I think there comes a time in any self-proclaimed cook’s journey when the soufflé enters the scene. You’ve mastered a flaky pie crust, you can cook a lamb chop to perfection – you haven’t even burned a batch of caramel in as long as you can remember. But as you’re hitting this culinary plateau, in the back of your mind there is always the soufflé, the ultimate Everest of baking, and the question of whether or not you can make one.

I’m going to be honest with you. You’re not going to make these individual chocolate soufflés because you’re in the mood for some chocolate. You’re going to do this because you’re in the mood for a project. They require that you closely follow the instructions, that you don’t skip steps and that you have the right equipment. But if you do have a mixer, quality chocolate, a candy thermometer and some time on your hands, I can tell you that, without a doubt, you will not regret making these.

Imagine eating the most intense, complex chocolate but in the lightest possible format – that’s this chocolate souffle. One of my handful of dessert-only cookbooks, The Sweet Life, usually delivers on restaurant-quality masterpieces, though many of the recipes are definitely for “advanced learners.” It might seem a little unfair to have to make caramel (and then make sugar syrup AGAIN later in the recipe) just to add it to your chocolate base, but trust me that this adds dimension to the dessert. It’s not just straight chocolate, but chocolate on steroids.

The intimidating part of making a soufflé is also what makes it so magical – those egg whites. Trust your instinct when whipping them up into stiff peaks, and fold them into your chocolate base gently and with care. Put them in the oven on a baking sheet and do not open the oven until you think they’re done. If you follow those instructions, and maybe with a little bit of luck, after 12 minutes you will remove perfectly puffed soufflés. They will be a little crispy around the edges and rich, creamy and light inside. They will also be as hot as molten lava so be careful. But best of all, they will make you feel enormously accomplished.

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Chocolate Soufflé

Servings: Serves 8-12

Ingredients

  • 7 tablespoons (3 1/2 oz.) butter
  • 1 cup plus 5 tablespoons sugar
  • 6 1/2 oz. dark chocolate (66-85% cocoa solids)
  • 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate (99-100% cocoa solids)
  • 8 eggs
  • 2 pinches (1/2 teaspoon) cream of tartar
  • 2 tablespoons brewed espresso
  • 1 tablespoon dark rum
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    Equipment:
  • Twelve 4-oz. or eight 5-oz. ramekins
  • Bain-marie (or a makeshift one)
  • Candy thermometer
  • Stand mixer

Instructions

  1. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter and generously grease your soufflé ramekins. Refrigerate the buttered ramekins and then butter them again. Dust the insides of the ramekins with 3 tablespoons of the sugar and return them to the refrigerator.
  2. In a bain-marie, melt the dark and unsweetened chocolate and the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula (this will take about 10 minutes). Set the melted chocolate aside.
  3. Separate the eggs, putting the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place 5 yolks in a medium-sized stainless-steel bowl and discard the remaining 3 yolks or use them or something else. Place a damp towel under the bowl of egg yolks to hold it in place while you whisk.
  4. Combine 1/2 cup of the sugar, 1 pinch of cream of tartar and 3 tablespoons water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cover and bring to a rapid boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, uncover the pan and cook the sugar until deep golden brown. Turn off the heat and very carefully pour 2 tablespoons water into the hot caramel. Stand back - the caramel will hiss and bubble.
  5. Once you have added the water, the caramel syrup will come back to a rolling boil from the residual heat. When the caramel syrup stops boiling, slowly pour it into the egg yolks while simultaneously whisking them by hand (you can also use a hand mixer). Beat for 2 minutes, until the egg yolks thicken and double in volume. Add the coffee, rum and salt and continue to whisk until the yolk mixture is lukewarm. Set aside.
  6. Combine 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan over medium heat and attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Simultaneously place the 8 egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on medium-high speed. Once the egg whites begin to foam up add the cream of tartar.
  7. When the egg whites are completely foamy and begin to hold the lines of a whisk, turn the heat under the pan of sugar syrup to high. Once the sugar syrup has come to a rolling boil and reaches 225°F to 230°F, gradually add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time, to the egg whites. As you add the sugar, the whites should become shiny and gain volume. If you see the whites beading (small lumps of egg whites forming on the side of the bowl), you have whipped them too dry; slow the machine down and add the remaining sugar.
  8. Once the sugar syrup on the stove reaches 248°F, quickly, in a slow continuous stream, pour the hot syrup into the egg whites with the mixer set on a medium-high speed. The whites should still gain more volume and take on a satiny white color. Continue to whip the meringue on medium-high speed until it stiffens and cools, 3 to 5 minutes.
  9. Add the whipped egg yolk mixture to the bowl with the melted chocolate. Whisk the chocolate and the yolks until the mixture is smooth, shiny and thoroughly combined.
  10. Add about a quarter of the meringue to the chocolate mixture to lighten it and then add the remaining meringue. Place a spatula in the center of the bowl, scrape the bottom, and bring the bottom over the top. Rotate the bowl 45 degrees and continue folding until all the egg whites are incorporated.
  11. Using a rubber or plastic spatula, fill the prepared ramekins with the mousse, avoiding leaving any air pockets under the mousse in the ramekins. Flatten the tops of the ramekins with a metal spatula, scraping any excess mousse back into the bowl. Clean off any bits of mousse that might have dripped onto the sides of the ramekins.
  12. You can now either bake your soufflés or place them in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 hours or in the freezer for up to 24 hours. Before baking frozen soufflés, allow them to sit at room temperature for 1 hour. When you are ready to bake the soufflés, preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the soufflés until they rise over the rims by about 1/2 their original volume, 9 to 12 minutes in a convection oven or 15 to 20 in a regular oven without a fan (for reference, mine took 15).
  13. Serve these soufflés as soon as they come out of the oven.

Notes

https://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2016/01/28/chocolate-souffle/