Chocolate Souffle

I have never made a souffle before actually I have never even eaten a souffle before. For the Daring Cooks Challenge I was given a few recipes to choose from or I could even find my own recipe but the hubby and the little boy both voted for the chocolate. I I spent one afternoon baking chocolate souffle's while the hubby was at a football game and the six year old was running around bouncing off the furniture.

"A soufflé is a very sexy pudding. It has to be light, not taste too eggy, be crisp on top and slightly moist in the centre and for any good soufflé, the only way is up". - Gordon Ramsey

With no real basis for comparison I think that they worked out pretty well. They didn't rise evenly but they were light, airy, delicious and of course sexy.

Chocolate Souffle



Adapted From BBC Good Food Recipe by Gordon Ramsay



Ingredients:


FOR THE DISHES


2 Tbsp (30 ml) 1 oz (30g) unsalted butter, for greasing


Cocoa powder or finely grated chocolate






FOR THE CREME PATISSERIE:


2 tbsp (30 ml) (18 gm) (2/3 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour


2 tsp (10 gm) (0.35 oz) caster (superfine) sugar (regular sugar is OK)


½ tsp (4½ gm) (0.15 oz) corn starch (aka cornflour)


1 medium egg yolk


1 medium whole egg


4 Tbsp (60 ml) milk


5 Tbsp (75 ml) heavy cream (or double cream)


3 oz (90gm) good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70+% cocoa solids, broken in pieces


2 Tbsp (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) unsweetened cocoa powder


Optional: 2 tsp orange zest or 2 tsp minced chipotle chile en adobo or 1 tsp chipotle chile powder or 2 tsp instant espresso or coffee. 

Optional: powdered sugar for dusting






FOR THE EGG WHITES:


6 medium egg whites


6½ Tbsp (95 ml) 3 oz (90g) superfine/caster sugar (if you don’t have it, regular sugar is OK)






Directions:


1. Heat oven to moderate 375 ˚F/190 ˚C/gas mark 5.


2. Take four 1 cup/~240ml soufflé dishes and brush them completely with softened butter. Tip a little cocoa powder or grated chocolate into each dish, roll the dish around tilting it as you do so it is evenly lined all round.


3. For the crème patisserie, mix the flour, sugar and corn starch into a small bowl. Put egg yolk and whole egg into a medium sized bowl, beat lightly, then beat in half of the flour mixture to give a smooth paste. Tip in the rest of the flour mixture and cocoa powder and mix well.


4. To make the ganache, pour the milk and cream into a pan and bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat. Add the chocolate and beat until it is melted and smooth with no lumps.


5. Gradually stir hot chocolate ganache into the paste from step 3, and add the orange zest or chile if using. This is your crème patisserie.


6. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks with an electric whisk. Sprinkle in the sugar as you are mixing. Keep whisking to give stiff, firm peaks to give volume to the soufflés.

7. Stir about 2 tbsp (30 ml) of the beaten egg whites into the crème patisserie. Carefully fold in a third of the rest, cutting through the mixture. Fold in another third (take care not to lose the volume), then fold in the rest.


8. Spoon the mixture into the dishes. Run a spoon across the top of each dish so the mixture is completely flat. Take a little time to wipe any splashes off the outside of each dish, or they will burn on while cooking.


9. Bake the soufflés for 15-17 minutes.


10. The soufflés should have risen by about two thirds of their original height and jiggle when moved, but be set on top.




Blog-checking lines: Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.