PUBLISHED May 7th, 2020 05:00 am | UPDATED May 27th, 2020 09:10 am
The current lockdown has got many of us beating the stay-home blues with whisk, blender, and a newfound passion for the kitchen. To tide you through this whole month of circuit breaker, we’ve cooked up a recipe column highlighting simple, scrumptious creations from the world’s top chefs and tasty boozy cocktails courtesy of our bartender friends. Each day, you can look forward to one lockdown-friendly recipe requiring as little as five ingredients – plus a pinch of daring on your part.
Our inaugural edition of Lockdown Cookup kicks off sinful with Jean Sulpice’s Mousse Soufflée au Chocolat. Feted as the youngest-ever French chef to have received a Michelin star, Chef Sulpice is known for bringing his love for nature to his gastronomy – ventures under his belt include mountaintop restaurant L’Oxalys and Lake Annecy inn L’Auberge du Père Bise.
He recently shared his five-ingredient recipe for chocolate soufflé on his Instagram page, and it’s a rich, delish cross between mousse and traditional soufflé. With many dessert spots now shuttered, there’s no better moment to whip up your own chocolatey fix. Here’s our translated version of his recipe in French:
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
150g dark chocolate
30g sweetened cocoa powder
6 eggs
75g butter
40g caster sugar
Method
Step 1: Preheat oven to 200°C.
Step 2: Melt dark chocolate together with cocoa powder and butter in a double boiler. Do this slowly and carefully – you don’t want water from the double boiler splashing into the mixture and making it ‘seize’.
Step 3: Crack eggs and separate the yolks and whites. Place the whites in a mixing bowl and the yolks in a bowl.
Step 4: Beat the whites to stiff peaks. Optional: add up to 75g of sugar right at the end, just before switching off the beater.
Step 5: Mix the yolks with the melted chocolate. Ensure that the chocolate has been sufficiently cooled first – yolks coagulate at around 80°C! To speed up the cooling, you can place the mixing bowl in cold water.
Step 6: Gently fold the whites into the chocolate-yolk mixture with a spatula (or spoon) in three or four stages. It’s essential not to break down the airy whites – Chef Sulpice’s personal technique is to cut through the center of the batter, scoop, and fold over.
Step 7: Pour the mixture into six to eight ramekins. It’s also possible to use a deep dish (not a tried-and-tested method, however!)
Step 8: Bake in preheated oven for eight minutes. You should be able to see the mousse rising like a soufflé.
Serve with ice-cream for maximum indulgence. And if you’d like to check it out, here’s the original recipe from Chef Sulpice:
Top Image: Jean Sulpice