Connoisseur Jon's Chocolate Soufflé Cupcakes

For the great cupcake battle, I decided to make “French cupcakes” by making some cup-sized chocolate soufflés in ramekins.  Yes, a bit of a stretch, I know, but as the French say, “C’est la vie.”   Here’s the recipe I used, grabbed from the book “Desserts” by contributing editor Rosemary Wilkinson:

Soufflés:

6 oz. semisweet chocolate

2/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into tbsp.

4 eggs, separated

2 tbsp. Cointreau

¼ tsp. cream of tartar

3 tbsp. superfine sugar

White Chocolate Sauce:

3 oz. white chocolate

6 tbsp. heavy whipping cream

2 tbsp. Cointreau

½ orange zest, grated

First, I decided to make a double batch, so I took out 12 ramekins and doubled all of the ingredients.  Then, I buttered the ramekins, dusted them with superfine sugar, and put them on a baking sheet. 

After that, I melted the chocolate and butter over low heat until smooth, and then removed it from the heat.  After it had cooled slightly, I beat in the egg yolks and Cointreau.  Then I set the oven to 425.

In my KitchenAid mixer, I whipped the egg whites until frothy, added the cream of tartar, and then turned the mixer up to eleven, as it were, adding the superfine sugar until it was fully integrated.  I continued to whip until the whites were stiff and glossy, and then stopped whipping.

Next, I added 1/3 of the egg white mixture to the chocolate and stirred until integrated.  The remaining 2/3 of the egg whites were folded in with a spatula to maintain soufflé volume. 

Then, I spooned the mixture into the ramekins and baked them for 10-12 minutes until they had risen and set, but were still a bit wobbly in the center.

I let these cool, and then served them with the white chocolate sauce, which was make by melting the white chocolate with the cream, and then removing it from the low heat and adding Cointreau and orange rind.  The sauce was served warm.  When I make these again, I will be more careful about the amount of Cointreau in the sauce, as it was a bit boozy.  The soufflés, however, were trés magnifique, and I cannot recommend them highly enough.  Bon Appetit!