How To Make a Chocolate Souffle

What you will need:

100g plain flour
100g butter
300ml skimmed milk
1/4 tsp salt
300g good quality baking chocolate
100g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 free range egg yolks

After chilling:

6 free range egg whites
60ml (1/4 cup) double (heavy) cream
50g granulated sugar (plus a little extra for sprinkling into soufflé ramekins)
8 Soufflé dishes/teacups

Morning!

With so many of you finally able to tuck into chocolate after having given it up for Lent I thought that a week devoted to the good stuff was in order. Starting today I have four of my most favourite chocolate recipes to share with you.

The sun has been shining so much in my part of the world over the last week or so that making chocolate desserts with the sun shining in through the kitchen windows has been an absolute delight. The radio has been on, the babies have been kicking each and every time I sample something and all of the recipes that you’ll be seeing here over the next week have been tried and tested.

Enjoy, throw caution to wind and dive in to Chocolate Week here at Cherry Menlove.com

Chocolate Soufflé Recipe

Note: For best results it is advisable to make the soufflé base and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

This mixture makes around eight soufflé servings using eight 3.5 inch ramekins/ dishes but you could just as easily use tea cups around this size too.

Click here for our cooking and baking weight conversion chart

Break/chop the chocolate into small pieces and set to one side.
Melt the butter in a large bowl placed over a pan of boiling water over a medium heat.
Sift in the flour and add the milk and salt and whisk quickly until the mixture thickens and starts to bubble.
Remove the bowl from the heat and add the chocolate pieces to the mixture and stir constantly until the chocolate has melted into the mix.

For this next part it is advisable to use an electric hand whisk or pour the mixture into a food mixer bowl with a whisk attachment.

Next, add the vanilla and 100g sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth and shiny.
Then, add the egg yolks and mix the ingredients together on a low setting until combined.
Pour the chocolate mix into a clean dry bowl and cover with cling film and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

After chilling and on the day of baking…

Remove your chocolate mix from the fridge.
Take your soufflé dishes and use some butter to grease the sides and bases, then sprinkle the bottom and sides of the dishes with some caster sugar so that the sugar sticks to the butter. The butter will stop the soufflé from sticking to the side of the dish and the sugar will prevent it from becoming too greasy. Set the souffle dishes to one side.

Using an electric whisk or whisk attachment on a mixer, whisk the egg whites until they form soft white peaks. Then add the double cream and the caster sugar and whisk until the egg whites look shiny and a little fluffy.

Spoon the chocolate mix from the bowl and add it to the blended egg whites, sugar and cream.
The chocolate mixture will still be a little firm from the fridge so use a paddle attachment to blend the chocolate mix and the egg white. Mix together gently, ensuring the mixer is on a slow setting, until you are left with a velvety looking chocolate mixture.

Spoon the mixture onto the soufflé dishes, making sure that they are filled to the top of the rim but the mixture is not overflowing.

Wipe around the top sides of your soufflé dishes and get rid of any excess mixture, not only does this make the finished dessert look neater, it will help the soufflé to rise more evenly.
Bake in the oven for 20-25minutes or until the soufflés have risen.