Tuesdays with Dorie…Chocolate Soufflé

Holy Macaroni…I’ve been baking along at Tuesdays with Dorie for so long that it is MY turn to pick the recipe! I never imagined when I started all those months ago that I would actually still be alive when it got around to me…but here we are, and I got to pick the very first recipe I marked in the book!
Many of you know I have not been baking/cooking very long. It was because of this group, TWD, that I really got the kitchen bug last year. That bug led me to the Daring Bakers, then Baking GALS, then You Want Pies with That…and one thing led to another and now I run a small catering business along with doing custom cookies and most currently – specialty cakes! So thanks all of you faithful TWDers – it’s because of you that I stepped up my game and have learned so much along the way!
I think I chose Chocolate Soufflé because several years ago, before I had ever made anything at all, I found a recipe for one and actually made it, even though I had never seen nor tasted one. It turned out perfectly, and tasted so great that I surprised myself! Seeing this recipe in Dorie’s cookbook just reminded me that we all start somewhere! Perhaps you are a newbie like I was (and still am) or maybe this is your first week with the TWD bunch (welcome! Say Hi, won’t you?) and maybe Chocolate Soufflé was a bit intimidating for you. That’s a good thing! I have found that the more intimadated I am by a recipe, the more I learn! So I hope everyone learned something this go round!
Before I get to the recipe, I just wanted to give a shout out to a few of the Dorie Bakers that have really inspired me along the way. Maybe I never told you, maybe I did, but each of you in some way or another have pushed me to be more creative, try harder with my photos, or step outside of my comfort zone and try something entirely new. So thank you…you can’t imagine what you have done for me.

• First off, Dorie Greenspan. Thank You! You have been so kind to me and such a change in my life, whether you realize it or not. If not for this cookbook, who knows what I would be doing? So thank you, thank you thank you. I am a baking fiend because of you. (and 20 pounds heavier than last year, but we won’t dwell on that.) And Laurie? Thanks for having the insight to start this great group based on Dorie’s cookbook!
• Shari at Whisk: A Food Blog was and is one of the most inspirational bloggers for me. I rush each week to her site to see what imaginative way she interpreted the recipe, whether it be baking cookies in coin wrappers or cakes in tea cups, she never fails to inspire me.
• Holly at PheMOMenon I consider to be a “real friend” these days. She rarely if ever misses a recipe for any of the groups she belongs to, and she always has something positive to say about each one of them. If I lived in Utah, I hope it would be next door to her.
• Jayne, the Barefoot Kitchen Witch was one of the very first blogs I followed along with, as was Spatulas & Corkscrews by Donna. Surprisingly enough, they live near each other but have yet to meet. Both of them were so helpful when it came to my neverending questions. I don’t bug them like I used to, but I know they are still there. That means a lot.
• I found Fields of Cake when Carrie was still baking along with TWD. I understand not being able to keep up, and I’m glad that she is so busy with her passion that it has escalated into a profitable thing for her. She has really been a lifesaver, especially recently since I started the cake baking. You should check her out – ah-mazing work. Just gorgeous.

There really are too many to mention that have pushed me in some way, but these hold a special place for me. I hope you don’t mind me sharing them with you!
Now, on to this delicious Chocolate Soufflé! I found it super easy to pull together and had no issues with it whatsoever. I regret that I made it at night and had to use a stupid work lamp in my cellar to light it enough to grab a half-ass picture, but you gotta do what you gotta do somedays! Thanks everyone for baking along with me! If you aren’t a follower of mine, I hope you will be! See the sidebar? See where it says Google Friend Connect? Well, there is a particular number I am hoping for, and I’m close! Once I reach that number, I am going to have a drawing and one of those Friends is going to win a prize! I won’t tell you exactly what it is, but it’s a good one and you’ll be snazzy in the kitchen with it, that’s for sure! So, sign on, be my Google Friend, and maybe you’ll win! Thanks again everyone – it’s been SO much fun baking along with you every week!
Chocolate Soufflé
from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours
Serves 4-6

• 6 ounces bittersweet Chocolate, finely Chopped
• 1/2 Cup plus 2 Tbs. Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Whole Milk, at Room Temperature
• 4 Large Eggs, Separated and at Room Temperature
• 2 Large Egg Whites, at Room Temperature
• Confectioner’s Sugar, for dusting

Getting Ready: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Give the inside of a 6-7 cup soufflé mold a thick coating of butter, sprinkle it with sugar and tap out the excess. Refrigerate until needed. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.
Put the chocolate and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and heat, stirring often, until the chocolate is melted. Transfer the bowl to the counter and whisk in the milk. let the chocolate cool for about 5 minutes, then, one by one, whisk in the yolks.
Working in the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a large ol with a hand mixer, whip the 6 egg whites until they just turn opaque and start to hold peaks. Still beating, add the reamining 2 tablespoons sugar in a slowish, steady stream and continue to beat until the peaks are glossy and almost firm. Stir one-quarter of the whites into the chocolate to lighten it, then use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the remaining whites.
Delicately turn the batter into the prepared mold and lightly sprinkle the top with confectioners sugar. Put the mold on the baking sheet.
Bake-it’s better not to open the door and peek until you think the soufflé is almost done-for 40 minutes, or until the soufflé is beautifully puffed and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean (find a noncrusty part of the soufflé and gently insert the knife at an angle). Remove the soufflé from the oven and serve immediately, dusting the top with more confectioners sugar if you’d like.


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