Chocolate Soufflé

Why This Chocolate Soufflé Works

In the bowl over hot water, the chocolate and butter melt into a smooth base. Once the warm chocolate goes into the egg yolks and sugar, it thickens into something like a loose pudding. That yolk mixture is rich but heavy, so it cannot rise much on its own.

In a clean bowl, the egg whites change the game. As they whip with salt and cream of tartar, tiny bubbles fill the whites and they become glossy and stiff. Sugar locks those bubbles in so they do not pop right away. When some of the whites are folded into the chocolate, the heavy chocolate loosens. The rest of the whites go in gently, so most of those bubbles stay trapped inside the batter.

In the oven, heat makes the air in those bubbles expand and the egg proteins set around them. The soufflés climb straight up the sugared sides of the ramekins instead of sliding. By the time they look set on top, the inside is still soft and a little creamy, so each spoonful is light but not dry.

Mistakes To Avoid

Overbaking the soufflés can make them rise high and then collapse into dry, eggy cakes. Once they stay in the oven too long, the centers set completely and the steam that holds them up escapes, so the texture turns from airy to tough and rubbery instead of soft and slightly creamy inside.

Adding the hot chocolate mixture to the egg yolks while it is still very warm often scrambles the yolks. Little cooked egg bits stay in the batter, so the base becomes grainy and thick, and the soufflés bake up uneven with strange lumps instead of a smooth interior.

Beating the egg whites in a bowl that has any grease or yolk left in it keeps them from whipping properly. The whites stay foamy and loose instead of forming stiff, glossy peaks, so the mixture cannot trap enough air and the soufflés barely rise and come out dense.

Stirring the egg whites into the chocolate base too roughly knocks out most of the air. The batter looks thinner and flatter in the ramekins, and in the oven the soufflés rise only a little and end up heavy instead of tall and light.