TWD: chocolate souffle

For this week's TWD challenge, Susan of She's Becoming DoughMessTic chose the Chocolate Souffle from page 406 of BFMHTY.

I decided to cut this recipe in half b/c I had baked SO much over the past couple of days and I wasn't sure if hubs would really be interested in eating this...as well as the fact that it is best right out of the oven! I really thought I had a souffle dish...but could not find one anywhere! finally I found a small corning ware dish that would work, and it ended up being the perfect size for a half recipe! I also didn't have any bittersweet chocolate on hand so I did half unsweetened and half semi-sweet. I also used skim milk.

I have only made a souffle once before--during a gourmet food class that I took in college. I was so excited about the assignment, but then while the rest of the class got to make either cheese or chocolate souffles, our professor assigned my lab partner and I to do a spinach souffle...just as an experiment that she was interested in. blech.... I mean, I like spinach, but how can you think that would work well? It was very bland, and of course the spinach does not melt and fully incorporate like cheese or chocolate so it weighed the souffle down and it did not rise.

Well, this one was much better! I have gotten pretty used to working with egg whites lately in meringues and such, so I wasn't as scared of this as I might have been.

I was a bit worried at first when I started the chocolate and sugar in the double boiler because it stayed really grainy and I was afraid that the chocolate was going to seize up...but once I added the milk and egg yolks it became beautifully glossy and smooth. The egg whites whipped up great and folded in well without deflating.

The souffle didn't rise extremely high, but it was about 3/4 of an inch over the pan when I got went to get it out of the oven.

Our friends Stephen & Juliette ended up coming over shortly after I made the souffle, so they were my taste-testers, even though it had fallen by the time they got here. It was a hit! They really loved it, and I sent the remainder home with him to share with his parents. The flavor was deeply chocolate and not too sweet at all...very very good, and actually pretty light considering the small amount of sugar and complete abscence of butter!! I may have to try this recipe more often as a chocolate treat for myself.

Thanks for the pick Susan! Be sure to check the TWD blogroll to see how everyone else did, and head over to Susan's blog for the recipe!