Fondant Week – mylegoman gets baking with Sam Rain

Week 4

And Cue! ……the perfectly timed gasp and sharp intake of breath… someone just said the F word!

We are all used the classic reaction to ‘I am making a chocolate fondant’ from Gregg and John on Masterchef- will they, or won’t they conquer the chocolatey challenge? Well it time for a #TwitterBakeAlong challenge to make a perfect Chocolate Fondant with #GBBOcreme winner and 2015 Junior Chocolate Master, the marvelous Samantha Rain.

Samantha impressed us on the BBC’s Bake Off Creme de la Creme, as part of the winning team with Mark Tilling and Helen Vass. They allowed us home foodies a watchful insight into what the world of pastry could really achieve in such a short time. I am such a fan of the show, and with my unfaltering love for all things sweet, perhaps I should have followed a career path paved in pastry? Unfortunately, I cast my mind back to ‘career development’ at school, and the word PASTRY literally translated to ‘PORK PIE’.

So on the hottest day of the year I bombed it down the motorway towards the south coast to be welcomed into the Head Office of HB Ingredients where Sam works as a Development Chef. Again, another new world for me to experience! With wall to wall ingredients, it was like stepping into the invention room at Willy Wonker HQ.

Onto the fondant…

With just 5 key ingredients, these lovely bakes are easy peasy to pop together. Wrong!!!!!! Egg, Flour, Butter, Sugar and of course Chocolate, all have to be perfectly, and in this case, expertly combined to allow the outside to form a light sponge whilst the center remains a sumptuous and gooey liquid chocolate.

Having watched countless deflated fondants on the TV, I was ready to soak up all the hints and tips that were thrown at me- this was a masterclass to take note of! Precision! Precision! Timing and Temperature! I could see how you really needed to know your oven, and your numbers. The ingredients were combined and weighed out, and then placed in their specific spot in the oven for the ultimate rise. This was more of a scientific experiment more than anything else!

And of course, they needed a taste tester… I nominated myself for the role. Someone had to! Having watched the master at work, it now completely baffles me why anyone would attempt the chocolate fondant on Masterchef……. it’s not high risk, make or break…. it’s like throwing an egg at a concrete floor and expecting it to bounce!

Sam and I chatted all things chocolate, and we double checked I had the secret to fondant perfection safely stored. And so off I went to enjoy an ice cream and the sights down on Brighton Beach on a swelteringly hot afternoon.
Sam is the first of the Professional Chefs to teach at the Claire Clark Academy with a Master Class in Modern Gastronomy. If you want to get involved in this incredible collaboration with Milton Keynes College, follow @Claire_Clark on twitter. For all course enquires get in touch with Andrea Ruff andrea.ruff@mkcollege.ac.uk