You can never go wrong with a chocolate souffle. This classic dessert is light and perfect after a heavy meal. Intensely chocolatey this dessert is great for a date night or any other special occasion.Â
A souffle is such a classic dessert. They are light and airy and are so good after a really filling or heavy meal when you have just a taste for something sweet but don’t need something else heavy. Toss in some chocolate and espresso and you have a winning dessert. There is no need to be too scared of this wonderful dessert when you try and make it. This wonderful dessert with the star of the show for your next date night or special occasion. Just remember to eat it hot. Â
In this recipe
Recipes with simple ingredients are my love. With this recipe having eggs, butter, salt, sugar, and chocolate as the base you cannot go wrong. Lets take a look into some of these ingredients.Â
Butter: you want to make sure that it is unsalted and being at rom temperature makes it easy to coast the ramekin dishes.Â
Eggs:Â you will want to make sure that they are room temperature. These will be the base of your souffle to give that lovely lift.Â
Chocolate: make sure that you use chocolate bars or baking chocolate as chocolate chips have stabilizers in them to keep them from melting. While that is great for a cooking you are reducing the amount of chocolate when you use chips. If you would like a less sweetened souffle then use bittersweet chocolate.Â
Cream of tartar:Â this is a stabilizer that will help keep the souffle from falling as it cools. This ingredient is completely optional.Â
Souffle vs Mousse
There are a few key differences between a mousse and a souffle. One of the things that they have in common is that both take advantage of air to make them light. They can also be sweet and savory such as making a salmon mousse or souffle. The two of the major differences that I have found is that the first big difference is that souffles are baked which gives them their rise. The other is that a mousse can get its texture from egg white, egg yoks, whole eggs, or whipped cream where souffles get their rise only from egg whites.Â
Don't lose that air
One of the biggest things you can do to prevent a great rise to your souffle is to deflate the egg whites by overmixing them with the chocolate. This can also happen by mixing the batter to vigorously as well. Some other reasons why the souffle might fall or not rise is overbeating or under-beating the egg whites. Under-beaten eggs will not have enough air and will not rise and overbeaten egg whites will lose their shine and structure and will cause the souffle to fall. As they cool all souffles will fall however you don’t want them to fall early.Â
Cooking the chocolate souffle
It is very important to make sure that you generously coat the sides and bottom of the ramekins with butter to keep the souffle from sticking to the sides and not rising. The sugar acts like a foothold for the souffle to climb up the otherwise smooth sides. I would suggest using a ceramic ramekin as they will conduct heat better and give a better rise. Also as tempting as it is to do this do not open the oven door. keep the oven light on if you have one and watch. If you open the door early the sharp change in temperature will cause the souffle to stop rising if it is or fall early. Â
Looking for other chocolate desserts?
Easy Chocolate Souffle
Equipment
- Heavy bottomed sauce pan
- Heatproof mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Stand mixer with whisk attachment
- Spatula
- 4 8 ounce straight side ramekins
Ingredients
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate roughly chopped
- 4 large eggs room temperature, separated
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter softened, additional for prepping ramekins
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar additional for prepping ramekins
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar optional
- pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the over to 400°F, 200°C, or gas mark 6. Using the pastry brush liberally brush the insides of the ramekins with extra butter and then coat all of the butter with the extra sugar and set aside.
- Add an inch of water to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Place the heatproof bowl on top with the butter and chocolate and gently melt them. Do not allow the bowl to touch the water or any water to get inside the bowl. Once the butter and chocolate have been melted remove the bowl from the pan and set aside to cool.
- While the chocolate is cooling add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer fitter with a paddle attachment. Beat the egg whites until foamy and then add the sugar and if you are using the cream of tartar. Beat on high until stiff peaks form. The egg whites should still be shiny.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, salt, and espresso powder to the cooled chocolate and whisk to combine and make sure everything is nice and smooth.
- Add â…“ of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and gently fold them in. Once nicely mixed then add the remaining the egg whites and gently fold to combine. You want to keep as much of the air in the whites as possible.
- Place in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.
- Evenly divide the souffle batter between the 4 ramekins and gently smooth the tops. Bake for 9-11 minutes. You want to wait until the 9 minute mark to check as you don't want to open and close the oven often as it will cause the souffles to fall.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve hot.
Nutrition
