"Souffle Froid Au Chocolate"

Ahhhh....my first recipe request.
Wendy has asked for the recipe for my Souffle Froid Au Chocolate....
...or cold chocolate souffle, which I have taken to many parties.

It's actually more of a light and airy chocolate mousse. Very light and airy.

I'm told it was Jackie O's very favorite dessert. Try it. You'll see why.

The recipe comes to me from my mother-in-law by way of my husband. It's one of those scratched out in his handwriting on a little piece of paper that I'm deathly afraid of losing. At least now I'll have a digital record.

Ingredients:

1 envelope gelatin in 3 Tablespoons water

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups cream

Preparation:

1. Melt chocolate in metal bowl or double boiler set over pan of hot, but not boiling water
2. Transfer chocolate into heavy saucepan.

3. Stir in powdered sugar; mix well.

4. Heat milk in separate pan just until film shows on surface. Do not bring to boil. Then slowly and thoroughly stir into the chocolate and powdered sugar mixture.

5. Cook, whisking constantly, until milk just reaches the boiling point...BUT DOES NOT BOIL.

Watch for bubbles forming along the edge of the pan. This happens just before the milk boils.

6. Remove from heat. Pour into mixing bowl. Whisk in gelatin, sugar, vanilla and salt. Chill in refrigerator until slightly thick.

7. Beat thickened chocolate mixture for several minutes until it is light and airy.

8. In another mixing bowl (chilled if possible) beat whipping cream until it holds it's shape (stiff peak).

9. Gently fold the whipping cream into the chocolate mixture until well blended. Put in a pretty dish.

10. Chill at least 2 to 3 hours.


Here's the play by play:

Get your gelatin out.

Sprinkle it in a bowl.

Add 3 Tablespoons of water.

Make sure it's all covered with water. You might have to stir it a bit. Set it aside to do it's gelatin thing.

I get my powdered sugar measured ahead of time because I like to take the extra step of sifting it first. I think I get a truer measurement and I don't worry about lumps. I like the kind of sifter with the hand crank best.

I sift about 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar on to waxed paper.

Then I re-measure 1/2 cup....

...scraping with a flat edge. I set it aside until I'm ready to use it.

I set up my makeshift double boiler by setting a metal bowl over hot, but not boiling water.

Melt 2 ounces of chocolate, stirring occasioning.

Chocolate should be nice and smooth.

If you have a good heavy saucepan and are willing to stir constantly, you can melt the chocolate right in the pan. That will save you the next step, which is...

...to pour the melted chocolate into a saucepan.

Add the powdered sugar.

Whisk. It gets clumpy but keep going.

Eventually it will look something like this. Just try to get the chocolate and sugar and blended as you can. Try a spatula if that works better for you. Fear not, hot milk it coming to break things up.

In another pan, heat milk just until film forms on surface. Do not boil.

Pour the hot milk into the chocolate and powdered sugar mixture.

This is going to make stirring sooo much easier.

Whisk like mad.

Cook until the milk, whisking until the chocolate and sugar are blended and dissolved. Otherwise you'll end up with little flecks in your souffle. Not the end of the world, but it's nice to avoid it if you can.

**Cook the milk only until it just reaches the boiling point but DON'T LET IT BOIL. How can you tell it's just about to boil? Watch for the little bubble forming around the edge of the pan. I call them the pre-boil bubbles. That's when you know it's ready. Can you see the bubbles in this picture?

Pour that almost boiling chocolate into a large mixing bowl.

Action shot.

Slide the gelatin out of its bowl into the hot chocolate mixture.

Add sugar....

Vanilla...

And salt. Stir until everything is dissolved and the mixture is smooth.

With a whisk attachment (if you have one) beat the chocolate mixure for several minutes until it's light and airy.

Is this light and airy? No, not yet.

This is closer.

Now, this is light and airy. Just look at those air bubbles.

Clean the whisk attachment. Rinse with cold water and dry. Put cold whipping cream in chilled mixing bowl. Cream whips best if everything is COLD.

Beat like mad. My dogs love this part. Cream flying everywhere.

We need the cream to hold it's shape or form stiff peaks. We're not there yet.

We're getting closer.

Now,this is cream that will hold it's form. How can you tell? Just lift the beater and see if the cream that falls from the beater stands in a firm, straight peak. Or try to form a peak with a spatula and see if it stays up.

Put the whipped cream in the bowl on top of the whipped chocolate.
Gently fold the cream into the chocolate. What does that mean? I will show you.

Don't stir like mad.

Instead, gently cut straight down into the center of the bowl with the edge of a spatula, like so.

Gently scoop the spatulata along the bottom of the of the bowl towards you, bringing the chocolate from the bottom toward the top.

Fold that over on top of the whipping cream...

...and back down into the bowl.
So you're basically making a large, gentle circle.

Keep doing that... down...

...under...

...up...

...over...

...and down again.

Continue, rotating the bowl each time, until the cream and chocolate are well mixed.

Folding keeps both parts light and airy...so avoid the temptation to say, "Screw it, I'm just going to stir."

I promise, before long it will look like this. And it will feel as though you are eating chocolate air.

Put the souffle in a pretty dish. The recipe actually calls for a "pretty dish." Oh-oh. My favorite glass wedding bowl is still at my sister-in-law's. I took homemade chocolate pudding to Christmas Eve dinner and left the bowl (see earlier post).

Instead, I'll use the antique serving dish and matching bowls my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas last year.

Chill at least 2 to 3 hours.

Enjoy!