Recipe Corner

Decadent Chocolate Soufflé

From Cleveland Clinic Healthy Heart Lifestyle Guide and Cookbook

Soufflés sound intimidating, but they are easy to prepare. And you can have everything ready to put together before the guests arrive. From that point, the soufflés can be on the table in15 minutes. If you don’t want to use liquor, substitute ½ teaspoon vanilla extract. Either way, you have a haute cuisine dessert that can be made with ease.

Ingredients – Makes 4 servings

• 1/1/2 teaspoons trans-free margarine
• 1/4 cup (48 g) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon toasted almonds, ground
• 3 tablespoons (42.5 g) plus 1 teaspoon good-quality cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons water
• 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon cognac
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar 12 strawberries, each berry sliced thin and fanned

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375° F.( 190°C, Gas Mark 5) Grease four 6-ounce (170 g) individual soufflé cups with margarine.
• Mix 1 teaspoon sugar with ground almonds and 1 teaspoon of the cocoa powder.
• Coat the insides and bottom of soufflé cups, tapping the sides to make sure they are coated; set aside.
• Heat water in a small nonstick pot with remaining sugar.
• Bring to a simmer and cook until the mixture becomes thick, about 3 minutes.
• Do not allow the mixture to color.
• Brush down sugar crystals on the sides of the pot with a wet pastry brush; as it thickens the mixture will be quite hot, so be careful.
• While the sugar and water are simmering, beat the egg whites until stiff. While continuing to beat, slowly add the hot sugar syrup into the beaten egg whites.
• Add the 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, cognac, and cinnamon.
• Spoon into the soufflé cups, tapping each cup to make sure there are no bubbles.
• Bake for 10 minutes until the soufflés have puffed and are set.
• Immediately place the soufflés on dessert plates.
• Sift the confectioners’ sugar over the tops and decorate plates with 3 fanned, sliced strawberries on each plate.
• Serve immediately.

Nutrition Information (Per Serving)

Cleveland Clinic teamed with James Beard Award-winning cookbook authors Bonnie Sanders Polin and Frances Towner Giedt to create a complete and easy-to-follow plan for preventing heart disease: Cleveland Clinic Healthy Heart Lifestyle Guide and Cookbook.

Polin and Giedt developed outstanding recipes that taste too good to be good for you (but are) ranging from Thai Swordfish in Red Curry Sauce to Grilled Chicken Breasts with Warm Balsamic Strawberries, Herbed Roasted Beef Tenderloin, and even New York-Style Cheesecake. A week’s worth of menus for each of the three caloric plans also has been included to take the guesswork out of eating from morning to night.

Backed by the reputation of Cleveland Clinic, this all-in-one guide provides instructions on an easy, enjoyable way for people to care for their hearts and live longer, healthier lives. The cookbook is available at select bookstores and online at randomhouse.com.