Bittersweet Chocolate Soufflé
Updated May 2, 2025
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ½cup/114 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), softened, plus more for coating dish
- 4tablespoons/50 grams granulated sugar, plus more for coating dish
- 8ounces/225 grams bittersweet chocolate (60 to 65 percent cacao), finely chopped
- 6eggs, separated, at room temperature
- Pinch fine sea salt
- ½teaspoon cream of tartar
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
411 calories; 31 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 33 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 29 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 92 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Remove wire racks from oven and place a baking sheet directly on oven floor. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter a 1½-quart soufflé dish. Coat bottom and sides thoroughly with sugar, tapping out excess. For the best rise, make sure there is sugar covering all the butter on the sides of the dish.
- Step 2
In a medium bowl, melt chocolate and butter either in the microwave or in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Let cool only slightly (it should still be warm), then whisk in egg yolks and salt.
- Step 3
Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar at medium speed until the mixture is fluffy and holds very soft peaks. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until whites hold stiff peaks and look glossy.
- Step 4
Gently whisk a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in remaining whites in two additions, then transfer batter to prepared dish. Rub your thumb around the inside edge of the dish to create about a ¼-inch space between the dish and the soufflé mixture.
- Step 5
Transfer dish to baking sheet in the oven, and reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake until soufflé is puffed and center moves only slightly when dish is shaken gently, about 25 to 35 minutes. (Do not open oven door during first 20 minutes.) Bake it a little less for a runnier soufflé and a little more for a firmer soufflé. Serve immediately.
Private Notes
Comments
If you split it up into six ramekins, what would the bake time be?
Halved the recipe and split to four small ramekins. Baked for 9 mins. Turned out perfectly despite my first attempt.
Check your owner's manual before placing the pan on the oven floor. On mine, it warped the enameled bottom, leading to a costly repair. The (expensive) souffles were excellent, however.
Made the recipe as described, and the whole recipe was amazing! Despite checking the temperature of the melted chocolate/butter mixture multiple times before adding the egg yolks, it seems as if I did it too early, as the yolk seemed to cook/thicken up a bit more than I would have hoped and the final result was slightly more dense than I would have hoped. Next time I’ll swap steps 2 & 3, in order to finish whipping the meringue (which takes a lot longer with a hand mixer) first and then will make the chocolate/butter/yolk mixture, which comes together much more quickly.
I have made hundreds of chocolate and savory soufflés at home--possibly more than anyone else in Italy as Italians don't make French food. (You will not find a proper soufflé dish in even the best-stocked kitchen stores in Rome.) I never put the dish on the bottom of the oven, not even on an upside-down sheet pan which the video shows. I use the lowest rack position. They always come out fine, with no risk of burning the bottom.
It blew up my oven.