Mostly Sweet and Sometimes Salty: Chocolate Souffle

Pure.Chocolate.Bliss. Meet my dinner from last night - yes, you read that right, dinner. Would I do it every night? Nah but it was worth every bite of it. I spent most of my Saturday in the kitchen making various treats, the night ending with me sitting on the couch in front of some bad TV, savoring every rich, chocolaty bite. I know you're being bombarded by everyone (myself included) with so many options for dessert on Valentine's Day but this, this you must make if you are a chocolate lover. So many people are intimidated by making souffles but they are really quite simple to put together and I think it's the simplicity of the process and ingredients that make it such a delicious, elegant dish. The only thing I think could make it even more delicious would be to top it off with an espresso creme anglaise, I'll post a shortcut recipe below.

Chocolate Souffle
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated
Printable Recipe
Yield: 8 8oz ramekins

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pans
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for pans
8 ounces chocolate, chopped coarse (I used half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
8 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, position your oven rack to the lower middle position. Butter each of your ramekins and coat evenly with sugar. Place buttered and sugared ramekins in the fridge until ready to use. Melt your chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl over simmering water. Once just melted, remove from the heat. stir in your salt and vanilla and set aside until needed.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat egg yolks and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes until they've thickened and lightened in color. Fold the yolk mixture into your chocolate and thoroughly clean your bowl and your beaters. If any traces of fat remain, your egg whites will not whip up properly.

With your whisk attachments, whisk egg white until foamy, then add your cream of tartar. increase speed to medium-high and beat until moist, stiff peaks form. Add in 1/3 of your egg whites to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. This step will lighten your chocolate making it easier to combine with the rest of your whites. In two batches, gently fold in the remaining egg white, being very gentle so you don't deflate the mixture. Once combined (a few white streaks are ok!) divide evenly into your prepared dishes and bake until outside is set, about 16 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately plain or with toppings of your choice such as creme anglaise, powdered sugar, lightly sweetened whip cream or fresh berries.

Espresso (faux) Creme Anglaise

From Alton Brown