Dark Chocolate Souffle

I suppose that this will count as a belated Valentine’s Day post.  I think most people think about chocolate around Valentine’s Day (or any other day, for that matter), so I decided to make my husband a nice Valentine’s Day dessert.  

Chocolate soufflé is one of those desserts that just sounds like it should be eaten on Valentine’s Day.  I appreciate chocolate soufflé because it is one of those foods that is all about textures.  To me, texture and color can be just as important as taste when it comes to food.  I have heard that a good soufflé is supposed to be like biting into a cloud.  When baked, the inside should have a melting, yet airy texture.  The final product isn’t the only important texture.  There’s the silkiness of the chocolate mixture, the consistency of the stiffly beaten egg mixture, and the care needed in folding the two together delicately enough to keep the airiness of the batter.  (Hungry yet?)

I found this recipe for soufflé.  It appealed to be because it was written for two small ramekins of soufflé, which was the perfect amount.  I also appreciated the fact it was actually dark chocolate soufflé.  When dealing with chocolate, why wouldn’t one want it to be dark chocolate? 

You might notice that my batter was lighter in color than the recipe.  I didn’t find that it affected the taste at all.  I did use 60% cocoa Ghirardelli chocolate, which was probably not quite dark enough. Possibly a better quality chocolate with a higher cocoa content would have made the color darker.   I’m guessing the 70% the recipe called for would be preferable, but I was limited by what the grocery store had in stock. 

The consistency of the baked soufflé turned out well.  It did have the texture of the melting, yet airy chocolate, so I suppose it turned out as it should.  Soufflé should be eaten immediately, so the tops had deflated a little by the time I took these pictures.  As far as the taste, both my husband and I were pleased.

We paired the chocolate soufflé with a bottle of Two Hands Brilliant Disguise Moscato from Australia.   You can’t beat a fantastic moscato paired with a delicious dessert.