Soufflé. Just the word sounds fancy and complicated. I can remember watching many chef's fail on cooking shows when they are given the soufflé challenge and I myself was always intimidated by the thought of making them. But when you really break it down, a soufflé is really quite simple.
I came across this recipe from Chef Tony, the head chef at the Orlando Airport Marriott, a few years back and it has become my stand by "fancy" desert. It takes just 15 minutes to prepare and bake and the finished look is what you would expect from a high end French restaurant. With only four ingredients, the challenge (in my opinion) is in carefully handling the whipped egg whites.
Directions:
- Butter (or Pam) and sugar the bottom and sides of six 4oz ramekins.
- Chop the dark chocolate into small pieces. I prefer Scharffenberger chocolate, but any high quality dark chocolate will work.
- Melt 5 oz of the chopped dark chocolate over a double boiler and stir in 2 tsp. flour. Once everything is melted, take the chocolate mixture off the stove and let cool slightly.
- Whisk 7 egg whites and 6 1/2 tbsp. sugar to semi-firm peaks.
- Mix 1/3 into the cool chocolate mixture until the color is uniform.
- Gently fold in the remaining egg whites and the remaining 2 oz of chocolate pieces. The color will not remain uniform at this time.
- Using a large spoon, transfer the mixture to the prepared ramekins and gently tap the ramekin to level the mix.
- Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and place in 400 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes
- Serve immediately.
Once you are comfortable with the above recipe, try modifying it to make it unique. One of my favorites is to add a fresh raspberry jam in the center of the mixture just before it is baked.
