Sour Cream Soufflé with Chocolate Sauce and Strawberries
Delicate sour cream soufflés are served with chocolate and strawberries -- surely one of the most delightful mouthfuls of flavor anywhere. The sour cream and lemon zest keep the soufflés from being too sweet, providing a nice foil for the rich chocolate.
Ingredients
- Soufflés
- Egg Yolks - 4
- Confectioner’s Sugar - 1/2 cup
- Vanilla - 1 teaspoon
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- Sour Cream - flour
- Flour - 1/3 cup
- Pinch of salt
- Egg Whites - 5
- Sugar - 1/2 cup
- Chocolate Sauce
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1/2 cup
- Milk - 1/2 cup
- Baking (sweetened) chocolate - 8 ounces, chopped
- Strawberries - 1 cup, sliced in half
- Confectioner’s Sugar - 1 tablespoon
- Grand Marnier - 2 tablespoons, or other orange-flavored liqueur
- Strawberries - 4 large
Instructions
To make the soufflés: Preheat the oven to 400 F. Butter a ramekin or 3-inch-by-3-inch mold and put a teaspoon of granulated sugar inside; turn the ramekin until the sugar has coated the sides and bottom. Dump out the excess sugar. Repeat with remaining ramekins. Beat the yolks and sugar until they are pale yellow in color. Beat in the zest, vanilla, sour cream, and cornstarch. In a separate bowl, add the salt to the egg whites and beat the egg whites to soft peaks, then gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat until the whites stand in stiff glossy peaks. Gently fold a large spoonful of the beaten egg white into the sour cream mixture, then fold in the remaining egg whites; fold gently to avoid breaking down the volume of the egg whites. Spoon the soufflé mixture into the prepared ramekins. Place them in a deep baking pan and fill the pan up to the rims of the ramekins with boiling water. Carefully place in the oven and bake 12 minutes.
To make the sauce: In a heavy pan over medium heat, warm the cream and milk until they steam. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute, then gently stir together.
To prepare the strawberries: Toss the strawberries, confectioner’s sugar, and Grand Marnier in a small bowl.
To serve: Slice the four large strawberries vertically from tip to hull, leaving attached at the hull. Fan them out and place one on each dessert plate. Spoon marinated strawberry on the plates. Drizzle chocolate sauce over the plates. Unmold the soufflés, one at a time, and place to one side of the fruit on the plates.
