Chocolate Souffle

Chocolate Souffle is Easier Than You Think

Don't be scared by the word "Soufflé". I remember when I first started cooking and someone suggested making a soufflé I thought, "No way. Sounds too fancy and difficult to make."

Loosely translated, soufflé means “full of air.” That doesn’t sound so difficult, does it?

In the food world, one of the best ways to get a dish “full of air” is to fold in whipped egg whites, or unsweetened meringue, into it. A classic soufflé has two main components: a starch-thickened egg yolk-rich base, and whipped egg whites.

In the case of this chocolate soufflé, the base is flavored with bittersweet chocolate, coffee, and vanilla. Without the addition of the whipped egg whites, you’d have a rich chocolate pudding. But, fold in the whipped egg whites, and something amazing happens.

All those small little bubbles you beat into the whites expand in the heat of the oven, et voila: what would have been a thick, rich, dense pudding turns into a light, ethereal, melt-in-your-mouth soufflé.

Print Recipe

Chocolate Souffle

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Total Time1 hr 10 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons butter unsalted
• ¾ teaspoon salt to taste
• 1½ cups milk
• 12 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate coarsely chopped
• ½ cup coffee brewed strong
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup granulated sugar divided
• 5 egg yolks
• 7 egg whites
• confectioners sugar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the base and chill up to a day before

• Melt butter in a sauce pot over medium heat, whisk in flour, salt and then milk and cook until it comes to a boil for a few seconds and thickens.

  What you have just made is a very basic béchamel sauce.
• Off the heat, stir in chocolate and stir constantly until it's melted.
• Add coffee, vanilla, and ¼ cup of sugar, whisking until smooth.
• One at a time, add the egg yolks while whisking constantly. With the addition of these ingredients, you have just made chocolate pastry cream, or chocolate pudding.
• Cool, cover and chill the base for at least four hours and up to a day ahead.

About an hour before you want to serve the soufflé

• Preheat oven to 375ºF.
• Coat the inside of the baking dish with butter and sugar.
• Butter a 2-2½ quart soufflé dish or straight-sided baking dish. Add about 2-3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, and then tap and rotate the dish to cover the bottom and sides with sugar.
• In a perfectly clean and dry bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, and gradually whisk in the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Continue to whisk until the peaks are stiff and glossy.
• Stir ¼ of the whites into the soufflé base to lighten it. Then, thoroughly but gently fold in the rest of the whites.
• Fill the soufflé dish all the way to the top. If you’d like, run your thumb around the top inside of the soufflé dish to clean off the rim. Some chefs say this helps the soufflé to rise more evenly.
• Bake for 35 - 40 minutes until the soufflé rises 2 inches above soufflé dish and/or the top of the soufflé is golden brown.
• Dust with confectioners sugar and serve immediately because the soufflé will deflate in less than two minutes.

Notes

For individual soufflés, butter and sugar individual ramekins and bake for about 20 minutes, or until well risen.