries or cherry pie filling if you wish. *You can also replace the liquors with either some of the syrup from the tin, cherry juice or another juice. So long as you have a consistency that is about the thickness of double cream when it’s blended, then it’s fairly flexible.