Easy Chocolate Soufflé Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to a soufflé? ›

Take the eggs out of the refrigerator and separate them before beginning the recipe, or while the milk is heating up. Eggs will separate more easily when cold, but the whites whip up better at room temp. Resist the urge to open your oven to take a peek. Utilize your oven light to keep an eye on it and just trust.

While both are light and airy chocolate desserts that contain eggs, mousse is custard-based, usually contains milk or cream, and is served cold. Soufflé has fewer ingredients, and is baked and served hot.

What is Chocolate Soufflé? A soufflé is made up of stiffly beaten egg whites and a thick chocolaty base. The air trapped inside the beaten egg whites is what makes the soufflé rise so beating the egg white properly is critical for success.

You technically could — egg whites will still whip to stiff peaks without cream of tartar — but we highly recommend including it whenever it's called for in a recipe. While developing those lofty Japanese Soufflé Pancakes, Molly quickly realized how integral a stabilizer was to create the perfect pancake texture.

The Washington Post explains that the protein in egg whites can only expand so much; if you over-whip them, they won't have the elasticity needed to continue to expand in the oven heat, which causes the soufflé to collapse. After achieving peak egg white peaks, fold those into the yolk mixture.

If the egg whites are not mixed enough, they will be too heavy to rise, but if they are over-whipped they will collapse in the oven. Finally, and most problematically, any cross-contamination between yolks and whites will cause the whole concoction to collapse, which is the bane of many dessert chefs' days.

Water-bath baking consists of placing a container (for example, a pan, bowl or souffle dish) of food in a large, shallow pan of warm water. The water surrounds and protects delicate foods during cooking by maintaining an even, low-moisture heat.

Like with all baking, opening the oven door causes the temperature in the oven to drop dramatically, and the more you open it, the harder it is for the oven to get back up to temperature. With a soufflé, opening the oven too often can make it rise less dramatically. Bake until done and serve immediately!

Souffle Logic: A soufflé is made up of three elements: A base sauce enriched with egg yolks (pastry cream for sweet, béchamel for savory), a filling (anything from cheese to chocolate), and whipped egg whites.

Deliciously crafted souffle made with our savory egg mixture, Neufchâtel, cheddar, Parmesan and romano cheeses.

What is a fun fact about chocolate souffle? ›

The chocolate soufflé was not invented until the 19th century when chocolate became more widely available. The first chocolate soufflé recipe was published in a cookbook by Marie-Antoine Careme, who was a French chef and considered one of the greatest chefs of all time.

Why Did my Chocolate Soufflé Fall? Over-mixed + deflated batter: Slowly and gently fold the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture in 3 additions, always being careful to avoid over-mixing and excessive deflating.

If you find yourself in a pinch in the kitchen, you can swap white vinegar for cream of tartar. This substitute works best when stabilizing egg whites for recipes like soufflés and meringues. Simply use an equal amount of white vinegar in place of cream of tartar when you're whipping egg whites.

The general rule of thumb is for every ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar in a recipe, use 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, you'd use 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or white vinegar.

Substitute Soufflé Pans: If you don't have a real soufflé pan, you can use any straight-sided pan that's deeper than it is wide. They'll bake more evenly and with better lift if you use a round pan instead of a square or rectangular one. You could use any baking dish or even a deep, oven-safe saucepan!

Some souffle dishes have a collar, and some people add one with tin foil in order to make the souffle rise higher. If your dish has a collar, fill it all the way to the top of the pan. If it doesn't have one, three quarters of the way will do. Those souffles that collapse when a pin drops are too dry.

Greasing the ramekin and coating it in sugar helps a soufflé rise evenly and gives it a golden edge. -Brush the ramekins with softened butter then dip into a bowl of caster sugar. -Shake the sugar around the ramekins so that it is evenly coated, then tip out any excess.

Souffle may be made up ahead and refrigerated as long as 24 hours. Put souffle in cold oven and bake 50 minutes at 325 degrees. It can also be frozen up to 7 days. Allow 50 to 60 minutes to bake frozen at the same temperature.

Smooth the top lightly, scatter with the remaining Parmesan, then place on top of the hot baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes. To test if your soufflé is done, push the dish firmly with your oven glove: it should shudder but not wobble violently.