Baking Chocolate Souffle Cakes

Hi every one, here is another cake I’ve baked, while doing my baking course. It’s not really a cake it’s individual little cakes for each person in a ramekin.

This was the last of the Sponge cakes.

These cakes are cakelike on the outside and hot and creamy on the inside - eating one is like eating warm cake with hot melting mousse on top. The souffle cakes are made in the same way as genoise, except that melted chocolate and butter are folded with the beaten eggs while the flour is being folded in. They are best when the outside is cakelike and the inside molten. To get this effect, freeze the souffles in their individual ramekins for at least a couple of hours before baking.

The unbaked cakes can be frozen, well covered, weeks before you need them. Just pull them out of the freezer and bake when you want to serve them. You can serve them in their ramekins or you can unmold them onto plates.

Chocolate Souffle Cakes

Make 6 servings

Ingredients:

Room-temperature butter and unsweetened cocoa powder for the ramekins

1/2 cup butter

220g (8 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

4 eggs, at room temperature

1/3 cup xylitol or granulated sugar

4 tablespoons Spelt flour or 3 tablespoons all purpose flour

Method:

Brush six ramekins with room-temperature butter.

Sift cocoa powder over a sheet of parchment paper, pour the powder into one of the ramekins.

Turn it until the inside is coated.

Pour the excess cocoa powder into the next ramekin and repeat until all have been coated.

Combine the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.

Stir with a whisk or silicone spatula until smooth and melted. Remove from the heat.

Combine the eggs and granulated sugar/xylitol.

Beat on high speed with a stand mixer for about 5 minutes or with a handheld mixer for about 25 minutes, or until the ribbon stage: when the beater is lifted, the mixture falls in a wide band onto the surface, forming a figure eight that stays for 5 seconds before dissolving.

Pour the egg mixture over the chocolate mixture and fold with a rubber spatula while sifting the flour over the mixture.

Alternate between adding flour - about one-fourth at a time - and folding until the flour is no longer visible.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared ramekins and smooth the tops. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C or 425 degrees F.

Bake the souffle cakes for 17 to 20 minutes, until risen almost by half.

Serve while still warm. If you want to unmold the souffle cakes, run a knife around the inside edge or the ramekins. Turn the souffle cakes over onto plates, lift off the ramekins. Serve warm.

You can decorate it with a dash of cream like this.

I hope you like these cakes. It’s easy to make and you can freeze them for weeks, before baking.

Next I’m baking and studying butter cakes so come back next week and see!

Bon Appetite!