There are a few dishes that simply seem to give me trouble what I try them initially, and then takes me a while to move them into my comfort zone. Crepes was a particularly bad example, where for years and years I had an aversion against making the batter. Once I finally made up my mind that I would conquer crepes, I quickly got to a point where I can make many variations, different flours, different liquids, different fats, with or without eggs. Now I make crepes when I need something quick and easy - as I should. There really were no reasons for the insecurity, apart from me being a human being.
Chocolate soufflés is in a similar category, though it is different. I can make a killer dessert and savory soufflés and it is another quick and easy yet impressive part of the repertoire. Making a really good chocolate soufflés, with deep chocolate flavor, properly moist on the inside yet not undercooked, that has been a challenge. I think I succeeded once, did not record the recipe, and was not able to recreate the magic.
When this year's wedding anniversary came along, I wanted to make something without wheat, with limited sugar, yet supremely impressive. My mind again wondered towards the chocolate soufflés, and I decided to give it a shot. If it failed, I knew that Jasna would be appreciative of my effort, and that I would have no problems making something else instead.
I did another search for chocolate soufflés recipe and found one that looked extremely promising. I did what I do very very rarely - I followed the recipe to the T. Well, I did use chocolate chips despite the warning they would result in an inferior results - but I did use very high quality chocolate, so I was not all that worried. I also used a bit less sugar for the meringue. From experience I knew that would work well.
The recipe worked! The result was pretty much perfect in every possible way. The texture, the taste, the look - everything was spot on. I wish I took more care in taking the picture, the actual result was way more impressive.
Key lessons:
The recipe taught me a new trick. Chill the batter in the fridge for up to an hour before baking the souffles. That results in a bit denser batter that is supposed to help the soufflés rise a bit taller. Given how heavy the batter was from the chocolate base, I was quite happy with the rising. It definitely rose more than the cheese soufflés that I made in the past, but less than my version of Kaserschmarren. I also liked it that the batter felt more solid and that I worried less about deflating it when I was loading the ramekins.
The recipe said that the batter could be in the fridge for up to 3 days, but that one should add one minute to the baking time if the batter was in the fridge for more than an hour.
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| The batter was denser after being chilled |
The second lesson was to run a finger or a spatula around the rim of the ramekin to make a groove, with the intention to help the soufflés rise straight up instead of out. I have never experienced soufflés rising anywhere but up, but I'll take any insurance I can get.
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| See a little groove around the rim, maybe it should have been deeper 😃 |
Finally, the recipe calls for lowering the oven temperature after putting the soufflés in. The high initial temperature is to help with the soufflés rising up, and the lower temperature afterwards is to help with with soufflés being cooked evenly. I think this was a big deal and it helped with the soufflés being cooked yet nicely moist on the inside.
Does this qualify as trivial food?
Well... this recipe needs the precision that goes beyond what I would normally qualify as trivial food. But I am recording it anyway. The recipe really is not hard to follow, the techniques do not need up-front practice, and the result is so good it is worth paying a bit more attention in the process.
Ingredients:
- 60g unsalted butter, preferably at room temperature
- 110g semi sweet very good quality chocolate, either cut into chunks or chocolate chips or wafers
- 3 eggs separated, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- a small pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp creme of tartar
- 2 TBS sugar
- softened unsalted butter and about 1 tsp sugar or as needed for covering the ramekins
- Separate the eggs. They will get to the room temperature while one is melting chocolate.
- Prepare four remekins:
- Butter the entire inside of each ramekin generously with unsalted butter. I use my fingers, some like melting the butter and use a brush.
- Add about 1 tsp of sugar into a ramekin, shake it to cover the bottom, and then tilt and rotate a ramekin to cover the side walls. You can use the next ramekin to catch the excess sugar.
- Repeat this for all 4 ramekins.
- Make the batter:
- In a double boiler melt the chocolate and the butter. Mix well while the chocolate is melting.
- Let the chocolate stand and cool for a few minutes to avoid cooking the yolk in the next step.
- After a few minutes, mix egg yolks, vanilla, and a pinch of salt into the chocolate mixture.
- Add cream of tartar and egg whites into a very clean large bowl, preferably a copper bowl that will help with egg whites get more volume.
- Beat egg whites to a soft peak.
- In three portions, while beating egg whites in between, add the 2 TBS of sugar to the egg whites and continue to beat them until the volume increases even more and you get a stiff meringue. It will take about 2 minutes to get the meringue, do not go much longer.
- Add the meringue to the melted chocolate mixture. This is best done in 3 steps, gently folding the meringue into the chocolate, preserving as many air bubbles as possible. Take your time here.
- Cover the bowl of the batter with a lid or with wrap, and place it into a fridge.
- Turn the oven to 400F and wait until the over reaches the temperature.
- Fill the ramekins with the batter, using 1/4 of the batter per ramekin.
- Smooth out the top the batter and make a groove around the rim to help the soufflés expand up and not sideways.
- Gently place the 4 ramekins on a baking sheet, and place the baking sheet in the oven.
- Reduce the oven temperature immediately to 375F.
- Bake for 13-14 minutes. The center should just bare jiggle when you tap the baking sheet. If the batter was in the fridge for more than an hour, add one minute to the baking time. My batter was in the fridge for about an hour and the soufflés was done after 14 minutes.
- Take out of the oven immediately and serve before the soufflés deflates.
- If any soufflés is not eaten right away, it stays good in the fridge for a few days, covered it plastic wrap. Reheating it in a microwave, for about 20-30 seconds works very well.
- The soufflés can be eaten as is, or with a dollop of whipped cream, or with sauce such as creme anglaise or, what I did, umeshu ganache.
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