While I love summer’s bounty of stone fruits and berries, all of which make lovely pies and cobblers, I crave chocolate all year round. A reliable chocolate dessert is an item that should be on your repertoire no matter the season. Enter chocolate soufflé cake: a pillowy, simply chocolate delight that can be whipped up with just five ingredients.
The texture of this dessert really sets it apart from the overly-dense and sticky flourless chocolate cakes I have tried. This one is soft and perfectly moist, the pieces crumbling as you remove a slice and almost melting on your tongue. The secret to this cake is in the technique: the whipped egg whites provide a beautiful lift and airiness. You know your egg whites are stiff when they hold their shape on the beater or they don’t fall when you invert the bowl. Do not fall victim to perfectionism when folding the batter together in the final step; work smoothly and efficiently just until the egg whites and chocolate are combined. Since there are so few components to this recipe, good-quality chocolate is essential. I recommend Scharffen Berger or Cordillera, both of which can be found at Whole Foods.
Chocolate is a wonderful canvas for other flavors; you can dress this cake up according to your personal preferences. Serve it with a dollop of lightly whipped cream and fresh berries, a scoop of vanilla bean or coffee ice cream, or simply a tall glass of cold milk.
Recipe courtesy of The Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories
Ingredients
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup water
4 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter.
2. Place the 1/4 cup water and chocolate in a medium bowl and melt the chocolate over a double boiler; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until they reach the soft peak stage. Slowly stream in 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks, salt, and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar on high speed until the batter forms a ribbon (about 5 minutes). Add the melted chocolate to this yolk mixture and beat on medium speed for an additional minute just to incorporate the two. Fold the egg whites into this mixture in thirds, making sure not to overfold. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 25 minutes. The center of the cake should be moist but not raw.
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That looks simply amazing! I'm not too skilled in the baking department but I'll definitely convinced my sister to make that when she has the time! 🙂
Maral, this looks delicious. It would be so nice for a dinner party. And, yes, there are many things you could do with a cake like this one.
I love this! Only using 5 ingredients really grabbed my attention 🙂
xjustanotherteenblogger: Definitely let me know how the cake turns out when your sister gets the chance to bake it. :)Mary: This is an ideal dinner-party dessert as everyone loves chocolate! Ashley: The simplicity of this recipe is wonderful. I love that you can whip up a decadent, impressive cake with a few staple ingredients.
Is this cake easy to get out of the pan? It just looks so delicate that I thought it might be hard to get out and end up breaking into pieces.
Hi Candice! This cake is very delicate so you need to be gentle when removing it from the pan. Make sure to grease the sides generously with butter and loosen the cake with a pearing knife before inverting it. It may crack a bit, but it certainly won't crumble into small pieces. Let me know how it turns out!
Hi there!! I saw your picture on tastespotting and I had to stop by. This looks incredible, I can't wait to try it!!- Carolina http://lacucinaprimadona.blogspot.com/
Hi Carolina! I'm so glad you found me through Tastespotting! Please do let me know how the cake turns out when you try it. You can email me directly at maral.lavida@gmail.com or post a comment.
doesn't water freeze the chocolate?
Hello! You melt the chocolate with room temperature water over a double boiler to give the chocolate more fluidity. The water does not freeze the chocolate; in fact, it helps the chocolate come to a smoother consistency. Hope that helps!
My husband and I had chocolate souffle at a restaurant and loved it, so I want to try and make this for him for his birthday on saturday. We are going out for dinner with friends, so if I make it ahead should I put it in the fridge or leave it out on the counter until we're ready to eat it after we come back from dinner?
Hello! I recommend covering the cake and putting it in the fridge while you are at dinner. When you come home, let the cake sit out at room temperature for a few minutes, and then serve. I would love to hear how it turns out, and how you and your husband like it! You can shoot me an email at maral.lavida@gmail.com or comment back on this post. Happy baking!