Cyril Lignac’s chocolate and mascarpone fondant

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 200 g of chocolate (I used Valrhona Caraïbes 66%)
• 250 g of mascarpone (at room temperature)
• 4 eggs at room temperature
• 75 g of icing sugar
• 40 g of flour

For the glaze:

• 100 g of milk chocolate (I used Valrhona Jivara 40%)
• 50 g of fleur de sel butter

Steps

For the cake

Preheat the oven to 150° (fan-assisted). Put the chocolate in a bowl and melt it in the microwave. Pour the mascarpone into the mixer bowl and whisk it a little to loosen it. If it is at room temperature, this is very easy to do. Pour the melted chocolate over the mascarpone and mix. Don’t hesitate to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula to recover the chocolate. Add the eggs one by one, whisking for about thirty seconds after adding each egg. The mixture becomes a little more liquid. Add the sifted icing sugar and mix. Add the sifted flour and mix. Pour the batter into a stainless-steel frame or a silicone mould (you can do as I did and put a sheet of aluminium foil under the frame to prevent leaks). Then place the frame on a silpat (the silicone sheet) if you have one. The silicone will keep the cake moist during baking. Then place the whole thing directly on the oven rack. Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove the stainless-steel frame (I hadn’t greased it and had no trouble removing it). Let the cake cool before putting it in the fridge for 2h.

For the glaze

Put the chocolate in a bowl and melt it in the microwave. Add the softened butter and mix with a spatula. Then spread the glaze over the cake. For this, it should be creamy but not liquid. If it is, just chill the glaze for a while. Trim the edges of the cake with a large serrated knife so it looks presentable.