A Chocolate Soufflé Kind of Weekend

Because sometimes you just have to stay up till midnight baking chocolate soufflé

(Scroll down for recipe)

Lately, my friends and family have been a balm for me; I've been feeling especially connected to them. A few weeks ago, one of my college BFFs, Tessa, came to stay for the long weekend. She's one of the smartest and most talented people I know, and she only lives 45 minutes down the road from me now! (A vast improvement from the multiple-states-away arrangement we had until the middle of last year.)

A real text I sent her before her arrival on Friday

We did all the usual best friend things—ran to Target for cookie dough and gummy bears, swore we were just looking when we popped into Barnes & Noble and somehow both ended up leaving with full bags, and spent a glorious two hours sipping tea at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art's gorgeous teahouse, Floris. We had also planned to pay a visit to Richmond's newest celebrity: Poppy, the zoo's newborn pygmy hippo. As it turns out, the Richmond Zoo follows in the grand Abrahamic tradition of observing the Sabbath. Alas, our date with Poppy will have to wait.

We also did a lot of cooking, which is not entirely typical for two girls who once lived on Fruity Pebbles, bread ends, and house dressing. A video of Lauren Sephton (@brightmomentco) making homemade fish and chips inspired me enough to try to overcome my longtime fear of deep frying, to success I'd say! Lauren's recipe is delicious and easy to follow—I highly recommend it for your next dinner night attempt. 

But we weren't done! For an extra-challenging encore, we picked up my copy of Claire Saffitz' sweet cookbook, What's for Dessert . Soufflé is notorious for being a difficult bake but even though we messed up some of the directions, our delicate chocolate confections turned out wonderfully! Claire's cookbook is perfect for baking novices—she makes everything, even the most difficult of recipes, digestible and provides important context about why things are done the way they are. 

Ingredients

• 7 tbsp of sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 2 tbsp brewed coffee (I substituted espresso powder mixed in water)
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), coarsely chopped (I used a dark chocolate bar)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 large egg whites at room temperature
• 1 tsp kosher salt (Claire makes a difference between Diamond Crystal and Morton kosher salt, only 1/2 tsp of the latter)

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Brush the bottoms and sides of four 6 oz. ramekins with room temperature butter. Sprinkle the ramekins with sugar and shake to coat. 
3. Prepare a pot with ~1 inch of water on the stove for a double boiler. In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk 3 tbsp of the sugar and 2 egg yolks together until combined. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly, followed by the coffee. Add the flour and cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. 
4. Put the bowl over the boiling water. Whisk constantly until it's thick like pancake batter and faintly holds the shape of the whisk, ~5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat at that point. 
5. Add the chopped chocolate to the bowl and whisk to incorporate it, then set the bowl aside until the chocolate melts. Slowly whisk the mixture until smooth, then add the remaining egg yolk. (This is where Tessa and I messed up—we forgot to add the additional egg yolk until later! The mixture was incredibly dry and I thought all was lost, but adding the yolk fixed it entirely.) Pro tip: Don't let the chocolate cool to room temperature, or the chocolate will solidify. If that happens, rewarm the mixture over the double boiler until it's smooth.
6. In a large, non-plastic bowl (another place I messed up—I used a plastic bowl!), combine the egg whites and salt and beat until the mixture is white and opaque. Then, slowly add the remaining 4 tbsp of sugar. Once all the sugar is added, beat until you have stiff peaks. 
7. Scrape about one-third of the beaten egg whites into the bowl with the chocolate and whisk briskly to combine. Using a large, flexible spatula, fold int he remaining beaten egg whites in two additions until the mixture is almost entirely streak-free. 
8. Scrape the batter into the prepared ramekins—they should be filled to the very top! 
9. Lightly sprinkle the surfaces of the ramekins with sugar. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan and transfer to the oven, immediately reducing the oven temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake until the soufflés are risen, firm and springy but still have a small wobble, ~15-20 minutes. 
10. Enjoy immediately! Claire also includes a recipe for a crème anglaise, but I found Trader Joe's whipped cream was the perfect companion (and much easier). 

Top image credit @_chloechloee