CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE

By Sumod Tom March 26, 2017

All of us get inspired by someone right!? Being a hard core foodie, Im an ardent fan of Master chef series. I got very much inspired by the soufflé being made in many of these master chef competitions and had been thinking of replicating the same for a while now, and even bought ramekins for it.
Finally, I got enough time to cook up a wonderful dish and so:Here comes Chocolate Soufflé (recipe adopted from the Master chef Gordon Ramsey)
A soufflé is a lightly baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients that can be served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert.
The word soufflé is from a French verb souffler which means “to blow up” or more loosely “puff up” which is what happens to this combination of crme patisserie and meringue.
Soufflé is made of two main components
Crème patisserie base
Egg whites beaten to a soft peak meringue
Crème patisserie provides the flavour and the whites provide the puff.
Soufflé can be made in containers of all shapes and sizes but traditionally it is made in porcelain ramekins.

Ingredients

For the creme patisserie
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp caster sugar
½ tsp cornflour
1 medium egg yolk
4 tbsp milk
1 tbsp double cream
25g good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70% cocoa solids, broken in pieces
1 tbsp cocoa powder
For the Meringue
6 medium egg whites
85g caster sugar
For Ganache
4 tbsp double cream
50g good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
1 tbsp cocoa
For serving
Whipped cream or ice cream

Instructions

Take 4 to 5 souffle ramekins and brush them completely with softened butter. Add little sugar into each dish, roll the dish around, tilting it as you do, so that it is evenly lined all round with sugar. Then in the same way coat with a light coat of cocoa powder too.
To prepare the crème patisserie,
Mix the flour, corn flour and 2 tbsp sugar in a bowl.
Put 1 egg yolk and 1 whole egg into another bowl, stir well. Then beat in half of the flour mixture to give a smooth paste. Tip in the rest of the flour mixture and mix well. Pour the milk and 1 tablespoon cream into a pan and bring just to the boil.
Remove from the heat. Add the 25 gms chocolate and beat until its melted and smooth with no lumps. Gradually stir the hot chocolate mix into the flour & egg paste. Return to pan to the stove and cook, stirring over a medium-low heat for 5 mins to get a smooth, thick paste. Remove from the heat. Set aside to cool, stirring well occasionally with a wire whisk.
To make the ganache,
slowly warm 5 Tbsp cream in a pan. Just before it boils, take off the heat and add 90 grams grated chocolate. Beat constantly to get a velvety texture, gradually sprinkling in the cocoa as it dissolves. Allow to cool. (keep aside few tablespoons of ganache for the final garnishing).
Preheat oven to 180C.
To prepare meringue
Whisk 6 egg whites to soft peaks with an electric whisk. When you come to the stage that you can form the letter 8 with the beaten egg white, start to sprinkle in 85gms sugar as and when you are mixing. Keep whisking to give stiff and firm peaks.
It gives volume to the souffls. Mix crme patisserie and ganache in a large bowl.
Stir in 2 tbsp of beaten egg white. Carefully fold in one-third of the rest, cutting through the mixture. Fold in another third (take care not to lose the volume); now fold in the remaining.
Spoon the mixture into the dishes, then gently press a spoon in to make sure it fills all the gaps. Fill the dishes to the top with the mixture, then tap each dish on to the surface so the mixture fills the sides. Take a straight edged knife and pull it across the top of each dish so the mixture is completely flat. Take a little of your time to wipe any splashes off the outside of each dish, or they will burn on it while cooking. In order that the mixture doesn’t stick to the top of the mould and to give a straight finish, go around the top edge of the mixture with your finger. Sprinkle a little grated chocolate in the centre, then bake the souffls for 15-17 mins.
The souffls should have risen by about two thirds of their original height and jiggle when moved, but would be set on the top. Serve hot, make a small dip with a spoon in the centre of each, then pour in little ganache, and garnish with glazed cherries. Serve with ice-cream or whipped cream.