SMS: Fallen Chocolate Souffle Cake

Before I get to this week's SMS recipe, I want to apologize to my fellow SMS bakers. I still haven't made the rounds on last week's recipe yet as I'm way behind in my commenting. I hope to get around to all of your blogs today to check out this week's recipe as well as last week's! We had a busy day yesterday (more on that tomorrow) so today I don't feel at all guilty sitting on the couch watching tennis and trying to play catch up :)

This week's SMS recipe was chosen by Sarah of Blue Ridge Baker: fallen chocolate souffle cake! I've never made a souffle so I was excited to finally give it a shot. Here's the thing - I'm out of my kitchen for the next 2 weeks because I'm housesitting for Shane's parents while they're away. Now, lest there be any confusion, I'm not complaining at all. There are a lot of upsides to this adventure. For example, check out the views:

It's just that I've never been away from my kitchen for this long since I really got into baking. It wasn't feasible to pack my entire kitchen and bring it with me but I certainly tried :) Today's souffles were my first baking attempt in my temporary kitchen and I've already discovered a major upside - WAY more counter space. I'm more convinced than ever that I need an island in my kitchen at home!

Ok, on to the recipe (finally!). The only modification I made was to quarter the recipe and bake it in two 7-oz ramekins. If I were at home, I would have skipped or substituted for the Grand Marnier since we don't have any but (bonus #2!) Shane's parents had a bottle. The souffles rose perfectly in the oven and I'll admit I kept turning on the light to check on them:

As expected, the center fell as they cooled. They came out of the ramekins without too much trouble, but I can definitely see how it'd be easier to use a springform pan to bake this cake. I garnished my cake with fresh strawberries and left Shane's plain for him. The verdict? We liked it, but we didn't love it. I don't think there's anything wrong with the recipe so much as we're just not souffle people. It was light and fluffy and quite tasty but I think we prefer a dense, rich chocolate cake to a souffle.

Thanks to Sarah for hosting this week! You can find the recipe on her blog. Be sure to head over to the SMS site to see all of this week's souffles!