It’s getting close to Christmas, only 7 days to go. A bit frightening really with so much to do. It’s a good time to put your feet up, take some time out for yourself if you can, take a bath, take a deep breath, take a walk, because all this stress isn’t good. I like to try to do everything well in advance because I know just before the big day I’ll be making the dishes I’ve been assigned which this year are: trifle, cheese loghttps://thebakersdozenbakeoff.com/2018/11/21/cheese-log/ and cevichehttps://thebakersdozenbakeoff.com/2018/09/10/ceviche/ and be caught up in the mad rush. Being organised hopefully will help but well rested too, hopefully.
Anyway this decadent little treat popped out at me from the page and not having any specific reason to make it didn’t stop me. If you’ve never made a fondant, give it a go. It’s fun though stressful waiting those 8 minutes for the puddings to cook and then pulling them out at just the right moment to get the gooey centre. Here is Paul’s recipe https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/chocolate_volcanoes_37330
I started by melting the chocolate on the stove with a large amount of butter, then set this aside.
Then I combined the eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar and whisked these together until they had a thick, mousse-like consistency. I folded in the chocolate mixture, then gently mixed in the flour, (such a small amount- 2 tbsp!).
molten chocolate into the egg mixture 
only 2 Tbsp of flour!! 
butter then dust the ramekins with cocoa 
light and fluffy mixture 
set in the fridge
I poured the mixture into the moulds which had been buttered and dusted with cocoa and placed them in the fridge to chill until firm.
Fortunately for me my daughter had several friends over so they got chocolate volcanoes for pudding. Baked for just 8 minutes, it was a science leaving them in until just the right moment so they were cooked on top but runny in the middle. I managed to get one right, one too gooey- it fell apart as I tipped it out, and the other one was cake, but the girls devoured them all with no complaints! 🙂
The great thing about these is that you can prepare them in advance, keep them stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours, then cook them when you are ready. I had a spare one left over in the fridge so I had it for breakfast with blueberries and strawberries. You can’t ever beat chocolate cake for breakfast!
