Recipe 79: Chocolate Soufflé

I didn't have a soufflé dish. So that was the beginning of the adventure. I recalled my past trip to World Market and remembered seeing soufflé dishes there. So that was my first stop. I drove 30 minutes to get there, just to find out they only had a 9.5-oz. soufflé dish, and I needed a 6 cup (64-oz. or 1.5-qt.) dish. Bust. I called Mom on my want toward Target, and she said that she had one. Perfect! I headed home and picked up the dish. I looked big, but knowing I needed a 6 cup dish, I figured it was right. So I brought it back to my apartment to use later in the evening.

I was scared to make the soufflé. I know they can be tough, and temperamental. Not even all fancy restaurants serve them. I was afraid I'd mess it up. But when it came time to start the it, I realized I didn't have any masking tape. Amy was kind enough to run to Walgreens to get some, and I was on my way. I let the egg whites sit at room temperature, beat the egg yolks, melted the chocolate with the sugar, cornstarch and milk (used rice milk because of Amy's dairy allergy), then beat the yolks and chocolate together. While that cooled, I whipped the egg whites, then folded that in with the chocolate mixture. Prepping the dish was easy, rub butter all over the dish and the tin foil, then sugar, and tape the tin roil around the dish. I carefully poured the chocolate batter into the dish and baked. I baked it for 45 minutes, and the knife came out clean, but the center looked very jiggly. So I kept it in another 10 minutes. Seemed to do no harm. I pulled it out of the oven and removed the tin foil. My heart sank. The souffle hardly rose, and definitely not over the top of the dish. As it cooled a bit, the soufflé sank more and more. But at least it tasted good! The outside was very crisp with a hard layer, but the inside was soft and fluffy, like a mousse. Yummy!

We therorized a few reasons why it didn't turn out as it should have. The first one being that the rice milk didn't react properly. The second being that I either let the egg whites sit out too long, or that "room temperature" was too hot, because it is very warm out. So I'll try making it again, but with regular milk, and when the weather is a bit cooler. What are your theories on why it didn't rise?

From Betty Crocker's Baking Basics, 2009

Ingredients

4 large eggs

2-oz. unsweetened baking chocolate

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

About 2 teaspoons butter or margarine to grease the soufflé dish

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

1. Place an egg separator over a small bowl. Crack each egg over egg separator to separate the yolk from the white. Place yolk in another small bowl. Separate 2 more eggs. When separating the fourth egg, place the yolk in another container and save for another recipe. Set remaining 3 egg yolks aside.

2. Place the 4 egg whites in a clean large bowl, and let stand at room temperature for up to 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, coarsely chop the chocolate. In an 1-qt. saucepan, stir the sugar and cornstarch until mixed. Gradually stir in the milk. Add the chocolate. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat.

4. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer on medium speed until very thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in the chocolate mixture. With a wooden spoon, stir in 2 tablespoons butter and vanilla. Cool to room temperature.

5. Heat the oven to 350. Spread 2 teaspoons butter on the bottom and side of a 6-cup soufflé dish, using a paper towel or waxed paper. Sprinkle additional sugar over the butter. Make a 4-inch band of triple thickness of foil that is 2 inches longer than the circumference of the dish; butter one side of the band and sprinkle with sugar. Extend depth of the dish by securing one end of the foil band, buttered side in, to top outside edge of dish with masking tape. Bring foil band around edge of dish and secure with masking tape.

6. Add the salt and cream of tartar to the egg whites; beat with an electric mixer on high speed just until egg whites form stiff peaks with beaters are lifted. Stir about 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Add remaining egg whites; to fold in, use a rubber spatula to gently cut down vertically through the mixture, then slide the spatula across the bottom of the bowl and up the side, turning mixture over. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn, and repeat this down-across-up motion. Carefully pour batter into the soufflé dish; use a rubber spatula to scrape batter from bowl, spread batter evenly in pan and smooth top of batter.

7. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until a knife inserted halfway between the center and the edge comes out clean. Do not be alarmed if cracks appear on the top because they are characteristic of this soufflé.