GORDON RAMSAY'S HOT CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE

Some context on souffle excerpted from Wikipedia :

A soufflé (French: [su.fle]) is a light baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler which means "to blow up" or more loosely "puff up"—an apt description of what happens to this combination of custard and egg whites.

Every souffle is made of two basic component :

1. a French crème pâtissière base/flavoured cream sauce or purée
2. egg whites beaten to a soft peak meringue

The base provides the flavour and the whites provide the "lift". Foods commonly used for the base in a soufflé include cheese, jam, fruits, berries,chocolate, banana and lemon (the last three are used for desserts, often with a good deal of sugar).

When it comes out of the oven, a soufflé should be puffed up and fluffy, and will generally fall after 5 or 10 minutes (as risen dough does).

Soufflés can be made in containers of all shapes and sizes but it is traditional to make soufflé in ramekins. These containers vary greatly in size, but are typically glazed white, flat-bottomed, round porcelain containers with unglazed bottoms and fluted exterior borders.

There are a number of variations on the soufflé theme. One is an ice cream soufflé, which combines a soufflé with ice cream and either a fruit or a hot sauce.

I knew this was Gordon Ramsay favourite dessert and I had book marked this recipe for quite sometimes. I saw this in AFC - Asian Food Channel and I BBC Foodie Magazine. I was so anxious to try but I do have a phobia when it come to egg whites. Often failed in my attempt if any recipes required eggs whites.

However this little dessert is so tempting that I gave a GO to try. I was so excited when I saw it risen so tall but unfortunate once I moved it out from the oven the souffle dropped. I was quite disappointed but later came to term that it was my first attempt. I'll definitely will try again. I love this dessert..very soft..smooth and chocolaty....

For the Baking Dishes:

• 25 g unsalted butter, for greasing
• finely grated chocolate

For the Crème Pâtissière:

• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 2 teaspoons caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 medium egg yolk
• 1 medium whole egg
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon double cream
• 25 g good-quality dark chocolate, preferably 70% cocoa solids, broken in pieces
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

For the Egg Whites:

• 6 medium egg whites
• 85 g caster sugar

For the Ganache:

• 4 tablespoons double cream
• 50 g good-quality chocolate, preferably 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
• 1 tablespoon cocoa

1. Take four 200 ml soufflé dishes and brush them completely with softened butter. Chill the dishes for 5 minutes, then, as an insurance policy so the soufflé doesn’t stick to the dish, apply a second coat as before.  Tip a little grated chocolate into each dish, roll the dish around tilting it as you do so it is evenly lined all around.
2. For the crème patisserie, mix the flour, sugar and cornstarch.  Put egg yolk and whole egg into a bowl, stir, then beat in half of the flour mixture to give a smooth paste.  Tip in the rest of the flour mixture and mix well.
3. Pour the milk and cream into a pan and bring just to the boil.  Remove from the heat.  Add chocolate and beat until it is melted and smooth with no lumps.
4. Gradually stir hot chocolate mix into paste.  Return to pan.  Cook, stirring, over a medium-low heat for 5 minutes to a smooth, thick paste.  Remove from the heat.  Leave until cold, beating occasionally with a wire whisk.
5. Make the ganache; slowly warm the cream in a pan.  Just before it boils, take off the heat and add chocolate.  Beat constantly to a velvety texture, gradually sprinkling in the cocoa as it dissolves. Allow to cool.
6. Heat oven to 190° C/fan 170° C/gas 5.  Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks with an electric whisk. Sprinkle in the sugar as you are mixing.  Keep whisking to give stiff, firm peaks to give volume to the soufflés.
7. Mix crème patisserie and ganache in a large bowl.  Stir in 2 tablespoons of egg white.  Carefully fold in a third of the rest, cutting through the mixture. Fold in another third (take care not to lose the volume); fold in the rest.
8. Spoon the mixture into the dishes to fill them by three-quarters, then gently press a spoon in to make sure it fills all the gaps.  Fill the dishes to the top with the mixture, then bang each dish on to the surface so the mixture fills the sides.
9. Take a palette knife and pull it across the top of each dish so the mixture is completely flat.  Take a little time to wipe any splashes off the outside of each dish, or they will burn on while cooking.
10. So mixture won’t stick to the top of the mould, and to give a straight finish, go around the top edge of the mixture with your finger.  Sprinkle a little grated chocolate in the centre, then bake the soufflés for 15-17 minutes.
11. The soufflés should have risen by about two-thirds of their original height and jiggle when moved, but be set on top.  To serve, make a small dip with a spoon in the centre of each, then pour in single cream or add a spoonful of ice cream.

_________________________________________________________________

Resipi dari Gordon Ramsay dari HELL KITCHEN tu...sebenarnya ini merupakan dessert kegemaranya. Memang sedap...sudah lama saya teringin hendak membuatnya cuma saya ada saya masalah bila resipi menggunakan putih telur ni..kerap kali buat tak jadi dan bentat.....mulanya teragak-agak juga hendak buat....tapi sekali fikir apa salahnya kalau saya cuba.

Souffle ini sebenarnya dessert France juga...terdapat banyak jenis...cheese...basic....lemon dan macam-macamla. Yang penting dalam membuat souffle ini ialah krim sos nya dan putih telur. Sosnya macam biasalah masak susu dengan mentega dan kuning telur sehingga pekat. Putih telur dipukul asing sehingga kental...kemudian dimasukan kepada adunan susu ini. Souffle yang cantik sepatutnya naik tinggi melebihan acuannya. Souffle saya ini kurang naik sedikit..Masa dalam oven bukan main lagi tingginya tapi dah keluar terpeon sedikit. Apa pun saya puas hati.. 

Tentang rasa tak usah cakaplah...macam chocolate cake...sedap.......

Next Post - Orange Gooseberry Cupcake

______________________________________________________________________