Souffles have a reputation for being very tricky to execute, but after making it several times, I can say that it's really not as complicated as it looks. Maybe it's beginners luck, but Oksana and I made it several times and it turned out great every time. I have had a lot more trouble with other seemingly simple desserts - like pies. The main concern is not to overcook it. I like my souffles gooey in the middle, with a generous dollop of ice cream on top.
Ingredients:
11 oz (250 g) bittersweet or semisweet (plain) chocolate
8 room temperature large eggs, separated
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped cream
1. Preheat oven to 375⁰ for a large 2 quart souffle dish, or 400⁰ for individual 1-cup ramekins.
2. Butter souffle dish or ramekins and dust with powdered sugar.
3. Melt chocolate over a double boiler. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Slowly add 1/4 cup sugar and whisk until stiff peak form.
5. In another bowl, whisk egg yolks until thick and pale in color. Whisk in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the vanilla.
6. Use a rubber spatula to fold the melted chocolate into the egg yolk mixture (Depending on how long it took to complete steps 4-6, the melted chocolate may have solidified just a bit while it was standing there. It's a good idea to set it back over a low flame for a few seconds if it seems like it has thickened. One time, Oksana and I used melted chocolate that has been sitting there for quite some time, and added it to cold straight-out of the fridge eggs. The mixture turned out clumpy and we had to do some heavy duty whisking to get the clumps out. You really do not want to have to do any more whisking at this point, just folding, so as to not over-beat the eggs).
7. Gently fold in the egg whites into the resulting chocolate mixture until no white streaks remain.
8. Spoon souffle mixture into prepared dishes.
9. Bake until the souffle is set and puffed, but the center still jiggles when slightly shaken, between 30-45 minutes (wide range...I know...) for the large souffle, and around 10 minutes for the individual souffles. I am not exactly sure about the times because I last made this a while ago. When I make it again, I will post more precise cook times.
10. Serve immediately with whipped cream or ice cream.
Original recipe comes from this William's Sonoma baking book
-Yana
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