Push the boat out with a rich self-saucing pudding, homemade ice cream and fresh cherries.
For this recipe you will need a cook’s thermometer, an ice cream maker, eight dariole moulds and a hand-held mixer.
For chocolate bar ice cream, warm the milk in a saucepan until it reaches 80C/175F on a cook’s thermometer.
Put the caster sugar and egg yolks into a bowl and whisk together, then pour the warm milk onto them, whisking all the time. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook until it reaches 83C/180F and thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and whisk in the double cream. Set aside to cool to 60C/140F, then stir in the chocolate bars and allow to melt.
Transfer to an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions until frozen.
For the poached cherries, place the cherries, 200ml/7fl oz water and sugar in a large saucepan and cook for 6-8 minutes. The cherries should be soft but retain their shape. Allow to cool before serving.
For the chocolate fondant, preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7 and grease 8 dariole moulds with softened butter, using a pastry brush.
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a heatproof bowl sat over a pan of gently simmering water. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar for 2 minutes, or until they reach the ribbon stage (this is when the mixture leaves a trail on the surface the whisk is removed).
Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture then fold in the flour, divide the mixture between the prepared moulds. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 8 minutes.
To garnish, paint a line of melted white chocolate across the centre of each serving plate and dust with icing sugar.
Turn out the hot fondants into the centre of each plate (on top of the white chocolate) and add some poached cherries. Place a quenelle of ice cream on the side and garnish with the chopped hazelnuts and chocolate mint.
