A while back I entered a competition, on a whim. It was unlike any I’d ever entered before. It was a little bit like putting my Masterchef hat on or perhaps a Great British Bakeoff one would be more appropriate.

The competition asked people to design a new chocolate dish for Chef Patrick Graaf’s dessert menu at The Tower Hotel London, Brasserie restaurant. My suggestion was for a melt in the middle chocolate pudding, or fondant to put it nicely, with some sort of salted caramel and clotted cream icecream - all the things that I loved the taste of, basically.

I was ecstatic when Patrick chose the dish and even more so when myself and my good friend Laura met up with chocolate connoisseurs Jennifer from Chocolate Ecstasy tours and Sela from Chocolate Walks to learn how to make my recipe idea from scratch with the help of Patrick Graaf himself.

We arrived early and were given chef hats. It was brilliant being behind-the-scenes in a working London hotel kitchen and seeing how they get the show on the road. Jennifer, Sela, Laura and myself spent a good couple of hours baking with Patrick, learning the tricks of his trade and tasting each dish as we prepared it. It was a fantastic experience and the finished dish is delicious - if I do say so myself…

My chilli-chocolate fondant will be a special on The Tower Hotel’s menu for the whole of October. If you get to try it, I would love to know what you think.

If you fancy making this recipe at home, here’s how you do it.

 How to make chocolate fondant…

• 200g unsalted butter
• 200g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa
• 200g granulated sugar
• 200g eggs, whole
• 80g eggs, yolk
• 200g plain flour
• 50g chilli marmalade
• 1g cinnamon

Method

• Melt the butter, marmalade and chocolate over water bath
• Warm up whole eggs, eggs yolks and sugar over water bath then whisk it cold until stiff and double the volume
• Cool down the chocolate mix and add the eggs mix - add cinnamon and fold in the flour
• Spray a couple of pudding cases with fat, fill them up ¾ and bake in the oven at 180'C for about 12 minutes (check after 10)

How to make salted caramel…

1000g granulated sugar

200g (might be ml) water

250g butter, 82%

650 g single cream, 36%

½ tsp sea salt

Method

1. Boil water and sugar in a pan to 182'C - using a thermometer to check the temperature
2. Remove from heat
3. Add cold butter until melted
4. Add cream and stir well until combined
5. Cool down by placing the bowl over ice or cold water

How to make salted caramel mousse…

• 200g egg, yolk
• 100g granulated sugar
• 500g caramel sauce
• 500g single cream, 36%
• 5 pieces, gelatine leaves

Method

1. Soak gelatine in cold water
2. Warm up egg yolks and sugar over water bath, then whisk it cold until double volume and stiff
3. Add caramel sauce to the egg yolks and mix well
4. Whip the cream
5. Take gelatine out of water and heat it up in the micro wave
6. Add gelatine to the egg yolk caramel mix – let it rest a little bit – fold in the whipped cream – mix well – let it rest in fridge at least for 3 hours 

How to make sesame tuille:

• 100g soft butter, 82%
• 100g icing sugar
• 100g plain flour
• 75g egg whites
• 3g sesame seeds

Method

1. Mix butter, sugar, flour and egg white together until combined
2. Use any mould for tuilles - a homemade cut out plastic square will do
3. Spread mixture thinly and sprinkle it with sesame seeds
4. Bake in the oven at 190C for about 2-3 minutes
5. Roll it quickly using a wooden baton to create the tube shape
6. Once cool, pipe with it with the caramel mousse and serve 

Thank you to Patrick, Tzion and team at Guoman’s Tower Hotel, London for making it such a memorable experience for us all.

Photography © LucieKerley

The Tower

St Katharine’s Way

London

E1W 1LD

0871 376 9036