Coulant or death by chocolate

How to prepare a very simple chocolate coulant recipe . I present you my  chocolate coulant , one of the masterful dessert recipes where they exist. Who has not been to a restaurant and has seen on the menu: Death by Chocolate, Hot Chocolate Bomb, Chocolate Storm, Passion for Chocolate, Chocolat seduction, Chocolate Soufflé, Chocolate Volcano, Chocolate Paradise . .. all these names refer to the same dessert. This is a simple adaptation of the recipe of the great chef Michel Bras. This great chef patented his creation under the name  ” Chocolate coulant “, that’s why each restaurant calls it in a different way and you can find it with many names.

Despite all the ostentatious names, this dessert is reduced to a hot sponge cake with a crispy structure on the outside and creamy chocolate on the inside , which does not leave you indifferent. This is a simple version, not as complicated as the Bras recipe, which basically consists of whisking and having a little patience with the oven, using the same dough for all the sponge cake. I have prepared it several times and it has a great secret, I will write it very low: It is a very, very easy dessert . And when I say easy, I mean that even a child can do it. You have no excuses for not being like some great pastry chefs with 15 minutes of nothing.

At the last dinner party I had at home, I prepared a few more, so I froze them already prepared in case there are guests. We just have to put them in the oven while you are with the 2nd plate and you will have a great dessert to everyone’s taste in 10 minutes. It is a dessert for the chocolatiers, I assure you that even the most demanding palates will be satisfied. I do not know what the coulant has but when you put it in front of people they put some little eyes like those of the cat in boots in the Shrek movie. If the prepare you liked, do not forget to try our other 2 options, coulant with white chocolate and coulant nougat , impressive.

Preparation of the chocolate coulant

I will explain how I have prepared them, I consulted several recipes on the internet, but most were for Thermomix. As I do not have it, I ended up doing it my way, but I assure you that they come out the first time as you can see in the video that I show below.

1. The first thing is to get hold of the containers, I have bought them in the supermarket. The typical ones for flans made of aluminum foil, come in 15 and are at € 1.35. Perfect.
2. Spread the 10 flaneras with unsalted butter.
3. Beat the eggs with the icing sugar or regular sugar until they foam. We add the cocoa powder, the special pastry flour (with this flour it will rise a little because it has yeast or leavening) and a pinch of salt. We beat again with the mixer until everything is fully integrated.
4. We prepare the chocolate and butter in a bowl. We introduce it in the micro for 3 minutes at low temperature, watching every minute as it goes so that it does not burn us. Then we beat the mixture with some rods until there is a homogeneous and well integrated cream. We want a thick chocolate cream.
5. We combine the chocolate cream with the previous cream and mix well with a spoon, some rods or a silicone spatula.
6. We put all the coulant cream in a pastry bag, so it will be easier to fill the containers. If you don’t have a sleeve, use a spoon carefully. Do not fill the entire container since the cake grows in the oven, leave about 1 cm. without filling, because the coulant will rise in the oven.

Baking the chocolate coulant

1. This is the most important part of the recipe, baking. Each oven is a world, the brands and types of oven surely do not match mine. In order for them to be perfect, you need to do a little test with one of them before your guests arrive. Use one and bake it with the instructions that I show you in the following steps, so you can calculate exactly the baking and that the coulant does not fit you like a fluffy cupcake.
2. We want it to be liquid on the inside and fluffy on the outside. I repeat important and essential if it is the first time that you prepare this recipe.
3. We preheat the oven to 200º C, heat option up and down. After 5 minutes we go down to 180º C.
4. Here we have 2 options:
   • If we freeze the flan or molds with coulant dough. We introduce in the oven for approximately 11-12 minutes. Each oven is a world, you will only know this by testing, in mine with 12 minutes it is perfect.
   • If the coulant dough is freshly made, put the coulant molds in the oven for 8-9 minutes.
5. Let cool for a couple of minutes and remove from the mold on a light colored plate, the contrast is very good. We can sprinkle it with a little icing sugar or cocoa powder. This dessert must be taken hot, although in the summer a scoop of ice cream is great, the contrast is fabulous. And for the more daring it can be covered with more hot chocolate.

And best of all, as I told you, the Chocolate Coulant is very easy to make. Be sure to enjoy all the types of coulants that we have in our dessert recipes , I assure you that you will find a lot of ideas to make yours much happier. You can see all the photos of the step by step of the chocolate coulant recipe   in this album, do not miss any detail and it will be perfect.

Summary Tips

• The more cocoa the chocolate has, the less fluffy the coulant will be, so it is important to control the type of chocolate you are going to use. If you use 70% cocoa, as in this case, you need a little more sugar, if you are going to use milk chocolate, for example, sugar should be almost half of this recipe.
• It is perfect for any celebration and we do not want to waste time on the main meal. Because it can be prepared in advance as it freezes perfectly. Just have the oven ready on the last plate and keep an eye on the clock for the times.
• Do not fill the entire container since the cake grows in the oven, leave about a cm unfilled.
• It is seen that they are made when they increase their volume to the edge of the leg and the edge looks curdled while the center of the Coulant trembles a little, the central part inflates and has a thin trembling layer but as I said before important times oven are essential.