Chipotle Chocolate Chili Soufflés

People fear Soufflés. Everyone who's attempted one has a horror story of a deflated confection, a flat, eggy mess drooping apathetically like a punctured beach ball. I've been lucky so far, but that's not to say that I don't maintain a strong respect for the dish. I've read that French chefs used copper bowls for years to whip egg whites since the copper reacts with the proteins in the eggs to so the whites maintain their stiffness. The copper reacts with proteins in the egg white to prevent denaturing. I don't have a copper bowl, so I use 1/8 of a teaspoon of sodium bitartrate (cream of tartar) with the egg whites to maintain those stiff peaks.



Ingredients:
12 ounces of dark chocolate
1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 eggs (separated)
4 additional whites
chipotle chili powder (to taste)
ancho chili powder (to taste)
cayenne pepper (to taste)
pinch cinnamon (if you feel like it)
pinch salt
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
sugar
butter

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.
2. Butter the inside each ramekin, soufflé dish, or custard cup and spoon in a teaspoon of sugar and mix it around so that it sticks to as much butter as it can. Lay out your dishes on a baking sheet.
3. You'll be combining what's basically a chocolate ganache with your egg whites later, so make sure you have a large enough bowl or double boiler here (unless you want to transfer your chocolate mixture to a larger bowl later). Put the chocolate in double boiler (or metal bowl resting atop a heavy saucepan with a bit of simmering water) and mix in the cream. When the mixture begins to smooth, stir in the chili powder, pepper, salt, and two egg yolks. When the spices are distributed evenly throughout the mixture, take it off the heat and set it aside.
4. Whip the six egg whites and mix in the cream of tartar. Keep whipping until the whites form stiff peaks.
5. Spoon a bunch of the egg white into the chocolate mixture. You're going to fold in those egg whites to make the chocolate mixture less dense. Slowly fold in the rest of the egg whites until your mixture reaches a uniform consistency. Once you have it, spoon or pour out the mixture into your ramekins. It's important for baking purposes that you spread the mixture evenly among identical bowls. I either make eight smaller soufflés or four larger ones.
6. Once you've divided the mixture up, slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes for smaller bowls or 45-60 minutes for larger ones. I haven't done these for a while, but I'll update the cook times if necessary. Keep an eye on 'em.
Note: Depending on how spicy you want your soufflés, play with the chili levels. The picture I've included was a bowl that wasn't filled up all the way. If you want that nifty raised soufflé look, fill your bowls more. Any questions, shoot us an e-mail: culination@gmail.com