A Classic Souffle for Your Valentine

A Classic Souffle for Your Valentine


As airy and tantalizing as someone whispering sweet nothings in your ear, a souffle is one of the world's most romantic desserts. After all, its very name comes from the French for "breath," which perfectly describes its puffy consistency and the sighs of pleasure people make when eating them. No wonder so many restaurants have souffles on the menu for their Valentine's dinners.

I wonder, then, why so few food lovers dare to make souffles at home. I know they hesitate because there is a mystique about souffles, that they're very difficult or time-consuming, don't rise reliably, or can fall flat if someone makes a noise or lets the oven door bang shut. But souffles are actually rather easy to make.

Yes, they do depend on beaten egg whites to rise. But beating egg whites isn't all that hard to do, especially if you remember a few key points.

First, it helps to have your eggs at room temperature before you start, since cold egg whites won't hold as much air. Next, you've got to separate the yolks from the whites with care, because any trace of fat from the yolks will prevent the whites from becoming foamy. Make sure that the bowl in which you will beat the egg whites is absolutely clean. Crack open the shell of each egg very carefully on the edge of a small bowl and then carefully pass the yolk back and forth between the shell halves until all the white drops into the bowl. Then, put the yolk in another bowl and transfer the yolk-free white to the bowl in which you will beat the whites; continue this process with the next egg. If the yolk of any egg breaks and falls into the white, transfer them together to another bowl and refrigerate, covered, to scramble for breakfast.

As for the whisking, you don't even need to use a whisk and beat by hand these days. Electric hand mixers will do the job just fine. Make sure, however, that your whisk or beaters are also perfectly clean.

The souffle mixture itself, once you prepare it, is actually pretty sturdy. You can even prepare it a few hours ahead, spoon it into your prepared individual souffle molds, and refrigerate it until you're ready to bake the souffles, around the time you finish your main courses. About 10 minutes later, you'll be ready to eat the most romantic dessert imaginable. And it's so light that you and your loved one might well eat all six of the portions my recipe yields.

Or you can bake three of them to share after dinner, and save three more to bake for the most romantic morning ever!

CHOCOLATE SOUFFLES

Serves 6 (or 2 chocolate lovers!)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces

4 eggs, separated

2 tablespoons orange liqueur or other favorite liqueur

3 egg whites

1/2 lemon, juiced

Confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Unsweetened whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter six 1-cup souffle dishes and dust them with about 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar. Chill them in the refrigerator until needed.

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Put the chocolate in a metal bowl large enough to rest on the rim of the saucepan over but not touching the boiling water. Rest the bowl on top of the saucepan and stir the chocolate until it melts. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the egg yolks and the liqueur. Set aside.

In a clean bowl, using a clean wire whisk or electric beaters, beat all 7 egg whites until they form soft peaks when the whisk or beaters are lifted out. Beat in the lemon juice and the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and continue beating until the whites form stiff peaks that are still very shiny.

With a rubber spatula, stir a quarter of the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture. Then, gently fold in the remaining whites until just a few streaks of white remain.

Spoon the souffle mixture into the buttered and sugared souffle dishes. Run your thumb around the inside edge of each dish to make a shallow, uniform depression all along the rim of the mixture, to help the souffles form neat hat shapes when they rise. Put the dishes in the oven and bake until the edges look set but the middles are still soft, 8 to 10 minutes.

Carefully transfer each souffle to a napkin-lined dessert plate. If you like, spoon some confectioners' sugar into a fine-meshed sieve and tap it over the souffles to dust them. At the table, spoon a dollop of whipped cream into the center of each souffle. Serve immediately.