Souffle Restaurant's Chocolate Souffle

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• unsalted butter, to line mold
• sugar, for souffle mold
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces (chef prefers dark chocolate)
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup bailey's irish cream (optional) or 1/4 cup grand marnier (optional)
• 6 egg whites
• confectioners' sugar, to sprinkle on top

Recipe

• 1 have ready a 9-inch souffle mold or 6 (1 cup) souffle molds.
• 2 brush the souffle molds with softened butter and sugar.
• 3 refrigerate until needed.
• 4 preheat oven to 350°f.
• 5 prepare the chocolate pastry cream by bringing 1-2 inches of water to simmer in a saucepan.
• 6 put chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set it over the simmer pot of water.
• 7 let stand without stirring until the chocolate has completely melted.
• 8 while the chocolate is melting, prepare the pastry cream by putting the milk and vanilla in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil.
• 9 combine the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof large bowl until thick and pale yellow.
• 10 whisk in flour and then whisk in the hot milk and return mixture to saucepan.
• 11 bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly to reach all parts of the pan. then with your whisk, add the melted chocolate to the hot pastry cream.
• 12 make sure it blends thoroughly. keep warm.
• 13 optional: you may add at this point 1/4 cup bailey's irish creme, grand marnier, or other cream liquor to the hot pastry cream.
• 14 beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
• 15 stir in 1/3 of the egg mixture into the hot pastry cream and smooth it. then gently fold in the remaining beaten egg whites with a rubber spatula.
• 16 pour into the prepared mold or molds and bake 15 minutes or until the souffle is firm and puffed to the touch.
• 17 sift confectioners' sugar over the tops and serve immediately.