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This Chocolate Souffle Recipe is super easy; you can even make it ahead. Pair it with a Quick Chocolate-Coffee Sauce and the rest is history!
When people say soufflé– wearing their best French accents of course– it conjures up images of class, luxury, and indulgence. The name of the dessert is based on the French verb souffler (to breathe), because of its beautiful puffy crown and airy as cloud center. Eating it is such a pleasurable experience that it’s no wonder the soufflé is highly regarded by many dessert-lovers.
For many home-bakers, perhaps just the French name itself makes the dessert seem intimidating. Admittedly, some French desserts can be a bit daunting to take on, requiring a gazillion steps and labour (croissant!) or some special technique (macarons!), but I must say that the soufflé is truly not one of them. In fact, I was even surprised by how easy it was! I think after reading through the recipe below you will agree with me.
The first time I ever made soufflé, the pessimistic and nervous side of me was prepared for the worst. It’s a terrible habit to go into the negative what if’s before you even get started, but I have my days too. Then as I read through the instructions I thought to myself, ‘Hey, this isn’t hard at all!’ And I was right. It wasn’t difficult in the least, especially when you have the right tools in hand. I really believe that you guys will end up agreeing with me once you try this recipe out. 😉
The “hardest part” about this Chocolate Souffle recipe is beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Let me tell you, if you are planning to do it by hand, think twice. It will be exhausting! Instead, take out your hand mixer. If you don’t have one, a hand mixer is probably one of the best investments any baking enthusiast can make. If a stand mixer is too pricey and you don’t really make that many yeasted breads anyway, I would suggest going for the KitchenAid 7-Speed Hand Mixer. Ever since I got mine, I’ve been using oh so much!
Here’s my little video tutorial on how to make this easy Chocolate Souffle recipe with a matching Quick Chocolate Sauce, and I can assure you this will be the first of many videos that will be featuring the KitchenAid 7-Speed Hand Mixer because I LOVE IT SO MUCH I want to use it all the time! It’s so handy and so easy to use, and it made this recipe 10 times easier too, as you will see in the video.
The great thing about this recipe, apart from the fact that it is DELICIOUS, is that you can make it up to a day ahead. Prep it then pop in the fridge covered in plastic until ready to bake, and you will get these beautiful and divine chocolate soufflés every time!
Let’s take a moment to talk about the KitchenAid 7-Speed Hand Mixer (5KHM720 Model) in better detail.
I really feel that it’s essential for any lover of baking to have one of these in their kitchen, first of all because it’s way waaaay more affordable than everyone’s dream stand mixer. Also, it’s a lot easier to use and store because it’s handy and lightweight. You switch it on at the side first, and the hand mixer immediately turns on. I love the responsive Clean Touch Control Pad by the way! You can easily switch speeds if you need to go fast or go slow at a snap.
Whatever speed you choose, you still have full control of the hand mixer because it seems to adjust to the viscosity of what you’re mixing. You need not worry about stuff splattering if you go up to a high speed right away because the KitchenAid 7-Speed Hand Mixer has a Soft Start feature and gradually builds up the speed.
The KitchenAid 7-Speed Hand Mixer comes with stainless steel Turbo Beaters– great for baking of course!– but it also comes with a stainless steel liquid rod attachment for blending soups and other liquids. Awesome part is you can pop all the attachments in to the accessories bag included in the box! Love it!
As stated in the name, this model offers 7 speeds, starting from a slow stir to a fast whipping action that will help you get thick and voluminous mixtures in no time. I used the maximum speed when I beat the egg whites to stiff peaks for this Chocolate Souffle recipe and it took me less than 5 minutes to do so. If you did it by hand I imagine it would take double that amount of time and it would be quite tiring too!
I am not joking when I say I love this powerful little toy so so much. I love everything from the colour to the usefulness of it. You all know I do A LOT of baking, and now my stand mixer can get a lot of help. In fact, I’ve been running exclusively to this baby lately!
Recipe notes
As I mentioned, this soufflé benefits from the help of the KitchenAid 7-Speed Hand Mixer in its egg white component. The egg whites are essential to get right because it is what gives the soufflé its airy and light texture. This is the only thing you have to watch out for when making a soufflé actually. First you have to beat your egg whites until stiff peaks, a.k.a. that stage when even if you flip your bowl of egg whites over your head it will not budge.
After that, you have to be vigilant with the folding, because you don’t want to deflate your batter once you add in the whipped egg whites. I like to add the egg whites in 3 batches to make it less difficult to fold in. These are the secrets that will help your soufflés rise gloriously, even though after a few minutes they do fall back. Sad reality!
If you want your soufflé to hang over the top of the ramekin even when they deflate, make sure to fill all the way to the top. They will rise upwards so don’t worry about spillage. And anyway, you’ll be placing the ramekins on a tray to avoid any potential mess in the oven.
To serve, I made a super easy Chocolate Sauce spiked with coffee to accompany the soufflé. It’s a double chocolate dessert we got in our hands, but you’re welcome to switch up the sauce if you want contrasting flavours. Personally, I love having that oozing chocolate along with this cloudy luxurious chocolate dessert!
Now enough blabbing and let’s get to the recipe shall we?
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Chocolate Soufflés with Quick Chocolate-Coffee Sauce
These delicious and easy soufflés can be made up to 24 hours ahead. Just cover the batter with plastic wrap before popping in the fridge, and make sure to add another 5 minutes to your baking time.
Makes 4 to 5 soufflés, depending on size of ramekin
Special Tools
ramekins
stand/hand mixer
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Soufflé
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided use
- 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 170 grams 6 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of cream of tartar
For the Quick Chocolate-Coffee Sauce
- 142 mL heavy cream
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 100 grams 3.5 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks
- 2 Tablespoons 25 grams unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon coffee or espresso powder
Instructions
Make the soufflés
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Use the first 2 Tablespoons of butter to grease your ramekins, making sure to cover the entire surface. Coat the buttered ramekins with cocoa powder, tapping out the excess.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate chunks and the last 2 Tablespoons of butter in 30-second intervals, stirring in-between until melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla.
Add in the egg yolks one at a time, stirring it quickly into the warm chocolate so that it doesn’t get cooked. Set aside for a moment.
In a separate clean bowl, place egg whites, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Use the KitchenAid 7-Speed Hand Mixer at speed 7 to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. (To test if the egg whites are ready, you can tilt your bowl to see if the mixture no longer moves.)
Gently fold in the egg whites in 3 batches into the bowl of chocolate. Stop folding once all the egg whites have been incorporated to avoid deflating the mixture. The batter should turn light and airy. Divide the batter into the prepared ramekins, filling all to the top. (I didn’t fill mine all the way so that I could get a fifth serving out of my batter. But by filling to the top, when the soufflé sinks back after it bakes it will still hang above the edge of the ramekin and look pretty.)
At this point, the soufflés can be refrigerated for up to 1 day inside the ramekins, covered in plastic wrap. But if baking immediately, place ramekins onto a baking tray and bake for about 20 minutes, or until soufflés are puffed and set. Bake for 25 minutes if the soufflés are coming directly out of the fridge.
While the soufflés are baking, make the sauce
In a small saucepan, mix together cream and sugar. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil.
Once it starts boiling, remove from heat and add in chocolate chunks, butter, coffee/espresso granules. Mix until chocolate is completely melted and the sauce becomes smooth and thick. Set aside.
Serve the soufflés
When the chocolate soufflés are done baking, remove from the oven, place on a small plate, and dust with powdered sugar. Serve immediately, with the Chocolate-Coffee Sauce on the side.
Watch how it's made
Notes
Soufflé inspired by Handle The Heat blog
You can substitute a different sauce for this if you don’t want to have a double chocolate dessert. There are plenty of sauces that go well with a classic chocolate soufflé, like berry sauces, or the more classic crème anglaise.
Some people like to serve their soufflés with the sauce already poured into the center of the soufflé (they scoop out a little portion from the middle then pour in the sauce), but I prefer to allow the eater to do what they will with the soufflé and the sauce! Pouring the sauce in a cup with a spout and serving it on the side would be the right thing to do.
How easy is this iconic dessert? If you guys do decide to make this, please tag me on Instagram (@clapanuelos)! I would love to see your Chocolate Soufflé creations. I’m so excited for you!
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Full disclosure: This post is sponsored by KitchenAid Philippines, but all opinions stated above are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep The Tummy Train up and running!
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