Make a soft and fluffy homemade chocolate soufflé dusted with powder sugar, simply delicious and heavenly!
Do you remember my Chocolate Ice Cream recipe that you need to patiently wait for 5 days to get the perfect result? That recipe required six egg yolks and I had to figure out how to use the leftover egg whites, and that’s how I came up with this amazingly delicious Chocolate Souffle.
It turned out that I actually needed additional two more egg whites for this recipe but my oh my… it was heavenly. From the outside of the oven window, I could see the souffle rose high up above the ramekins. It was a beautiful sight; the texture looked fluffy and airy. After I took out the perfect-looking souffle from the oven, I was mesmerized by the beautify for several seconds, then it brought me back to reality. When realized that it started to deflate slowly. Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I quickly dusted powder sugar and ran to my “photo studio” (well, it’s just a part of my living room next to a big window), and started to take pictures. No, I wasn’t ready for a photoshoot. As I took pictures I immediately gathered some props (a spoon, fabrics, etc). The result? Not too happy, because I don’t see my perfectly risen souffle! Anyway, it was probably the most difficult food photo that I’ve taken so far, even more time-sensitive than an ice cream shot, and I wasn’t prepared at all.
The story does have a happy ending. As the souffle beckons me to take a bite, I took a big spoonful of warm chocolatey souffle and it was so good. I actually forgot about the chaotic photo session until I started to write about them now. Maybe I’ll have to make it and take pictures again. This time, I will set up everything in advance and run to the “studio” as fast as I can! I hope you enjoy this Chocolate Souffle.
What’s Half-and-Half?
Half-and-half is an American dairy product that is a blend of equal parts whole milk and light cream, and it has a 10-12% fat content.
If you live outside of the U.S., here is a substitute for 2 cups of Half-and-Half in the recipe.
- Option 1: Mix 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk + 1 cup (240 ml) light cream (18-30% fat).
- Option 2: Mix 1 ½ cup (360 ml) whole milk + ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream (36-38% fat).
- Option 3: Mix 1 ⅓ cup (320 ml) low-fat milk + ⅔ cup (160 ml) heavy cream (36-38% fat).
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Chocolate Souffle
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Unsalted butter (to coat the ramekins)
- 2 Tbsp sugar (to coat the ramekins)
- 3 oz bittersweet chocolate (next time I'll use really good chocolate)
- ⅓ cup half-and-half (an American dairy product of equal parts whole milk and cream that contains 10.5-18% milkfat; Substitute 1: Mix 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk + 1 cup (240 ml) light cream (18-30% fat). Sub 2: Mix 1 ½ cup (360 ml) whole milk + ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream (36-38% fat). Sub 3: Mix 1 ⅓ cup (320 ml) low-fat milk + ⅔ cup (160 ml) heavy cream.)
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup water
- 8 large egg white
- ½ cup sugar
- confectioners’ sugar/powdered sugar (for dusting)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC).
- You will need 6 4-oz (½ cup, 120 ml) ramekins. With a pastry brush, coat the inside souffle ramekins with softened butter.
- Put some granulated sugar in the ramekin and cover the opening with your hand and circulate. Once sugar is attached to the ramekin, remove the excess to the next ramekin and continue this process until all ramekins are coated with sugar.
- Chop the chocolate into small pieces.
- Pour the half-and-half into a saucepan and heat over medium high heat until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan.
- Remove from the heat and make a ganache by adding the chopped chocolate. Stir well until combined and all of the chocolate has melted.
- Make a double-boiler by setting a large mixing bowl over a pot of boiling water. Place the ganache in the mixing bowl.
- Add the cocoa powder and water, and mix until very hot. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Place the egg whites in a stand mixer and whip on medium speed until foamy.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and make a meringue. Add 1 Tbsp sugar at a time and whip the whites till stiff but do not over whip the egg whites.
- Use a rubber spatula to gently fold about half the meringue into the warm chocolate mixture.
- Then fold (not mix) the chocolate mixture into the remaining meringue in a standing mixer bowl. Do not deflate the batter. It’s okay if you still see streaks of meringue in the batter.
- Use a large spoon to gently place the souffle mixture in the ramekins. Fill to about 1/4 inch below the rim of the ramekin. Run your thumb around the rim to remove the excess butter and sugar. Place the ramekins in a baking pan (for easy transfer to and from oven).
- Bake at 375°F (190°C) until the souffle has risen to about 1 ½-inch over the rim and starts to brown on top, about 11-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and dust the top with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. To reheat, bake the room temperature souffle in a preheated 350°F (180°C) oven for about 6 minutes, until they rise.