Saturday, April 28, 2012

Chocolate Soufflé



A super awesome Chocolate Soufflé was made, (yes, the actual thing and not a pudding as i have heard people popularly refer to a cooked custard (shudder!)-Soufflér in French means to 'puff up', so a pudding could hardly be called a Soufflé, right?) So moving on, we can now establish the fact that the soufflé is indeed the diva of desserts. It's the stuff that dreams are made of (and nightmares, but only because they are so easy to screw up.)
The soufflé is really just a piece of cake. just a delicious, light-as-air, ethereal piece of cake that melts in your mouth. because it is, after all, more air than matter. There's a bit of science behind the thing and understanding it goes a long way. So onto the basics: A classic soufflé has two main components: a starch-thickened egg yolk-rich base, and whipped egg whites.
In this case, (recipe adapted with changes from here), the base is flavored with chocolate, yolks and sugar. 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.
A quick heads up though: This work of art is a babe in a hurry. You have less than ten seconds to click good pictures of this before it starts to deflate. No offense, and it still tastes great, inspite of the sunken dome. but if you want to record the moment in history, set your props and keep the camera ready. Or else, you can be like me, 'Oooh and Aaaah' and then wake up to reality and then click the pics. I did'nt mind it too much, this is just the beginning! :)


2 egg yolks
3 egg whites
80 g Chocolate
20 g Butter plus a little extra for buttering the ramekins
1 tablespoon sugar plus more for dusting ramekins
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Gianduia


Preheat the oven to 175 C.
Melt the chocolate and the butter in a bain-marie and once it has melted, remove from the heat and add the Gianduia. Stir and keep aside to cool a bit.
Add the yolks one at a time and whisk till it has fully been incorporated.
Take the egg whites in a clean vessel, add the sugar and the lemon juice and combine using a mixer till stiff peaks form.
Gently fold in the egg white mixture into the chocolate in batches. Spoon into the ramekins till 3/4 full and run your finger along the collar of the ramekin to ensure even rising.
Pop into the oven and bake the souffles for about 15 minutes or until puffed and set. Sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar if desired and serve ASAP.
Have fun! :)

P.S: Word of advice, do not over beat the egg whites, you may end up with bits of cooked egg in the soufflé, not cool.




33 comments:

  1. I love souffle' !! Ah the bliss of chocolate and air !!

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    1. I love it too Simi! am already getting wild ideas for a coconut Soufflé now! (rubbing hands in glee!) :D

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  2. That babe sure looks awesome ! hahahaha Haven't tried making it yet pffftttt Love the color of your ramekins ;D

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    1. LOL LOL! Thanks Anne, i dont have a set of white ramekins, and hence the colored ones :P

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  3. Thanks Akila! Interesting event you have going on there!

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  4. hi .. lovely suffle .. thanks for visiting my blog and glad to follow ur blog ..

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    1. Hello Shilpa! Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment! :)

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  5. Suffle looks gorgeous and delicious. Lovely presentation.

    Cuisine Delights
    My Monthly Event - Spotlight : "Healthy Breakfast Ideas".

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  6. Wow it looks so puffy ..it surely will melt in mouth.

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    1. Thanks Vineetha! It was way puffier, my oversensitive hands(in spite of the oven mitts) had trouble get them out of the oven and i lost few precious seconds there. but it still did melt in the mouth!

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  7. Perfect treat to the chocoholics like me.....love it....

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    1. Hello Lubna! Thanks much! and i love your space! super stuff u have there!

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  8. He he he! Thanks Jay! it was delicious! :D

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  9. Looks so inviting ! Loved your third picture very much

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  10. Wow! That looks too good, I can polish it off within few minutes.

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    1. Hello! and thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment! :)

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    2. Looks delicious! I made Nigella's cheat version last week with marshmallows... tasted good, but I'd rather have the real stuff anyday!

      I still remember the first time I tasted chocolate souffle. We had an old american missionary lady named Carol Weeber in our community. I was about 12 years old and she knew I had a 'thing' for western desserts so she called me home and gave me my first bowl of souffle. Sigh! Not the best souffle I've had, but still a great memory.

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    3. That's one of the best things about food huh Deepa, creating great memories! :)

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  11. i sooo know what ure talking about. I made tomato and cheese souffle the other day, and in spite of having my props ready and such, i still couldnt manage good pics..well my fault really because i end up taking sooooooo many shots of the same thing, and after the first few mins it deflated. And the pics i took in that time werent satisfactory and hence wont be making its way through to my blog...sigh
    you have managed pretty good shots of the puffed up version..esp the 1st pic, is really pretty.

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    1. Ooooh!! tomato and cheese soufflé! am thinking of a savory version next Nisha, was thinking cheese . and thank you about the pic. it was funny, me juggling with hot (really hot!) ramekins and dusting sugar and trying to take pics. lol

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  12. I realy enjoyed this post of yours and several other posts in your space here. Beautiful!! Thanks a lot for visitng my space and giving me also a chance to view your gorgeous and yummy posts ;-)

    WIll see you more...
    Souffle looks great btw...i've always wanted to try one mayb now i will :)

    Regards,
    Manju

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    1. Hello Manju! you are being very sweet! :) and am glad i found your space too! (Loved your red velvet cupcakes!) Will be seeing more of you as well! :) Take care!

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  13. I'm doing good. Thank you for remembering me.The chocolate Souffle looks awesome. All the best to you.

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    1. Hey!! is good to hear from you! have you settled in? How're you liking the food scene there? Hope you're having a ball! take care!

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  14. sono certo che è buonissimo! un felice week end per Te....ciao

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    1. Sei molto gentile, grazie molti Giancarlo! :) grazie per lasciare un commento. ho capito poco italiano in modo che io sto usando Google Translator. ma amo italiano e mi piacerebbe imparare la lingua! Ciao!

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  15. Looks so inviting,chocolaty and divine..

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