Raspberry Souffles with Chocolate Truffles

Raspberry Souffles

Serves: 10

Ingredients:

12 oz Raspberries (frozen or 1 pint fresh)

1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar and 1/4 cup (2 oz) Granulated Sugar

1 tsp Framboise (optional)

5 large Egg Whites

Powdered Sugar (for serving)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Butter the Souffles dishes well, then dust with granulated Sugar (tap out the excess). The size of the dishes don't matter; if you want it to rise properly, though, you need to have a dish with straight sides. 
3. Thaw the raspberries. Place the raspberries and the juice in a food processor (we used our Magic Bullet and it worked wonderfully). Blend them until completely pureed. 
4. Pour the puree through a strainer, getting out all the seeds. Discard the seeds.
5. Mix 1 Tbsp sugar, and the framboise if using, into the puree.
6. Using a mixer and a clean bowl, whip the egg whites on medium speed until they form soft peaks. With the mixer still running, slowly pour in the 1/4 cup of sugar. Keep mixing until hard firm form.
7. Gently stir about a forth of the eggs into the puree. Then gently fold the remaining egg whites into the puree.
8. Place batter into the souffle dishes. (The easiest way is to put it into a pastry bag. That way, you can put half the batter in, put an optional treat in the center, then put in the rest of the batter.) 
9. Be careful to not overfill the souffle dishes! In an actual souffle dish, there is a line that you fill to. Level the tops with a metal spatula.
10. Bake for 14-17 minutes, or until the center is firm.
11. Serve immediately! The souffle starts to fall as soon as you take it out of the oven. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, or serve with Creme Fraiche. 

This recipe was taken from a new cookbook that I got called "The Art and Soul of Baking." It is a wonderful book that not only tells you what to do, but why you should do it. I definitely recommend it! (And I hope they don't mind that I copied their photo of the cover- which, incidentally, has the souffles on the cover. My photo was not as pretty...)

This was the first souffle I have ever baked. I think it was a success! It fell much quicker then I was expecting, although I think that had more to do with the fact that our house is only 68 degrees. 

I thought about putting whole raspberries in the center of the souffle, but then I forgot to save some when I made the puree. So I went along with the book's recipe and made Chocolate Truffles to put in the center. The chocolate really complimented the raspberries.

Chocolate Truffles

Yields: 10 Truffles

Ingredients: 

3 oz bittersweet Chocolate- up to 70% cocoa (I used Ghiradelli 60% cocoa)

6 Tbsp (3 oz) Heavy Whipping Cream

Instructions:

1. Finely chop the chocolate.
2. Place the chocolate and cream in a microwave safe dish. 
3. Heat on high in the microwave, stopping and stirring the mixture every 30 sec. (It only took 1 minute for mine, and it was close to curdling. If yours curdles, add 1 more Tbsp of cream to your mixture until it is smooth again.)
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Use a small spoon to scoop out about 1/2 Tbsp of the chocolate. Form into a round ball then drop on a plate. Do this to form 10 Truffles.
6. Cover again with plastic wrap and place back in the refrigerator.