Chocolate Rose-Scented Soufflé
A light and airy chocolate soufflé delicately perfumed with rose geranium syrup, served warm with rose-scented whipped cream.
Ingredients
Rose Geranium Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 10-12 rose geranium leaves
Souffle
- ½ cup half-and-half cream
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate (broken into pieces)
- 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate (broken into pieces)
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 pinches salt
- 5 extra-large eggs (separated)
- ¼ cup rose or rose geranium syrup
- whipping cream (for serving)
- rose geranium flowers or candied rose petals (for garnish)
Instructions
Syrup
- Combine in a small saucepan, bruising the leaves against the side of the pan with a spoon.1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 10-12 rose geranium leaves
- Place over moderate heat and bring to a boil.
- Cover, remove from heat and let stand for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove the leaves and squeeze them into the syrup to extract their flavor. This syrup can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 month or frozen for up to 1 year.
Souffle
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter six 1-cup ramekins or custard cups and sprinkle lightly with sugar.
- Combine cream, chocolates, sugar, and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.1/2 cup half-and-half cream, 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 pinches salt, 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate
- Beat egg yolks, one at a time, into the chocolate mixture. Whisk in rose syrup.5 extra-large eggs, 1/4 cup rose or rose geranium syrup
- In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.5 extra-large eggs
- Whisk about 1 cup of whites into chocolate mixture, then fold in remaining whites until just blended.
- Pour mixture into prepared dishes and bake 12 minutes until set.
- While the soufflés are cooking, whip ½ cup cream with 1 tablespoon sugar until almost stiff. Add 1 tablespoon rose syrup and adjust to taste.
- Remove the soufflés from the oven. Scatter a few fresh rose petals or rose geranium flowers over the soufflés if you have them, or garnish each soufflé with a candied rose petal. Serve the soufflés immediately and pass the whipping cream. (You have about 5 to 7 minutes to serve the soufflés before they start to deflate.)whipping cream, rose geranium flowers or candied rose petals
Notes
Serve immediately.
If you have leftover soufflés, you can refrigerate them and eat them the next day. Their texture will be denser, but they are still tasty served at cool room temperature.
You can make other herb-flavored syrups in the same manner. Mint-scented geranium, orange mint, peppermint, spearmint, or anise hyssop would be good in this recipe; use about five 4- or 5-inch sprigs in place of the geranium leaves.
