Chocolate Soufflé (+ our blogging team’s holiday dinner!)

Today I am excited to share another dessert recipe with you that I absolutely love and that’s also perfect for the holidays…Homemade Chocolate Soufflé! This is the recipe I’ve made for Christmas dessert for years and, after resurrecting it for our blogging team’s holiday dinner over the weekend (details below), there is no question I’ll be serving souffles again for the big day this year! They were a super big hit at our dinner and let’s be honest – who doesn’t love a warm, delectable chocolate soufflé especially when it’s topped with homemade ice cream?! (Okay, is anyone else’s mouth watering here?)

Disclaimer: This recipe contains refined white sugar, which means it doesn’t technically follow our real food rules…so only enjoy in moderation!

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Our Blogging Team’s Holiday Dinner

As I mentioned the occasion for this soufflé was our blogging team’s annual holiday dinner this past Friday. We hosted all the local members of our team and their spouses…and I even broke out my formal china for this amazing group. :) Collectively this group also has a few food allergies and preferences to speak of. And since (real) food was what brought us together I thought it would be nice if we could serve a meal that everyone could eat. So on my Facebook page I recently asked this question…

The (almost 3,000) answers were quite interesting ..and some were even somewhat rude (like “get reservations” or “get new friends!”). BUT since we are a group with a sense of humor we all found the comedy in the feedback. And we even found a great dinner idea as well. One commenter suggested doing a taco bar so each guest could pick and choose what they wanted to eat. We thought this non-traditional way of celebrating the holidays sounded fabulous so it was a pretty easy decision to make. And since it was actually a “Pot Luck” dinner here is the breakdown of everyone’s contributions…

• From Amy: A black bean, avocado, corn, and tomato dip.
• From Kiran: Homemade margaritas (see outtakes at the bottom – just kidding!).
• From Shawn: Quite the salad spread that included a variety of vegetables, black beans, homemade salad dressing, and spiced pumpkin seeds.
• From Me: The main dish taco “bar” (that included Pork Carnitas, Refried Beans, Homemade Corn Tortillas, cheese, sour cream, avocado, lime, cilantro, jalapenos, and salsas) and those chocolate soufflés topped with the homemade vanilla ice cream we were talking about earlier. [FYI – The dairy free guests told me in advance this dish would be okay for them, and I served theirs with store bought coconut milk ice cream.]
• From Jason: He prepared some of the condiments and helped me do the dirty dishes. :)

How To Make The Perfect Chocolate Soufflé

Now before I leave you with the recipe as promised, I want to be sure to share an important lesson I learned when making these soufflés the other day. I happened to make the batter in advance (always a good idea if you’ll be entertaining guests and want to actually spend some time with them), but I baked 2 of the 10 soufflés right away for my daughters (I made 1.5 recipes so I could end up with at total of 10). The two I baked right away, which I checked on once by opening the oven door, are pictured on the left below. I took that picture immediately after taking them out of the oven – look how quickly they fell flat! The other batch that sat in the fridge for a few hours first and wasn’t disrupted by me opening the oven door are pictured on the right. Quite a difference! Enjoy :)

Chocolate Soufflé

Course: Dessert

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 38 minutes

Servings: 6 soufflés

Recipe from Joy of Cooking

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Ingredients

• 8 oz chocolate semisweet (I used Enjoy Life chocolate chips)
• 6 tablespoons butter unsalted (+ extra for greasing)
• 2 tablespoons water rum or coffee also works
• 6 eggs separated
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup sugar

Instructions

1. Butter six 10- to 11-ounce ramekins and place on a large baking sheet.
2. In a small pot over very low heat melt the chocolate chips, butter and water (or rum or coffee) together. Some like to use a double-boiler for this, but I like to skip cooking steps whenever possible so therefore I never use a double boiler (and never have a problem). I just watch it closely and stir often. Once melted remove from the heat immediately.
3. Meanwhile separate the yolks and whites of the eggs. Set aside the yolks and using an electric mixer beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together until it becomes foamy and soft peaks form. Be careful not to overmix the egg whites otherwise they can become too stiff and will therefore not easily fold into the chocolate mixture. Slowly beat the sugar into the egg white mixture.
4. Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture and then, using a rubber spatula, scrape it into the egg white mixture and carefully fold to combine. Be sure to not let the heavy chocolate mixture fall and stay on the bottom of the mixing bowl. Dig deep when mixing!
5. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared ramekins and cover and refrigerate until ready to cook (for up to 24 hours). Bake at 375 degrees F until risen and set and the tops have a hint of dark brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. Do not open the oven to check on the souffles until the last minute or so of baking to help prevent the souffles from falling. Top with homemade ice cream if desired and serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.

What kind of party doesn’t have at least a few good outtakes? Keeping themselves busy while I set up the camera… :)