6-Months ago. 6-Months ago we were at the hospital getting to know our little boy. 6 months ago I had gone through several hours of pain, labor, and exhaustion and was now reaping the rewards. I know they always tell you how much time flies once you have children, but I never fully understood. 
Every night when James goes to bed, I tend to go through all of the pictures and videos on my phone of him. I marvel at how tiny he used to be. How he would fall asleep after every feeding and how many times during the night we woke up to be with him. I miss him. Even though he’s sleeping in the next room, even though I spent the entire day with him and looked forward to bedtime for a small break, I miss him. 
I’m enjoying every moment with him. I refuse to think of the future when one day he won’t need us anymore, when he won’t need me anymore. Our little bubberz. We love him so much. I often find that my chores are neglected because I don’t want to put him down. I’d much rather lie on the floor with him and play. 
I’m sorry for the sentimental post. Now on to this week’s challenge!
I’ve never made one. Why have I never made a soufflé? Oh wait, because they’re a pain to make.” ~Nadiya
Luckily, my experience in making a chocolate soufflé was much more enjoyable than I anticipated. First however, I went on a mission to find four ramekins since they were not a part of my kitchen inventory. When I got to the store, I found that there were exactly four left. However, only three of them were the same color. So it came down to either having a mismatched set, or to go around town lugging a baby around in search of a complete set. I opted settling with the mismatched set. Call it charming, or quirky, or whatever.
I was able to make the entire sauce base of the soufflé ahead of time since these are best eaten straight out of the oven and I didn’t want to spoil our dinner. I started making the sauce base by breaking up 4 oz of chocolate and melting it down in a small pan with two tablespoons of water and milk. Once the chocolate was completely melted the rest of the milk was mixed in. 
In another pan, I melted the butter and then added the flour which created a soft dough. The chocolate mixture was then added and I combined the two together until it had thickened a bit. With a little bit of vanilla, I left the pan the cool completely. 
Once cooled, I beat in each of the egg yolks one at a time. I then took the egg whites and whisked them to stiff peaks with the whisk attachment of my new immersion blender. This was a purchase made after a snafu with a homemade mushroom soup and a blender. Let’s just say, I’m still cleaning up after it. 
Now comes the hardest part, gently folding in the newly whisked egg whites. As Mary Berry says “If they fold [the egg whites] in too much it won’t rise. If they fold it in too little you’ll have big flecks of beaten egg whites. Not good.” It comes down to finding that perfect medium. Once the egg whites were completely incorporated in, I gently turned the mixture out in the four ramekins. Then in the pre-heated oven they went. 
The recipe I used said that they would take 10 minutes until they were done. After checking, though, I was disappointed to see that they had not risen very much and still looked extremely wet. I made the executive decision to keep them in the oven for a bit longer, which ended up being 20 minutes before I felt they were ready to be devoured. They certainly were. 
The only complaint I have is in the rise itself. While they did rise to a beautiful height, they were also cracked and domed which is apparently not supposed to happen with a soufflé. Apparently this happened because of the texture of the crème pat (the butter, flour, chocolate mixture) combining with the egg whites. As with folding in the egg whites, the texture of the crème pat needed to be just right as well. Not too watery, but also not too thick. With this knowledge in mind, I really would love to attempt making another chocolate soufflé.
With all of its flaws, we absolutely loved the flavor and the texture of the final product. I will definitely make it again. Next time, perhaps with a side of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 
Next week’s challenge: Jaffa Cakes
Hot Chocolate Soufflés
(Mary Berry’s Baking Bible)
Ingredients:
115g (4 oz) plain chocolate
2 Tablespoons water
300 ml ( ½ pint) milk
40g (1 ½ oz) butter
40g (1 ½ oz) plain flour
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs, separated
50g (2 oz) sugar
Process:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 375° and place a baking sheet in it. Grease flour 8 fl oz individual soufflé dishes or a 2 pint soufflé dish.
2. Break the chocolate into pieces and put it in a pan along with the water and 2 tablespoons of the milk. Stir over a low heat until the chocolate has melted, then add the remaining milk and bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat.
3. Melt the butter in a small pan, stir in the flour and cook on a low heat for 2 minutes without browning, stirring continuously. Remove from the heat and stir in the hot chocolate milk and bring the vanilla extract and leave to cool.
4. Beat the egg yolks, one at a time, into the cooled chocolate sauce, then sprinkle over the sugar. Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry. Stir one tablespoon into the mixture, then carefully fold in the remainder.
5. Pour inton the individual soufflé dishes or large soufflé dish, run a teaspoon round the edge and bake on a hot baking tray in the preheated oven for 10 minutes for the individual soufflés or about 40 minutes for the large soufflé. Dust with icing sugar and serve at once, with whipped cream.
Piece of Cake 