Category Archives: food

Don’t fear the soufflé! It is not a guaranteed flop. The trick is to keep your mixing bowl and beaters grease and oil free. Even the smallest amount of oil can result in the egg whites not stiffening up.

In keeping with the portion control aspect of the book, we are offering small soufflés. The idea is to cook them in micro muffin pans, one or two of these is more than enough for a dessert. They might even make an interesting appetizer. They cook quickly, just 15 mins. or so, and they don’t deflate like a larger scale soufflé. We replace the sugar in the recipe with Splenda. We will be placing this recipe in the next version of my book, “Small Foods”.

You can also make larger ones in ramekins. Put them in the oven when you serve the dinner. They cook in about 30 mins. so by the time you are done they’ll be ready. They need to be served hot from the oven as they do begin to shrink very quickly as they cool.

Ingredients

¼ cup of Splenda (1/3^rd cup if you desire a sweeter soufflé)
1 Tbs. Cornstarch
1/8 Tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 Tsp. salt
½ cup milk
½ Tsp. vanilla
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate (Baker’s Chocolate)
2 egg yolks (split the whole eggs into yolks and whites)
1 Tbs. melted butter
2 egg whites

Directions

Makes 12 minis or two 7 oz. ramekins

Heat oven to 350 degrees f.

Measure the chocolate carefully. Look at the weight of the bar on the package and figure out how many blocks will make an ounce or use a postal scale. Melt the chocolate in a microwave, double broiler or one small pot in a big pot of boiling water .

Mix the Splenda and cornstarch in a small pan. Gradually add the milk stirring to dissolve the dry ingredients, then stir in the chocolate, butter and vanilla. Boil and stir until all is dissolved. Set aside to cool a little.

Separate the egg yolk from the white into separate bowls. Beat the egg yolks in a small mixing bowl. I use a whisk for this and beat until the yolks are thickened. Beat the chocolate mix into the yolks. Beat for about a minute and let stand until it cools.

Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl on high, adding the crème of tartar and salt. You will need to beat these for a while as you want the whites to form stiff peaks approx. 5 min. Stir about half of this mix into the chocolate mix, then gently fold the remainder in.

Spray a mini muffin pan with PAM and then fill the cups to the brim. Cook for about 15 min. They will rise up and a toothpick inserted will come out clean when they are done. These can cool and be served as needed, they don’t deflate much.

If you are going to make ramekin sized soufflés, spray two ramekins with PAM and fill them about ¾ full. Cook for about 30 mins. (same note for being done as above). Serve immediately in the cup (warn your guests that the crockery is hot!) as they do deflate rapidly.

I like to add a dollop of whip cream to the top to dress them up.

P.S. I’ve placed these in the fridge for a couple of days and warmed them in the toaster oven. They come out just fine. I’ve frozen them too and that works as well.

Enjoy!

My book “Small Foods” available on Amazon, has lots more recipes, sorry no desserts or sauces, just Entrees and all of them ramekin sized. We will add the desserts section in the next book.