Chocolate & Rum Souffle, with White Chocolate Ganache

I adapted this recipe from a video tutorial that I found online, and it was a hit with my friends! I will warn you, if you have never had a souffle before that it definitely has an interesting texture.  But don't let that scare you away, because the end result of this recipe is absolutely divine!

Fancy Pants Souffle

Souffle Ingredients:

Butter, to coat ramekins 

3 TB sugar, to coat ramekins

7 eggs

1/3 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

1-2 TB Rum/Rum Extract (**Optional!)

2 TB sugar

1 TB lemon juice

Powdered sugar to dust

Ganache Ingredients:

3/4 tsp sugar

1/4 C heavy cream

1/4 C white chocolate chips

Process:

Preheat the oven to 400 F (205 C).  

To begin, lightly coat the insides of the ramekins (I used 8 smaller ones) with butter.  Next, taking the sugar, lightly coat the inside of the ramekins--it should stick to the butter.  It will cook into the souffle while it's baking to add extra flavour.

Next, melt the chocolate chips.  You can do this very carefully in the microwave or on the stove top in a bowl over boiling water.  Once the chocolate is melted, crack the eggs and separate them into yolks and whites--you will want 3 egg yolks, and 7 egg whites. (If you plan carefully, try to make a meal that requires egg yolks in it, that way the rest of the egg yolks don't go to waste!)  Add the 3 egg yolks into the chocolate, and then the rum (or rum extract) if you wish.  Mix until the batter is smooth.  

In a separate bowl, mix the egg whites with 2 TB of sugar and the lemon juice.  Whip them until soft peaks form--remember that this process may take a bit of time but just be patient!  Once there are soft peaks, fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate.  It is very important not to MIX, just gently fold.  When it is fully mixed, add mixture and fold to the remaining egg whites.  Pour/Ladle the mixture into the ramekins, and place them carefully on a baking sheet.  Cook 8-10 minutes or until the souffle rises up.

While the souffle is baking, carefully melt the white chocolate chips in the same process as noted above.  Once melted, mix in the sugar and heavy cream to create a thick mixture.  When the souffles are finished, pull them out of the oven carefully, and dust lightly with powdered sugar.  Next, using a spoon, crack open the tops of the souffles and spoon the ganache into the crack.  Remember to serve immediately after, because souffles are very delicate and deflate rapidly after being removed from the oven (or twice as fast when cracked to be filled!)

Enjoy!

Greek Honey Yogurt Cake

While on my continuing journey to complete a series of cakes, I stumbled upon a recipe for Greek Yogurt and Honey Cake.  Since I didn't have most of the ingredients offhand, I created my own version of the cake.  I found the base of the cakes from the recipe book to be too dry -- I happen to only like cake when it's moist -- so the yogurt and lemon sauce work to create a delicious dessert, sure to please everyone at your table!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 TB baking powder
3/4 C Greek Honey yogurt
1/4 C honey
1/3 C brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Lemon sauce:
2 TB honey
2 TB lemon juice
2 TB unsalted butter

Preheat over 350 F (160 C).  Grease and line the bottom of a 9 in round cake pan.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and add the yogurt, honey, sugar eggs, and vanilla extract.  Beat until mixture is smooth.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.  Bake in the oven 45-55 minutes or until firm and golden brown.

Let cool in the pan 2-3 min, then turn onto a serving plate.  For the sauce put the honey, lemon juice, and butter into a small pan and bring to a boil.  Boil for a few minutes to reduce, stirring until syrupy.  Serve the cake in slices with the lemon sauce poured over them.

Recipe adapted from: Greek Yogurt and Honey Cake from 1 Mix, 100 cakes