Chocolate soufflé
A soufflé does not rise several centimetres above the ramekin by accident — it rises because air and steam in the meringue push upward and the ramekin walls guide them. That is why you butter them with vertical strokes from base to rim and run a thumb around the inner edge. Those two gestures help it rise tall and straight.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Preparing the ramekins 8 min
- Chocolate base 10 min
- Whipping the whites 8 min
- Baking 14 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneButter the ramekins vertically
Heat the oven to 190°C. Brush 4 ramekins (about 250–300 ml) with soft butter using vertical strokes from base to rim, never in circles, and chill them for 8 minutes so the butter sets. Then coat with sugar and tip out the excess. Vertical streaks of butter create a track the mixture climbs — circular strokes create crosswise barriers.
Ingredients: 30 g butter · 3 tbsp sugar
TipSugar rather than flour. It gives a crisp shell on the walls and better grip for the rising mixture.
Vertical brush strokes — the mixture needs something to climb.Make the chocolate base
Melt the chocolate with the butter over a water bath and cool to lukewarm — about 10 minutes in all. Stir in the yolks, cocoa and salt. The mixture will be very thick and glossy — as it should be.
Ingredients: 150 g dark chocolate · 50 g butter · 3 pcs egg yolks · 1 tbsp cocoa · 1 pinch salt
Whip the whites to soft peaks
Whip the whites with a few drops of lemon, adding the sugar gradually, to soft, glossy peaks that bend slightly — usually 6–8 minutes with a mixer. Do not whip stiff — over-whipped meringue has no stretch left and the soufflé cracks instead of rising.
Ingredients: 5 pcs egg whites · 70 g sugar · ¼ pcs lemon · 1 tbsp icing sugar
The tip bends gently — that is the right moment.Fold in two stages
Stir in a third of the meringue vigorously to loosen the thick chocolate. Add the rest in two additions, folding from the bottom up. Stop at the last white streak — better to leave a trace of meringue than to deflate everything.
Ingredients: 150 g dark chocolate · 50 g butter · 3 pcs egg yolks · 1 tbsp cocoa · 1 pinch salt
Fill flush and run a thumb round
Fill the ramekins level with the rim and scrape the top flat. Run a thumb around the inner edge, creating a 5 mm groove. That groove releases the mixture from the rim and lets it rise straight up.
Ingredients: 30 g butter · 3 tbsp sugar
A groove at the rim — without it the soufflé rises lopsided.Bake 14 minutes and serve at once
Bake at 190°C for 13–14 minutes on the bottom shelf, without opening the oven. The soufflé should rise 3–5 cm and wobble slightly in the middle. Dust with icing sugar and serve within two minutes — after that it starts to sink.
Ingredients: 5 pcs egg whites · 70 g sugar · ¼ pcs lemon · 1 tbsp icing sugar
TipSinking is inevitable and natural. The soufflé is not faulty — it is simply eaten immediately.
Before you start
Prepare ahead
Filled ramekins keep 30 minutes in the fridge before baking. Add 2 minutes to the baking time then.
Serving
Make a hole in the centre with a spoon and drop in a scoop of ice cream or pour in a spoonful of cream. Hot soufflé and cold ice cream is the classic pairing.
It did not rise enough
The usual causes: over-whipped meringue, over-folding, or opening the oven. All three are fixable on the next attempt.
