your mind, until you finally say to yourself, "That's it! I've had it with you! I'm going to once and for all get rid of you!"--by actually making it. So, I came home from work with one word on my mind: Soufflé. But what kind? Savory or Sweet? I had many choices, but I rummaged around my kitchen a bit and decided to make a sweet one. I had all the promising essentials to the beginning of a great dessert. Lots of eggs, sugar, chocolate chips and vanilla. This was going to be easy, right? But wait! What was I thinking? Aren't soufflés probably the number one dessert bakers mess up all the time? Sometimes they don't rise, ending up in a disastrous and embarrassing crater of a cake.
Ah, but who cares? If I pull this off, I will have all the culinary glory among my friends and family. Plus, I can just hide/delete all the pictures I took with my I Phone. It was a win-win situation. I put all fear aside (because soufflés can sense that, you know) and started out by printing out a recipe and modifying it slightly. Blasphemy in the baking world, I am aware of that. I wanted more chocolate, more vanilla (I can never get enough!) and less sugar and eggs. This is what I ended up doing:
3 Extra Large Egg land's Best Egg Yolks
6 Extra Large Egg land's Best Whites
3 Tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon of Vanilla
1/2 Cup of Sugar, more for sprinkling ramekins
1/2 of Unsalted Butter
The juice of half a small lemon
10 ounces of Semisweet Chocolate
First I used a pad of butter to coat the ramekins (Duh, you don't want any of that soufflé sticking to the sides). Then I sprinkled each ramekin with some sugar until it was completely coated. Put some
sugar in the bottom and swirl the oven safe dish around and around, so it covers the sides too. I set all of them in the freezer and then pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure to have your oven rack on the lowest shelf possible, giving your soufflés room to puff up.
Now on to the actually baking part. Bring an inch of water to a boil in a small sauce pan. Put your chocolate and butter together in another bowl and put that on top of the sauce pan, once it boils. Stir occasionally until all has melted. Then in another bowl or mixer (have you hired a dishwasher yet?)
put the water and egg yolks together and beat for about 5 minutes. The chocolate should be done melting, so add your vanilla in there now once you take it off the heat. The egg yolks should be a little frothy and then add the lemon juice to that. Now you are going to add the egg yolk mixture to the chocolate. Fold it in gently because, after all, we want this concoction to be light and airy. Once that is done, you have got to get started with the egg whites. This is fun!!! Put the 6 egg whites in a bowl and beat until they have soft peaks. Then fold half of it into the chocolate and yolk mixture and then add the rest until it's all fully incorporated.
Take the ramekins out of the freezer and quickly ladle or spoon out the mixture. It makes about 7-8 servings. Make sure you leave some room for the soufflé to puff up, so don't fill them up all the way. Put the ramekins on a tray (easier to deal with) and put them in the oven for 20 minutes. Once you take them out serve them immediately! They fall flat quickly. Not kidding. Dust with powdered sugar if your clogged artery heart desires! Then sit back and revel in all your glory :)
Ah, but who cares? If I pull this off, I will have all the culinary glory among my friends and family. Plus, I can just hide/delete all the pictures I took with my I Phone. It was a win-win situation. I put all fear aside (because soufflés can sense that, you know) and started out by printing out a recipe and modifying it slightly. Blasphemy in the baking world, I am aware of that. I wanted more chocolate, more vanilla (I can never get enough!) and less sugar and eggs. This is what I ended up doing:
3 Extra Large Egg land's Best Egg Yolks
6 Extra Large Egg land's Best Whites
3 Tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon of Vanilla
1/2 Cup of Sugar, more for sprinkling ramekins
1/2 of Unsalted Butter
The juice of half a small lemon
10 ounces of Semisweet Chocolate
First I used a pad of butter to coat the ramekins (Duh, you don't want any of that soufflé sticking to the sides). Then I sprinkled each ramekin with some sugar until it was completely coated. Put some
sugar in the bottom and swirl the oven safe dish around and around, so it covers the sides too. I set all of them in the freezer and then pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure to have your oven rack on the lowest shelf possible, giving your soufflés room to puff up.
Now on to the actually baking part. Bring an inch of water to a boil in a small sauce pan. Put your chocolate and butter together in another bowl and put that on top of the sauce pan, once it boils. Stir occasionally until all has melted. Then in another bowl or mixer (have you hired a dishwasher yet?)
put the water and egg yolks together and beat for about 5 minutes. The chocolate should be done melting, so add your vanilla in there now once you take it off the heat. The egg yolks should be a little frothy and then add the lemon juice to that. Now you are going to add the egg yolk mixture to the chocolate. Fold it in gently because, after all, we want this concoction to be light and airy. Once that is done, you have got to get started with the egg whites. This is fun!!! Put the 6 egg whites in a bowl and beat until they have soft peaks. Then fold half of it into the chocolate and yolk mixture and then add the rest until it's all fully incorporated.
 |
| Everything folded in! |
Take the ramekins out of the freezer and quickly ladle or spoon out the mixture. It makes about 7-8 servings. Make sure you leave some room for the soufflé to puff up, so don't fill them up all the way. Put the ramekins on a tray (easier to deal with) and put them in the oven for 20 minutes. Once you take them out serve them immediately! They fall flat quickly. Not kidding. Dust with powdered sugar if your clogged artery heart desires! Then sit back and revel in all your glory :)
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