Thursday, October 13, 2011

Chocolate Souffle? Yes please!

So yeah, it's been awhile, apparently trying to move, selling your house, and gestating a baby, unpacking and getting settled in a new town, can tend to put things on the back burner. Now that we are all settled into our new rental home, it's time to host a dinner party! Of course, knowing me, I like to go for the gourmet dinner, so I will be serving Pork Tenderloin in a Carmelized Pear Brandy Cream Sauce, Salad, French Bread, and yes, you guessed it, Chocolate Souffle with a spiced vanilla creme. It's a perfect fall dinner, minus doing something that incorporates a gourd of some sort. So in posting on my facebook page that I was making Chocolate Souffles for dessert, a number of people begged for the recipe. The good news is that this simple recipe is one you can make a day or two ahead, or just keep a few in your freezer and pull them out and bake them when you're ready. It's so easy and so good, that you really can't go wrong! LOVE this recipe! So pick up a spoon and dive into chocolately gooey goodness!

Make Ahead Frozen Chocolate Souffles:

Ingredients:

4 Tbs unsalted butter
2 Tbs water
1/3 Cup granulated sugar
8oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chopped coarse (or you can use chocolate chips)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs spiced rum
6 Large egg yolks
8 Large egg whites
2 Tbs confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tarter

Preparation:

Butter the inside of 8 1-cup ramekins and coat with sugar. Melt chocolate and butter in a medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water or a double broiler. Turn off heat and stir in salt, vanilla, and liqueur, set aside.
Bring sugar and water to boil in a small sauce pan, and simmer until sugar dissolves. With a mixer running, slowly add this sugar syrup to egg yolks; beat until mixture triples in volume, about 3 min. Fold into chocolate mixture.
Beat egg whites until frothy, add cream of tarter and beat to soft peaks; add 2 Tbs of confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar); continue to beat to stiff peaks.
Vigorously stir 1/4 of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Gently fold in remaining whites until just incorporated.
Spoon into ramekins almost to the rim, wiping the excess filling from the rim with a wet paper towel. Cover with tin foil and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours.

To bake:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake until fully risen, 16-18 min. Do Not Overbake.

Remove from oven carefully and lightly dust with powdered sugar. Can be served with spiced vanilla creme (see recipe following).

Spiced Vanilla Creme:

Ingredients:

1 pint Heavy Whipping cream
2 Tbs Spiced Rum
1 Tbs Cinnamon
1 Tbs Vanilla
1/4 C granulated Sugar

Preparation:

Place all ingredients in a small heavy sauce pan. Cook on medium heat until thoroughly heated through. Serve hot with Chocolate souffles, (break the top shell of the souffle and pour in desired amount).