I decided to be daring and bake souffles – a chocolately, gooey, and rich dessert. I tried this once before, and misplaced the recipe, but luckily The Art and Soul of Baking came to my rescue. Of course. The best part was that this new recipe said you could refrigerate them for a day before baking…I love doing things ahead of time!
The recipe said to serve them with vanilla custard sauce, but I think that vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate souffles are meant for each other, so I did that instead. I used homemade ice cream. Obviously you can eat these with store-bought, but where’s the fun in that?
Special Meatless Monday dinner tonight? This is the perfect dessert; and you can’t eat it after a meat meal.
Okay, so I forgot to take pictures while prepping this. At least I didn’t forget the final result!
You can make this in a 6-cup souffle dish, or eight individual 6 ounce ones. Your choice.
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder dissolved in 1/2 teaspoon of water – OR – 1/2 teaspoon prepared, cooled espresso
- pink of salt
- 3 large eggs, separated, plus one additional egg white
- 1/4 cup sugar
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and position a rack on the bottom third.
2. Butter the souffle dishes and dust with sugar. Tap out excess.
3. Pour two inches of water into a pot and bring to a rolling boil. Place chocolate chips in a bowl and place over the water, off the heat. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. Stir occasionally with a spatula into smooth. Leave over the warm water until needed.
4. Make the bechamel: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk to remove lumps. Return to heat and cook for a minute, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and add milk. Return to heat and boil, whisking constantly. Cook for one to two minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla. Whisk in the espresso and a pinch of salt.
5. Scrape the chocolate into a large bowl. Add the bechamel and whisk to blend. Whisk in the yolks. Cover.
6. In a stand mixer, whisk the 4 egg whites on medium until they form soft peaks. With the mixture running, rain in sugar and beat until firm peaks form. With the spatula, fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate and bechamel to lighten the mixture. Fold in the remaining egg whites gently until there are no more streaks of white.
7. Fill the souffle dishes either by spooning them in carefully or piping them with a pastry bag.
8. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes. Serve immediately.
