Hot Chocolate Soufflés with Chocolate Cream Sauce

This week's post is brought to you by Mr. CC. Take it away Mr CC......

Being lucky enough to have a constant supply of wonderful cakes provided for me by the delightful Mrs CC, I thought it was about time that I gave her the weekend off and cooked something for her for a change.

I've always fancied trying to make a Soufflé and happened across a recipe for Hot Chocolate Soufflés with chocolate cream sauce on the BBC Good Food website. There are always the usual stories of how they are prone to collapsing or might not even rise in the first place, but I thought it would be an interesting challenge.

The recipe serves 6, but the ramekins supplied to me by Mrs CC were quite large and we ended up using most of the mixture in just three of the ramekins. This had the bonus of each soufflé containing approximately 1000 calories!!!

Once they were in the oven, we watched eagerly to see if they would rise…

We needn't have worried, they just kept climbing!!

On opening the oven, they still kept their height and had a nice crisp texture on the outside. A small flap was made in the top and the chocolate cream sauce was poured in.

The flap was closed and icing sugar added….

As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and they tasted fantastic, crisp on the outside but gooey on the inside.

Caked Crusader footnote: If the thought of a 1,000 calorie dessert has spooked you, fear not – if you make them in a standard ramekin they will be a mere 500 calories. Plus, think of all the exercise you’ll get from doing the washing up!

Ingredients

For the soufflé:
melted butter for greasing
50g Caster sugar plus 2 tablespoons extra
175g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
2 tablespoons double cream
4 egg yolks
5 egg whites

icing sugar to serve

For the sauce:
142ml pot of single cream
25g caster sugar
100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
25g butter

Method

Pre heat the oven to 220C fan assisted or 200C/gas mark 7 and place a baking tray on the top shelf to warm up.

To make the sauce, heat the cream and sugar until they boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate (having broken it into small pieces first) and butter until melted and then keep warm.

Brush your ramekins with melted butter and then sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons of caster sugar, tipping away the excess.

Melt the chocolate and cream together in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring them together well.

When they are fully mixed, cool and then mix in the egg yolks. At this point I got slightly worried as the mixture had the consistency of wet concrete, all will be OK though!!

Whisk the egg whites until they hold their shape and then gradually add the sugar whilst whisking to hold the consistency.

Mix a spoonful of the whisked egg whites into the chocolate mix and then gently fold in the rest. The consistency should now be much lighter and fluid.

Fill the ramekins quickly and make sure to wipe the rims clean and run your finger around the edges. This helps stop the soufflés sticking to the side of the ramekin and will give the nice dome shape when they rise.

Turn the oven down to 200C fan assisted or 180C/gas mark 6 and place the ramekins on the baking tray.

Bake for 8 - 10 minutes until the soufflés have risen. When fully cooked they should have a slight wobble. Opening the oven door too early may cause them to collapse!!

When the soufflés are ready, scoop a small flap in the top and pour in some of the chocolate sauce. Close the flap and dust with the icing sugar.

Eat and Enjoy!!!