These delicious little souffles deflated faster than the camera could go “click!” by the time they were ready for their close up.  It was rather sad, but such is life.  Gotta take hold of the reigns before they fly past: life stops for no one and we always have to keep pressing forward. So press forward I did, and here we are with a delicious and surprisingly easy dessert!

Saturday night Chris went to the SMC/Gonzaga game at our alma mater (and also where we got married!) so I made these for the kids and I to enjoy as a consolation.  To be honest, we might have devoured these before dinner.  Oops! On another note, I made a couple of these without raspberries, and I must say they are not nearly as good without the raspberries! The great thing about souffle is that you can prepare the batter and pour  into the ramekins the day before, because it will keep in the fridge overnight.  This saves a lot of time, and breaks up the work quite nicely.

Don’t forget: if you’re going to put a cute, little powdered sugar heart or other design on top make sure your stencil and powdered sugar are ready to go as soon as they come out of the oven – the longer it takes for you to serve these babies the more likely they’ll deflate before they make it to the table!  A lesson learned for next time.  😉

INGREDIENTS:

*recipe from William Sonoma’s book Home Baked Comfort

• 7 tbsp granulated sugar, plus more for dusting the ramekins
• 6 oz package of raspberries
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped.  I highly suggest using a high quality chocolate! It makes all the difference for this decadent, chocolate based dessert.
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs, separated plus 2 egg whites
• pinch of salt – about a 1/4 tsp
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• confectioners’ sugar for dustin

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place rack in lower third of the oven and preheat to 375F.
2. The recipe calls for six 1-cup ramekins, but I found the recipe made 8.  Hence, butter 8 ramekins and lightly dust each with granulated sugar.
3. In a small bowl toss the raspberries with a tablespoon of the sugar and divide among the ramekins.
4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring as you go.  Don’t let the chocolate burn. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
5. In your mixer, with the whip attachment, beat the egg yolks and 3 tablespoons of the sugar on medium speed until it’s thickened. Fold the chocolate mixture in.
6. In a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar on medium-high speed.  When the egg whites are getting fluffy, add the remaining 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and beat until you have thick, stiff egg white peaks.
7. Fold the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture.  Divide the mixture evenly among the ramekins.
8. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until they are set and puffed, about 18, but not more than 20 minutes.
9. Dust with powdered sugar, and enjoy before they fall!

cheers! and Happy Valentine’s Day ♥

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