There's a lot to appreciate about a well-baked souffle. Light, fluffy, and delicious, this variation to a custard is one of the most delightful desserts to come out of a kitchen. And just about anything these days can be used to flavor this dessert (chocolate, fruit, vegetables, herbs, dairy, etc). However, this French marvel can take a great deal of time, skill, and passion to perfect.

Today's recipe not only breaks down the process of making a chocolate souffle, it puts a spin on this variation by substituting White Chocolate with regular and throwing in a nice orange aroma with the help of some liqueur.

Prepare to tackle one of the most worthy desserts to pop out of an oven.

The recipe

Ingredients:

  • 7 oz white chocolate
  • 1 cup milk
  • 3 oz castor sugar
  • 2 oz flour
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 5 large egg whites
  • 2 tbsp Orange liqueur
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp orange zest
  • 1 pinch of cream of tartar
  • unsalted butter as needed
  • powdered sugar as needed

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Brush around the insides of the ramekins with butter and coat with the powdered sugar. Place in the refrigerator to chill.
  2. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a saucepan and bring to a slight boil. In a bowl, whisk the flour and 2 oz of the sugar. Whisk in the egg yolks, liqueur, and zest until it almost becomes a paste. Temper the paste by whisking in 1/4 of the hot milk, then return the mixture to the remainder in the saucepan. Whisk the mixture until it thickens to a custard. Don't over boil. Remove from the custard heat and set aside.
  3. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it down on the chocolate to ensure that no skin forms when it cools.
  4. Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar in a hand mixer on medium speed until they form soft peaks. Switch to high speed and slowly add the remaining sugar to form stiff peaks.
  5. Add 1/4 of the egg whites to the melted chocolate with a rubber spatula and fold the mixture until fully incorporated. Transfer the chocolate mixture to the remaining egg whites and fold it until fully incorporated. Repeat the procedure with the custard to complete the soufflé mix.
  6. Remove the ramekins from the refrigerator and fill them with equal portions of the souffle mix. Smooth the surfaces evenly with a spoon. Place the ramekins in the center of the oven and bake for 12 minutes or until they have risen and are golden brown.
  7. Serve almost immediately as a soufflé will start to deflate in an hour or so.

Serves: 8
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