I think that a dark chocolate souffle is the quintessential Valentine’s Day dessert. Chocolate is practically required eating on Valentine’s and souffles, because they aren’t as commonly made as other types of desserts, always seem to be extra-special - perfect for sharing with that special someone.

For all the mystique about them, souffles are not that hard to make. This one in particular is dead-easy as long as you can beat egg whites to soft peaks successfully, as that is the single remotely-challenging component of this recipe. The base of the souffle is made up of melted chocolate, sugar and egg yolks. I added a couple of tablespoons of kahlua for flavoring, but you can use brandy, Irish creme, amaretto or another liqueur in its place. It adds a little dimension to the souffle, but the flavor doesn’t end up being too strong. If you prefer not to use alcohol at all, you can just as easily use milk or cream in place of the liqueur.

Beaten egg whites are folded into the base and the souffles are baked. Baking time is short and the souffles turn out with a slightly crisp top and a melty, but not liquid, interior. They have a great chocolate flavor and taste surprisingly light. I think that this is a great combination because it gives you all the flavor without heaviness - and eating a dessert that weighs you down is definitely not something you want to do on V-day.

The recipe makes four souffles. Leftovers can be stored overnight in the fridge if you don’t eat them the first day. They’re not quite the same as the souffles hot from the oven, but they’re still quite a tasty (and indulgent) breakfast!

(more…)

For me, almost anything paired with citrus makes a winning combination and I have been on a citrus kick for the past two weeks. Maybe it will pass and maybe it won’t, but I’m certainly going to enjoy a good thing while it lasts.

Combining the two main components of last week’s Lemon Meringue Pie, curd and meringue, I made some simple Lime Souffles this week. The recipe is a slight adaptation of a Donna Hay recipe, from her book Modern Classics 2. Though the name makes it sound like a sequel, it is actually the sweets volume of her two-part Modern Classics set. This book covers everything from cookies to cakes to puddings, including souffles.

This recipe, given in the book as a Lemon Souffle, is used by Donna to liiustrate a basic souffle. A simple syrup mixture is thickened with cornstarch and, once cooled, is folded into beaten egg whites. The total active cooking time is less than ten minutes, including juicing a few limes and beating the egg whites, though the lime base does need to be prepared in advance and given a chance to cool to at least room temperature. It can be kept, covered, in the refrigerator if you want to make it a day or two ahead.

There is no fat added to this souffle and the tartness of the lime cuts cleanly through what turns out to be the softest cloud of fluffy souffle. I am not sure that I have had a souffle with this even and delightful a texture before, but I will definately be making it again, both with lemon and possibly even orange. I think that this is a great souffle to test your skills with because it is so easy and, tastewise, so rewarding.

(more…)

Sometimes my kitchen has a glut of bananas. I can only eat so many each week, you know. Of course, I freeze them, add them to my cereal and make banana bread. As much as I love banana bread, sometimes I actually want to put my overripe bananas to some other use. I know that other people have similar issues.

Fortunately, I learned an easy way to use up a few bananas when I took a class a while back (not affiliated with my baking class). The class, if you’ll recall, was about making souffles. The instructor named this as a low fat souffle, but I think she included it to reinforce just how easy it is to make a souffle.

For these, a mashed up banana provides the majority of the base - no cooking necessary! It is thickened with a bit of cornstarch, flavoring is added and then egg whites beaten with sugar are folded in. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes, including the time to grease and sugar your ramekins. The taste is light and airy, with a nice banana-y richness. Once you’ve made the basic recipe, you can easily add other flavors or spices for variety. In the photo above, you can see ginger (with crystalised ginger), molasses and buttermilk, honey and chocolate (with mini chocolate chips) banana souffles.
The chocolate souffles are very chocolatey. I make these often because they’re so easy and light. And because I have bananas. Lots of them.

(more…)

Sometimes you can afford to be a bit pretentious with your desserts. Souffles already have an aura of mystery, so why not throw in a dash of pretention? That’s how you get Soufflés Chauds au Citron in lieu of Warm Lemon Souffles? Just kidding. I like to keep it simple, so we’ll stick with the simpler name here.

I was never a huge fan of souffles. Often they’re too eggy, which is the case with many all-cheese souffles, or too heavy because someone has poured a cup of some sort of sauce into the souffle to mask the poor taste of the dish itself. Why even bother baking a souffle if all you wanted was a chocolate lava cake? I suspected that I must be missing out on something, as people generally seem to like these mile-high desserts, so I signed up and took a cooking class at Sur La Table in Santa Monica on souffles to find out.

The class was interesting. You have to be a little bit assertive with regards to the perparation, since for most of their classes you’re required to work in small groups. We made (and ate) Cafe au Lait souffles, Raspberry souffles, Chocolate Banana souffles - which my group was in charge of - and cheese souffles. I confirmed that I don’t really care for plain cheese, but I also realised that souffles can actually taste pretty good. They’re also easy, since you can prepare the base ahead of time and just whisk and fold the egg whites before popping them into the oven. Many people worry about the souffles falling, but once they’re out of the oven they’re supposed to fall. Trust me, you won’t surprise anyone if your souffle isn’t towering 12 feet over the dinner table. Just take your souffles out of the oven and serve them piping hot. Everyone will “Ooh!” and “Aah!” and enjoy - not only because they’re tall, but because they taste good.

This recipe is from Epicurious, but I’ll reprint it here. I used skim milk instead of whole milk to no ill effect. These souffles were just lemony enough without being either sour or overly sweet. If you happen to want something very sweet, use Meyer lemons instead of regular. Feather-light texture. I loved them.

(more…)