The Best Soufflés

The Best Soufflés: Apricot and Lemon Soufflés and Chocolate Soufflés

I used to have my signature soufflé recipe but I have been testing a lot of different recipes recently.
Today, after testing and tasting, I have discovered and confirmed the best recipes. A soufflé is a lightly baked cake, which could be made into sweet dessert or savory appetizer or main course. The word soufflé literally means  " blown up" because of the air trapped in making the meringue.

 For the cooks, who are intimidated by making soufflés, follow my advice. First, understand the method: soufflés are made in two parts. You need a pastry cream for the sweet soufflé and white sauce or a puree for the savory souffle. This is the soufflé base. Then, you will need a meringue that is whipped to soft peaks. The meringue is folded into the base and the mixture is then baked in a ramekin or a souffle dish.

My second advice is that you need to follow the recipe closely and lasty, plan ahead, the timing is crucial. The soufflé will deflate within 5-10 minutes after it's been baked. 

Lemon Apricot Soufflé Recipe 

Pastry Cream:
350 ml. Milk
70 g. Granulated Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
7 medium Egg Yolks
50 g. All Purpose Flour
40 g. Apricot Puree or Apricot Jam
1 tbsp. Lemon Juice

Meringue:
8 medium Egg whites
80 g .Granulated Sugar


Chocolate Soufflé Recipe

Ingredients for half of the recipe

Pastry Cream
350 ml. Milk
80 g. Granulated Sugar
4 medium yolks
30 g. All Purpose Flour

50 g. Cocoa Powder, sifted
240 g. Plain Chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped

Meringue:
10 medium Egg Whites
40 g. Granulated Sugar
 
 Note: These are two different recipes. The amount of the ingredients for each recipe are different but the procedure is the same. Both recipes yield 4 souffles.

1. Grease the ramekins with soft butter and then coat with sugar. Chill the ramekins until ready to use.

2.Make the pastry cream. Heat the milk with 2/3 of the sugar and slowly bring to the boil. Beat the yolks with the remaining sugar in a bowl and whisk to a ribbon consistency. Add the flour. Pour the hot milk on to the yolk mixture, stirring continuosly with a whisk. Return to the pan and whisk over a low heat for 1 minute. Pour into a bowl and cover with cling film and set aside to cool slightly. This is your pastry cream.

3. Now you can flavor your pastry cream, for the apricot souffle, add the apricot puree and lemon juice.
For the chocolate: gently mix the cocoa powder and chopped chocolate. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put a baking sheet in the oven to heat up.

4. Beat the egg whites to a thick foam, then add the sugar and continue to beat until they form soft peaks. Fold in 1/3 of the meringue to the pastry cream to lighten the mixture. Then fold in the rest of the meringue.

5. Fill the souffle dishes to the top, then insert a knife on the edge and go around the souffle dish. If your ramekin is 10 cm. wide, it will take about 10 minutes, if you have a deeper ramekin which is similar to what I have which is 9 cm. wide it will take 14 minutes.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Note: If you are looking for sexy food to eat, you  have found just the right food. 
After all, apricots has a natural aphrodisiac qualities, not to mention, 
chocolate makes you feel good...
Bake this chocolate soufflé to bring someone closer to your heart!

These recipes are adapted from " Michel Roux The Collection".