Souffles!

I have yet to sit down and calculate exactly how many Gilmore Girls episodes where a souffle is served, but let me tell you right now: it's a lot. Unfortunately the majority of the time they simply say souffle" and leave it at that. So I decided this post is dedicated to Souffles in different forms.
  My first attempt was a chocolate souffle. There was a bit of a learning curve for me with this one but let me skip to the end--DELICIOUS!! I see why souffles were a frequent staple for the Gilmores and for the Dragon Fly Inn (I also fully understand why it's not something we see Luke make--tedious and time consuming for sure but totally worth it!)
This recipe was actually fairly simple:

Directions

Heat oven to 375° F. Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to grease one 16-ounce or two 8-ounce ramekins. Coat the ramekins with the cocoa, tapping out the excess.

In a large bowl, over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and remaining butter. Stir occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Whisk in the yolks one at a time until smooth. Set aside.

        

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the sugar, salt, and cream of tartar until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Gently fold the egg-white mixture into the chocolate. Spoon into the ramekins. (The recipe can be made to this point up to 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.)

using just one beater slowed this process

Bake until puffed and set, 40 minutes for a 16-ounce soufflé, 20 minutes for two smaller ones. (If baked directly from the refrigerator, add 5 to 10 minutes.) Serve immediately. 

I also made the one that perhaps I should have started with: a Basic Souffle.

Although seeing the way this one blew up it may have discouraged me from trying another recipe. Hmm. I guess it worked out all right.

So I corrected my mistake of only one beater in the mixer and this made a HUGE difference. When I made the chocolate souffle I stood with my hand held mixer (I don't have a stand mixer...yet) for what seemed like days, but I was hungry, tired, impatient and foolishly making a souffle after a 10 hour work day. Who does that?! So with the basic recipe I had both the beaters in; beating the egg whites was so much easier. Also the chocolate recipe called for "a pinch" of cream of tartar. I didn't know what that meant, it caused me more stress than what's probably normal or appropriate. The basic recipe gave me a tangible measurement. I think this also factored in to better, stiffer egg whites.

I was anxious to taste this basic recipe. I was pretty surprised when I opened the oven and saw that the souffles had more than the typical height for a souffle. Exploded is probably not the right word but they definitely out grew their ramekins. Although these were not as aesthetically pleasing as the chocolate, they were still pretty good.

 In the not too distant future I will make a cheese souffle and a raspberry souffle. Raspberry is the only specific variation of this dish I remember being mentioned on the show which is crazy because they have some sort of souffle practically every other episode.
So stay tuned for even more souffles; in the mean time try these recipes. They are so good!

 Bye!