Soufflé Me Softly: The Valentine's Day Dessert You Need to Master
As the head pastry chef at Ether Atelier in Mumbai, Chef Prateek Bhaktiani knows a thing or two about desserts. For Valentine’s Day he demystifies that most romantic of desserts, chocolate soufflé.
Valentine’s day is upon us. And it brings with it a barrage of nerves — for lovers new and old. What can one do, that could come even close to expressing to the other, the infinite wells of love within? A love in the way that people love people, in the movies, but more. So much that it often spills over, into effortlessly loving everything else. So much so that, to keep the overspill from wasting, you have had to learn to love yourself.
As generations of lovers (and admittedly, creative advertisers) have found, the answer, plain as day, is chocolate. A box of chocolate may suffice, just about. But nothing compares to the personal touch of a gift fashioned by hand, in which you may pour a piece of your soul. It is therefore no surprise that over the years, lovers have found themselves in the kitchen — hunched over their wistfully underequipped home ovens, their hopes balanced on tenuous tops of delicate chocolate soufflés that are seldom destined for success.
The chocolate soufflé, along with perhaps the eclair and the incomparable crack of a crème brûleé, is one of the most iconic — and incidentally most romanticised — of the classic French desserts. And as all things that may be afforded the descriptor ‘classic French’, the soufflé is precise, delicate and incredibly finicky to get right. None of the soufflés’ (surprisingly few) steps are without a want for skill, demanding- in parallel to its reputation- a respect for technique; and a patience uncharacteristic of the casual home baker.
And so here we are — with a dying cliche, a lost tradition, of lovers laughing over fallen soufflés. Falling more in love with each other, and their thoughts-that-count. And I for one will not stand quietly by! I love love, and whilst I may be woefully single, I find in me a deep, admittedly self-righteous responsibility to bring back soufflé to the people. So that it may rise once again, as your love for each other will, to the sky — an incredible indulgence, a warm comfort.
Here then are my top 4 tricks, tips and nuggets of know-how. I implore you to give the recipe a try this year. I do not know that you will succeed, but I can promise that if you don’t — you will not have at least failed in love.
Chocolate Is Not Chocolate, Is Not Chocolate
All chocolate is not made the same. It's a large, and relatively clunky — often exploitative, industry. Cheap chocolate is plentiful and alluring, inversely good chocolate seems at first to be shockingly expensive. But this is no time for thrift. Chocolate soufflés are in many ways, carriers of the incredible richness of the chocolate that you have chosen to use. Cheap (compound) chocolate will not only sully the flavour of your soufflé, but also compromise the texture and lightness of the dessert. So, for today — a day of rose-tinted loving — use the best chocolate you can afford.
A good rule of thumb is to feverishly avoid absolutely anything labeled ‘baking/cooking chocolate,’ and most chocolate that is sold as chips. Most brands will reserve the best blends for their marquee chocolate bars, so that is often the best place to start. Here are some of my homegrown favourites (including a few, for full disclosure, from my own atelier): Ether Noir and Smoke tablets, All Things Dark 64% Single Origin Dark Chocolate Bar, Bon Fiction Out In the Dark 73% Dark Chocolate, and Naviluna 72% Malabar Forest Single Origin Chocolate Bar.
The Issue with Meringue
“Start whipping your egg whites on a slow to medium speed, at first. Once they start to become a little foamy, you can start adding the sugar and gradually increasing speed. This helps to create a better structure in the meringue by encouraging a more even and consistent aeration. And, of course, be careful not to over whip your meringue!” recommends Chef Manali Khandelwal of SUBKO Cacao.
Prepping Your Ramekins for Success
I speak with Chef Shanaya of GatOh patisserie about the importance of currently lining the ramekins, this is what she has to say:
“First, make sure you butter every part of the ramekin — you don't want any one bit sticking and keeping the soufflé from rising. Do this in an upward motion to help the rise, then sprinkle it with sugar for an extra protective layer. Finally, make sure that the rims of the ramekins are well cleaned before baking. This step is key to getting that beautiful even height to the soufflé.”
Low and Slow
Patience is love and all things. And soufflé is here to test yours. You can do everything right, and at the end, a function of rushing the baking step will have rendered it all in vain. This is, in many ways, just following through on the delicate treatment that your soufflé batter has enjoyed this far. It will do best to start cold and be heated gently in the oven, allowing it to rise lazily and evenly into the deliciously airy dessert of your desires.
I find it best to go a step further and even allow the filled ramekins to cool lightly in the fridge before introducing them to the oven heat.
And this is where I must admit that there really is no magic time and temperature. Your oven, especially if as I assume it as a domestic model, will have a heat pattern of its own — with its own fingerprint of heat spots and fan tremors. So it is best to use the temperatures and times indicated in any recipe as mere guidelines, suggestions for a great place to start. Play around with them freely, and you might find, as I have, that the answer often is to race a little lower and a little slower towards pastry perfection.
And there you have it. Easy as pie, or well, easy as soufflé. These tips should get you on your way to making a beautiful soufflé.
And for icing on the top here are 3 recipes that are sure to impress, from three professional pastry chefs :
1. CLASSIC CHOCOLATE SOUFFLÉ
by Chef Prateek Bakhtiani, Ether Atelier Chocolat
2. CHOCOLATE GANACHE SOUFFLÉ
by Chef Shanaya Dastur, GatOH Patisserie
3. BITTER CHOCOLATE SOUFFLÉ
by Chef Manali Khandelwal, SUBKO Cacao (watch this space for updates!)
