Chocolate Soufflé with Crème Anglaise

Chocolate Soufflé with Crème Anglaise

This recipe will walk you through step-by-step how to prepare and bake chocolate soufflé that tastes light, airy, creamy, chocolatey, and stands tall every time you make it!

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Servings people

Calories 316kcal

Author Elizabeth Marek

Equipment

Mixer with whip attachment
mixing bowl
pot
Whisk
brush
fine mesh strainer
ramekins (I'm using four, 4" ceramic ramekins)

Ingredients

Crème Anglaise

250 grams whole milk
60 grams egg yolks
30 grams granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean

Chocolate Soufflé

250 grams whole milk
60 grams egg yolk
16 grams cornstarch
125 grams 64% dark chocolate My favorite is Cacao Barry 64% Guayaquil chocolate
250 grams fresh egg whites room temperature
100 grams granulated sugar
1 Pinch cream of tartar

Instructions

Making the Crème Anglaise Sauce

First, cut your vanilla bean in half lengthwise and carefully scrape the seeds out with a knife.
Next, pour the milk into a saucepan. Turn the heat on to medium heat.
Then, add in the vanilla bean seeds and the pod into the milk.
Bring the milk to a simmer, and then remove it from the heat.
Next, strain the milk and vanilla bean mixture over the saucepan to remove the vanilla bean pod.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks to break them up.
Add in ⅓ of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks, and whisk to combine them.
Once they are combined, add the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan and turn the heat back up to medium.
Then, over medium heat, whisk the mixture constantly until it begins to bubble and thicken. Be very careful not to overheat the mixture.
When the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and you can drag your finger through the center without the sauce dripping (a la nappe), your crème anglaise is ready.
Strain the anglaise into a bowl to remove the vanilla fibers, and then cover it with plastic wrap.
Allow to cool and set it aside until you’re ready to drizzle it onto your soufflé.

Preparing the Chocolate Soufflé Mixture

Begin by preparing the ramekins by brushing them with butter in a vertical direction.
Then, coat the butter with a thin layer of granulated sugar. Set them aside.
Preheat your oven to 360°F (182°C)
In a heavy bottom potbelly over medium heat, bring the milk to a boil.
Next, in a separate bowl, combine the egg yolk and cornstarch by whisking it until the mixture is smooth and the cornstarch is dissolved. Really whisk it together so you don't get any clumps of cornstarch.
Add about ⅓ cup of the warm milk to the egg yolks and mix. This is tempering the eggs. Once you've done this, pour the egg/milk mixture back into the pot with the rest of the hot milk.
Stir it constantly over medium heat to cook the egg/milk mix to a boil. Be careful not to cook the eggs too quickly.
Remove the pot from heat, and then add the chocolate to the pot.
Keep stirring the mixture until the chocolate is fully incorporated.
Then, transfer the chocolate mixture to a bowl and set it aside.
Next, in the bowl of your stand mixer, add in your egg whites and a pinch of cream of tartar. Make sure your bowl is very clean, use a little bit of white vinegar to clean your bowl and whisk attachment if needed.
Begin to whip the egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer on medium speed while bringing them to a soft peak.
Then, slowly add in the sugar while mixing.
Continue to whip the egg whites at medium speed until they have reached a smooth medium peak.
Then, once the egg whites have a smooth medium peak, add ⅓ of the egg whites to the chocolate pastry cream and mix them together until they are fully incorporated.
Now, pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the rest of the whipped egg whites.
Next, gently fold the egg whites and chocolate mixture together carefully. Try not to deflate the egg whites too much. You only want to fold them until they are fully incorporated.

Baking the Chocolate Soufflé

First, pour the soufflé mixture into a large, prepared piping bag.
Then, keeping the tip of the piping bag down in the prepared ramekin, fill the ramekin to the top making sure there are no air bubbles.
Using a flat spatula, level off the top of the ramekin.
Next, using the edge of your thumbnail, clean the very top edge around the ramekin to create a border. Make sure there is no batter on the edges or outsides of your ramekin.
Repeat filling, leveling, and cleaning up the edges for each of your ramekins.
Place the soufflés in a 360°F (182°C) oven for 15 minutes. You will know the soufflé is done when it has risen and has a very slight jiggle (but also a slight bounce back when it's gently touched).
Serve the soufflé immediately. Optional: Garnish with powdered sugar and/or a drizzle of the crème anglaise sauce.

Video

Notes

Important Things To Note Before You Start

Practice Mise en Place (everything in its place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready right before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.
The chocolate you use matters! Avoid using chocolate chips. Why? Because they contain thickeners that stop the chocolate from melting smoothly. I would recommend chopping up a bar of Lindt dark chocolate since it's relatively easy to find at the grocery store. If you want to use the same chocolate I did, I used extra-bitter guayaquil.
Be patient with your eggs. This is key to ensuring the correct taste and texture of your soufflé. You will want to be mindful of the recipe instructions and be careful to not cook the eggs too quickly.
Fold the egg whites and chocolate mixture gently. Start by taking your spatula and going around the edge of the bowl just under the mixture, then cut through the center. Repeat this until everything looks combined and then stop. You don't want to go overboard otherwise you will remove all of the air you've mixed into the soufflé. Why does that matter? Because we want air trapped inside the mixture so that when it is baked, your soufflé stands tall and does not collapse.
Whip your French meringue on medium. Whipping this meringue on a lower speed will create smaller bubbles, helping your souffle rise higher in the oven. Big bubbles pop faster than small bubbles.
Waiting for your oven to pre-heat? Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for 5 minutes while your oven heats up. Keeping the ingredients from getting too warm will help keep your soufflé from falling.

Nutrition