Happy Chocolate Heart Day!

I honestly couldn't care less about Valentine's Day. The most fun I ever had on a February 14th, I was a waitress at a night club, and there were more staff than customers that night, so we got drunk and ended up dancing on the bar. The few clients who were there thought it was great! At least I think so...  At any rate, I will acknowledge that I can at least appreciate a holiday that emphasizes chocolate.

I am so lucky that I've never been a milk chocolate fan; give me dark chocolate any day! My personal favourite is about 80 - 85%, more than that is a bit too bitter for me (I have a very good friend who thinks that 95% is just about right), and less than that I actually find a bit on the sweet side. Go figure. I will happily smear peanut butter on a square though, and I can most definitely be bribed with chocolate covered cherries. Chocolate lava cakes though.... Now there's a thing of beauty. Chocolate cake and chocolate "sauce" combined into one: Heaven!

One of the first cookbooks that was specifically gluten and dairy free that I bought myself was "Simply Fluten-Free & Dairy-Free" by Grace Cheetham. She uses chickpea flour in a lot of her mixes, and I can't stand the taste of it, so I will be honest in that I didn't use this book as much as some of my other ones, but now that I've been playing around with some of the flour mixes and substitutions, I am going to back to it more (especially for her savoury dishes). Having said that, this recipe really does work best using the chickpea flour, and really doesn't have much of a residual flavour to it, so it's worth it. Really, really worth it!

 

 

Chocolate Fondant

• 6 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons dairy free margarine plus extra for greasing
• 7 ounces dairy free dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids, chopped or in pieces
• 2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup fruit sugar or granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice flour
• 2 heaping tablespoons chickpea flour

 

 

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease four 3/4 cup ramekins or puddng molds with the extra margarine (I use Earth Balance). Melt the chocolate over a double boiler (or you could really cheat and melt it in the microwave, stirring after every 20 seconds, but don't tell anyone), remove from the heat and stir in the margarine until blended. Set aside and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

 

 

 

With an electric mixer, beat the eggs and egg yolks in a large bowl; add the sugar and beat until thick and frothy. Carefully fold in the melted chocolate, and then mix in the sifted flours.

 

Divide the mixture between the 4 ramekins (I always put them on a baking tray to make it a bit easier) and bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until risen and firm to the touch. Serve immediately.

 

 



 May every one of you enjoy!