I developed my version of a chocolate Nutella soufflé when I started researching the history of soufflés for a class project. Last month, my research into soufflés led me to Boca, an Italian restaurant in Cincinnati. My sweet husband, Kevin made reservations at Boca when he found out about my project. He wanted me to be able to taste a soufflé ahead of time before I started on my project. We were celebrating the nine-year anniversary of when we first started dating during the last weekend in March. Kevin called the restaurant ahead of time to arrange for the chocolate soufflé to be prepared and served right when we finished our dinner. When the chocolate soufflé arrived at our table, I was eager to take a bite out of it. I fell in love with the soufflé at first bite. The soufflé was puffy, rich, and served with a side of cream anglaise. The texture was similar to a sponge cake and the sweetness level was just right. Soon after enjoying the chocolate soufflé, I started testing out different proportions of ingredients to make my very own version of a chocolate soufflé. Instead of just a chocolate soufflé, I wanted to incorporate my love of chocolate hazelnut spread into the soufflé. The hallmarks of a good soufflé start with separating the egg whites and egg yolks and whipping the egg whites vigorously until you achieve stiff peaks. The stiffly beaten egg whites are gently folded into an egg yolk, flour, and sugar mixture. All of the ingredients are poured into buttered and sugared ramekins right before being placed into the oven. Once baked, the soufflés rise above the ramekins and you can see the straight sides of the soufflé peaking over the top rim of the ramekins. The soufflés must be consumed immediately before they eventually fall. I was able to capture this glorious photo of my very own chocolate Nutella soufflé a couple minutes after removing it from the oven. I noticed the soufflés were beginning to fall after a couple minutes. For this very reason, soufflés are often prepared halfway through dinner and served right when it is time for the dessert course. Not only were the chocolate Nutella soufflés absolutely stunning to look at, they were an absolute delight to eat too. With just a handful of ingredients and a little patience, anyone can whip up an elegant, yet visually stunning soufflé to serve for dessert. Until I made my own soufflé in my home oven, I never believed how easy such a stunning dessert would be to make. The puffy, airy, chocolatey soufflé was definitely a delightful treat to serve as a dessert. Most of all, it took less than 15 minutes to prep all of the ingredients for the soufflé. The rest of the magic happens once the ramekins are placed in the oven.
Chocolate Nutella Soufflé:
· ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
· 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
· 4 large eggs, whites and yolks separated
· ¼ cup all-purpose flour
· ¼ cup chocolate syrup
· 2 tablespoons Nutella hazelnut spread
· 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare two small ramekins by rubbing the unsalted butter all over the two ramekins. Dust the inside of the ramekins with the teaspoon of sugar. Place both of the ramekins on a sheet pan and set aside.
2) In a mixing bowl, add the egg yolks, flour, chocolate syrup, hazelnut spread and one tablespoon of sugar. Stir to combine all ingredients. Set aside.
3) In another mixing bowl, add the egg whites. Using a handheld mixer, start on low speed and start whipping air into the egg whites. Add a tablespoon of sugar. Slowly turn up the speed on the handheld mixer. Continue whipping the egg whites until stiff peaks begin to form, about 3-5 minutes. You can test whether or not the egg whites are ready by flipping the bowl upside down and checking to make sure the egg whites do not fall.
4) Starting with half of the stiffly beaten egg whites, gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Fold the remaining egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Pour the mixture into the two ramekins resting on top of a sheet pan.
5) Place the sheet pan into the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove the soufflés from the oven and serve immediately.
Takeaways: The soufflés are best served straight out of the oven. As an optional step, you can dust a layer of confectioners’ sugar on top of the soufflés right before serving. All soufflés eventually fall, so it is best to time the soufflé to be ready right when the dessert course is being served.