Jan 12, 2015 in baking, baking with kids, chocolate, desserts. Read the original on: chefdruck.com
This post appears in the Personal Touches in the Kitchen challenge.
I rarely pass up dessert when Iâm going out to eat. Itâs that final moment of the eveningâs experience, the sweetness that lingers on your tongue as you go back out into the night. The meal would not be complete without it. Most desserts at higher end restaurants are gorgeous, almost too pretty to sink a fork into, but thereâs one dessert that stands above the rest: the souffle.
Individual souffles are pure magic, ordered at the start of the meal and dreamt about throughout, counting the minutes until it is dramatically revealed. Iâll order a souffle pretty much any time a restaurant puts it on the menu, but one stands taller than all the rest in my memory: in the famous mirror pool room of one of New York Cityâs top restaurants. This restaurantâs souffles come in a multitude of flavors: chocolate, orange liqueur, vanilla or raspberry. You need to commit to one right at the beginning of the meal. I agonized over my decision, but ended up going for the chocolate with the chocolate sauce. When the tuxedoed waiter whisked off the silver dome to reveal my souffle in all its teetering glory, I clapped, and earned the stares of a few gray haired blue bloods at the table near me.
The waiter didnât bat an eye or lift an eyebrow. He continued to treat me like a princess as he carefully inserted a silver spoon into the middle of my shuffle and poured in rich chocolate sauce. Then, never breaking his professional attitude, he carefully placed it in front of me and excused himself with a whispered, âplease enjoy madame.â It was the perfect end to a perfect meal, and when I stepped back out into the New York City night, I felt like Big Apple royalty.
My house has little in common with a high end New York City restaurant, but on the nights that I surprise my family with individual souffles, we are one stop closer. Souffles are dramatic and exciting at restaurants, but theyâre actually not hard to make at home. My recipe can be made ahead, so I can enjoy dinner with the family instead of whisking egg whites stiff as they eat. Twenty minutes before dessert, I reveal the surprise dessert of the evening, and pop the individual ramekins in the oven. As I learned in the pool room during that special dinner, the anticipation of the souffle is an important part of the magic.
The excitement on my familyâs faces is beautiful to behold. Almost as beautiful as the souffles when they come out of the oven. I may not be wearing a tuxedo or serving anyone with a silver dome, but I still get an ovation, every time.
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Read the original on: chefdruck.com
French foodie mom blogger and freelance writer living in Chicago. I live to feast, from fast food to haute cuisine.