Great British Bake-Along - A Chocolate Souffle

The semi-finals of the Great British Bakeoff are over and this week the 2015 Star Baker will be decided. It has been a very exciting season so far, and I'm sure this week's final will be a nail-biting affair.  I'll be truthful, I'm pulling for Nadiya.  I think she'll be the champion come Wednesday night!

 

I am joining in once again this week with  Amanda over at Rhyme and Ribbons for her weekly GBBO Bake-along. 

 



And this week I gave a good old Chocolate Souffle a try!

 

I went straight to Martha for my recipe.

 

And it goes as follows:

 

 

Ingredients

 

Unsalted butter, room temperature, for baking dish        

    1/4 cup sugar, plus more for baking dish           

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, or semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)           

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract           

3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten, plus 4 large egg whites           

     

        

Method:

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 1 1/2-quart tall-sided baking dish. Coat with sugar, tapping out excess. Set dish on a rimmed baking sheet.

 

 

2.  In a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, combine chocolate, vanilla, and 1/4 cup water. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, 20 minutes.

 

 

 

3. Stir egg yolks into cooled chocolate mixture until well combined. Set souffle base aside.

 

 

4.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites on medium-high until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes (do not overbeat).

5.  In two additions, fold egg-white mixture into souffle base: With a rubber spatula, gently cut down through center and lift up some base from bottom of bowl. Turning bowl, steadily continue to cut down and lift up base until just combined.

 

6.  Transfer mixture to dish, taking care not to get batter on top edge of dish; smooth top. Bake souffle until puffed and set, 30 to 35 minutes. (Do not open oven during first 25 minutes of baking.) Serve immediately.

 

 

 

I used a 1.5 quart baking dish just as the recipe specified.  Did my souffle rise up out of the dish?

 

Nope. 

 

But, it was light and  fluffy, with a creamy texture under the crispy top. The chocolate flavour was rich and not too sweet. 

 

I sprinkled some icing sugar on top as Martha suggested. 

 

Did my family like it?  Oh yes! They all wished there was more after we devoured our servings fresh out of the oven. 

  

Thanksgiving is coming up this weekend here in Canada and I may try this again as an alternative for some of our dinner guests instead of pumpkin or apple pie (don't worry, I'll serve those too!)

 

The kids are all for it, that's for sure!!

 

Looking forward to checking everyone else's bakes this week.  I wonder if anyone made a chocolate peacock centrepiece? 

 

 

 

 

 

Buy for now.  Looking forward to Wednesday night's final!!

 

 

XOXOXO

 

Bronwyn