As promised, I attempted soufflé this weekend. The recipe I used was Gordon Ramsay's hot chocolate soufflé recipe. Mine didn't rise nearly as much as his did, starting from this:
And turning into this. So it rose about 3cms.
I think one of the things I goofed was the ganache. The cream seemed to separate a bit, so I must have heated it up too much. I also don't think my oven was hot enough, despite the fact that I had the thermometer in there, as the first time I took the soufflés out, they were still uncooked inside.
However, despite the lack of rising, the texture was still really nice, and they were very soft and airy on the inside, a bit like a mousse cake. I'm not sure if that's what it meant to be like, as I've never had a soufflé before, but it looked really pretty.
I ended up eating one (even though it's pretty much all egg, with some dairy as well), and I can't say I understand what the fuss is about. Sure, it's definitely something that's difficult to get right, but when it comes to the taste, I'd much rather eat a fudge brownie. I would still like to get it right though, but since most recipes seem to be for 4 of them, it's not really something I can cook for just me and MrFodder. We currently have two of them covered in plastic wrap and sitting in the fridge at the moment. I'm not sure if that's how you're meant to store them, though I don't think soufflés are something that you store anyway. They have very much deflated, and look like some sad cupcakes.
So I don't think I have passed the soufflé boss yet. In a way, I'm a bit glad, as I don't really know where to go from here. Pharmacist says his dad considers béarnaise sauce one of the most difficult things to get right, so maybe that's next, I am determined to conquer this dessert though. People keep asking me what my end-game with all this cooking is, and whether I plan to open a cafe or something like that. I find it a bit of a weird question, as cooking is really just a hobby for me.
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