Chocolate Souffle Trial no. 2

Finally, for the first time ever, I tried a chocolate souffle outside. I just had it @ Bakerzin. It was costy, S$9.50, but the taste was just worth the money.

This is the best chocolate souffle I have ever tried. Why am I so sure that this souffle is the best I have ever tried ? Because last night I just ate the worst chocolate souffle, and it was my souffle!

The chocolate souffle was extremely light, but didn't have eggy taste or cake-like texture. The texture of it was VERY light and fluffy. When I piereced the centre, the steam escaped. SMOOTH! The interior was moist but not wet.The chocolate flavour was perfect for me as it was not too sweet nor too bland. The souffle came with vanilla ice cream that balanced the heat from the souffle. It was like hot and cold all together on one palate. Peanust were served as garnish on the top of the souffle, it added crunchiness to the light-texture. Unfortunately, the souffle didn't raise upstraight, instead it raised to its side. So, tonight I am going to redo the research on my own souffle recipe. I have to achieve the same or even better light,fluffy texture, with the right sweetness of chocolate flavour. It just gets harder. let see what will the outcome be later. Gonna update again later.

UPDATE: I just did the 2nd trial of making souffle.

I have modified the recipe as follow:

150g               chocolate

40g                 cocoa powder

30g                 corn flour

30g                 sugar

100ml             water

5ml                 lemon juice

4                    egg white       

There is no difference in the method that I used, but the mixture that I made was more runny than before which I expected to give a lighter and puffy texture. I did not grated the chocolate like in the first trial as i dont wanna have a grainy texture on my souffle.The 1st trial called for 40g of corn flour and I changed it to 30g for a less thicker paste. I baked the souffle at 180 degree Celcius for exactly 10 minutes.

The first minute after I popped the souffle into the oven

After 4 minutes

6 minutes

End Results

The result that I achieved was quite satisfying as it raised upstraight, though a little bit slanted. The texture of it was very light and fluffy. The surface was smooth. It raised well but did not achieve the height that I wanted. Unfortunately, the taste of it was a little bit floury. I think I got to cook the flour a little bit longer. However, the outer part was quite crispy, but not good enough. Overall, the 2nd trial has produced a much better result than the 1st one, but I still like Bakerzin's chocolate souffle much better.

I am going to do the 3rd final trial and I will include plating. I have to get the best result on the final trial. I will include a egg-yolk-based sauce, so that I can utilize every single part of the egg. Other than that, I will also include the scientific theory of making souffle that I get from internet and books for a better understanding. Please comment and give some suggestion for a better improvement, whoever you are!

Chocolate Souffle Trial no.1

This is an idea that I just came across, which is to post all the food I cook on the blog to keep track of what I have been doing. For today, I am learning how to make a Chocolate Souffle. Yes, souffle is simple, yet difficult. Why is it difficult ? A good souffle should be round with high straight sides, partly gooey in the centre (or a bit drier, based on individual preference), not taste too eggy or too cake-like and should be as light as possible, and has a smooth surface and not cracked. I learnt about the basic of souffle and tried some simple recipe ( and I will keep modifying the recipe ). Trust me, the result that I got was an epic fail, but it's will be better, The recipe that I used was ( the most basic recipe ):

100g dark chocolate, finely grated

40g cocoa powder

40g corn flour

100ml water

1t lemon juice

30g sugar

4 egg white

This is the chocolate that I have grated finely ( 100g ). It was a really work out, good enough to burn some calories before eating the souffle.

Heat up 100ml water in a sauce pan ,on low-heat. Add the flour and cocoa powder into the pan and mix. Cook into a paste.

Brush the ramekin with butter. Make sure every side of the ramekin is well-coated with butter. I added about half table spoon of grated chocolate to create a chocolate layer on the ramekin as seen in the picture.

Honestly, I had over beaten the egg white ( I whisked manually

by hand, and still I over-beat.WINNER! ). I added the lemon juice after beating the egg whites a few times. When it has reached soft peaks, I added the 30g sugar to give glossiness to the meringue.

I folded in the meringue and the chocolate paste till smooth. Then, I added the finely grated chocolate and folded everything to combine. Next, I poured the mixture into the ramekin and gave a few taps on the table to make sure there was no air pocket underneath or in the center of the mixture in the ramekin. Lastly, I put the ramekin into the oven and baked at 180 degree Celcius for 10mins.

The mixture raised after a few minutes of baking.

I am not trying to deny or giving excuses, but to be honest, this is how a failed-souffle looked like. A proper souffle does not rise like this. This looks more like a backside than a crown-like-souffle.

See, I had my souffle's surface cracked, and you can see the centre part is moist which is quite right. This is the end result I got.

For the taste, and characteristic that I got from the end results are as follow:

• The amount of the sugar I added was just nice and the sweetness was just right.
• Gooey in the center.
• The texture was quite light but as I dug deeper into the ramekin, the texture became much more like a cake (FAILED!).
• The souffle did not raise properly, which looked like a butt rather than a crown
• Crack on the surface.
• Lack of chocolate flavour.

I actually made 2 portions of it and gave the other 1 to my maid. I purposely baked the other one for 20 mins, and she told me that it was bitter (I believed it was burnt). Lesson learnt: although you burnt your food, your maid may still wanna try.

This is a properly-raised souffle by Gordon Ramsay:

This is just amazing.

The key for the best souffle is to avoid as much fat as possible as it will break the air bubbles in the meringue and cause the souffle to raise improperly. However, many recipes call for egg yolk or butter which contains a lot of fat and yet it has a better result ( or I am just noob at making souffle ). It is quite contradicting, but there is no give up. I will keep modifying the recipe and test every possible way to make a much better souffle. Hopefully by the 3rd trial, I will get the best result, and it will be posted here. Overall, today's souffle trial WAS AN EPIC FAIL! Feel embarrassed ? Of course not! Otherwise I would not have posted the pictures and the results. There is a long way to go.

All comments and advice will be welcome. Thank you guys.