Rich yet light Chocolate Soufflés for Two are the perfect romantic Valentine's Day dessert! Recipe can be made ahead of time (scroll to learn how).
Yield:
2 soufflés
Prep Time:10minutes
Cook:20minutes
Tessa's Recipe Rundown...
Taste: I love the combination of chocolate and raspberry and it’s absolutely perfect for Valentine’s Day. Texture: Like eating a chocolate cloud in heaven.
Ease: Surprisingly easy yet impressive. I’ve made this recipe a handful of times without any fails. Appearance: Unfortunately as the soufflés cool they begin to drop and lose their height the moment they’re removed from the oven, so they should be served immediately. Pros: Absolutely divine yet totally doable. Cons: None. Would I make this again? I’ve already made this recipe countless times!
One evening a few months ago we were sitting on the couch, staring at our laptop screens. I was suddenly hit with the intense urge to make something delightfully chocolate-y.
I quietly made my way to the kitchen and quickly whipped up the batter while the oven preheated. About twenty five minutes later I delivered two chocolate soufflés to the coffee table and completely surprised my man, who exclaimed, “Where did these come from?!”
There’s no better surprise than an indulgent homemade treat. You can surprise your honey for Valentine’s Day with these perfect chocolate soufflés because they are surprisingly quick to make and bake and the batter can be made ahead of time, refrigerated, and baked off later. There’s really no excuse not to make chocolate soufflés.
And you know what? I won’t tell your significant other just how easy these are to make if you don’t. Let them think you slaved away in the kitchen 😉
Chocolate Soufflé Baking Tips
Ingredients
This is a simple recipe so use the best quality ingredients that you can get, especially when it comes to the chocolate. I love to use and always recommend Ghirardelli baking chocolate, it’s delicious and readily available at most grocery stores!
Baking
Soufflés are notoriously finicky and prone to collapsing quickly. However, I’ve never once had this recipe fail for me. Not even when I made it in my Breville toaster oven (which truly is more like a mini oven than a toaster), or even when I drove the unbaked soufflés over to my friends house and baked them in her oven.
Serving
The soufflés will begin to lose their height and even collapse as soon as they’re removed from the oven. For the most impressive presentation, serve literally as soon as humanly possible once you pull them out. Have your powdered sugar and raspberry sauce at the ready for this!
The powdered sugar garnish really is worth the extra minute to do. It just looks so gourmet! I like to use my handy OXO Baker’s Dusting Wand to make quick and easy work of this. Also, the raspberry sauce really does add the perfectly complementary tartness and freshness. At the very least, serve alongside fresh raspberries if you don’t have time to make the sauce.
Make Ahead
The best part about this recipe is that the batter can be prepared and poured into the ramekins, then covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day ahead of time. Bake directly from the fridge, adding up to 5 minutes to the baking time.
Rich yet light Chocolate Soufflés for Two are the perfect romantic Valentine's Day dessert! Recipe can be made ahead of time (scroll to learn how).
Ingredients
Chocolate Soufflés:
3tablespoonsunsalted butter, divided
2tablespoonsunsweetened cocoa powder
3ounces(85 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
2large egg yolks
2large egg whites
2tablespoonsgranulated sugar
Pinch salt
Pinch cream of tartar
Raspberry Sauce:
5ounces(142 grams) fresh or thawed frozen raspberries
2tablespoonsgranulated sugar
Powdered sugar, for garnish
Directions
Chocolate Souffles:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to grease two 8-ounce ramekins. Coat the ramekins with cocoa powder, tapping out the excess.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, microwave the chocolate and remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in 30-second bursts, stirring between each burst, until melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla and egg yolks, one at a time.
In a clean bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar just until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg white mixture into the chocolate. Spoon into the prepared ramekins. Soufflés can be covered in plastic wrap and refrigerated at this point for up to 1 day.
Bake until puffed and set, about 20 minutes (about 25 minutes if baking directly from the refrigerator).
Raspberry Sauce:
While the souffles are baking, purée the raspberries and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender, until smooth. Press the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds.
Garnish the chocolate souffles with powdered sugar and serve immediately with raspberry sauce.
Course:
Dessert
Cuisine:
French
This recipe was originally published on 2/4/13. It was recently updated with new photos and recipe tips. Photos by Constance Higley.
About Tessa...
I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)
Diane @ Vintage Zest — February 4, 2013 at 9:28 am
Ooh! I have to blame you for the weird looks my neighbor on the plane just gave me. I squealed a tiny bit after seeing this picture. It looks sooo yummy!
I’ll have to add this to my ever growing list of recipes to cook when I get back. First your lentil soup, then the Mexican chocolate pie for sure because the boyfriend has been looking forward to both of those!
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I made these for my husband and me. They were delicious!! Its difficult to find recipes for two. I appreciate that you developed and shared this one!
Thank You!
Lisa
I made this recipe last night and absolutely loved it! I want to make it for a dinner party for 8 people do I just a multiple all the ingredients by 4? Just seems like 12 egg yolks is a lot.
Made the decision to make this last night at 5 PM, had them whipped up and in the frig in less than half hour. Cooked them while we started watching a movie (he had no idea), and he was so happy and surprised when I presented the chocolate souffles to him! As recent empty nesters, I appreciate the recipe was for two, and I LOVE the fact that you can put it in the frig ahead of time!! Great recipe!!
I just made this about 30 mins ago, for myself while hubby is away. I liked it, but it was oddly cake-ish to me. Squishy cake, but cake like. I have gotten into souffles recently and all the other ones I have made have more of a roux base that you cook, and a lighter fluffier texture. This rose nicely and looked beautiful, but as much as I like chocolate I don’t think I will be making this again.
We agree with Di,
Definitely will not be making these again! My soufflés are usually “over the top”in taste and appearance; these failed on both accounts and were the less than I had hoped for the ending to our delicious Valentines dinner.
Love your take on the almighty chocolate souffle, but I have to say…that touch with the raspberry sauce takes your souffles to the next level…impressive recipe
I made this tonight! They turned out great! My only comment would be that it took almost 8 min to whip the egg white mixture with my hand mixer (too little liquid for my stand mixer), so I wish I had known that going into it just so I could be prepared! These were much easier than I anticipated, and I will definitely make them again -many times!
As a trained chef and cookbook author, I share trusted baking recipes your friends & family will love alongside insights into the science of sweets. I help take the luck out of baking so you *always* have delicious results! Learn more here.
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And you know what? I won’t tell your significant other just how easy these are to make if you don’t. Let them think you slaved away in the kitchen 😉
Ooh! I have to blame you for the weird looks my neighbor on the plane just gave me. I squealed a tiny bit after seeing this picture. It looks sooo yummy!
I’ll have to add this to my ever growing list of recipes to cook when I get back. First your lentil soup, then the Mexican chocolate pie for sure because the boyfriend has been looking forward to both of those!
I’ve made chocolate souffles before and it’s the best excuse for chocolate ever. Yours looks fabulous!
Chocolate souffles are one of life’s little pleasures, they’re just so darn good! You totally have me craving one now!
These chocolate souffles look adorable! 😀
Another one of your must try recipes, stumbled across your site a few months ago, glad I did. Love the emails.
These look wonderful! Perfect for Valentine’s day…or even just a loooong day at work!
how many calories in each?
SO delicious, hit with my dad and sis, very easy.
The process of buying a car can be extremely taxing.
Some people might not know a lot about cars,
but there are others who know too much and constantly feel like they aren’t getting a good deal. You can get the best car at the best price by following this advice.
Can I double the recipe?
Sure!
I made these for my husband and me. They were delicious!! Its difficult to find recipes for two. I appreciate that you developed and shared this one!
Thank You!
Lisa
I made this recipe last night and absolutely loved it! I want to make it for a dinner party for 8 people do I just a multiple all the ingredients by 4? Just seems like 12 egg yolks is a lot.
What size ramekin?? Looks delicious!
Looks delicious! What size ramekins to use, please?
Anna, the first sentence in the directions specifically say (2) 8-oz ramekins.
All this, AND you have a Breville smart oven? Something’s really not fair. 😉
Haha! I’ve had it for YEARS. Bought it when I worked at Sur la Table in college with my employee discount 😉
Made the decision to make this last night at 5 PM, had them whipped up and in the frig in less than half hour. Cooked them while we started watching a movie (he had no idea), and he was so happy and surprised when I presented the chocolate souffles to him! As recent empty nesters, I appreciate the recipe was for two, and I LOVE the fact that you can put it in the frig ahead of time!! Great recipe!!
LOVE this, Lisa! So glad you and your man enjoyed the recipe.
I just made this about 30 mins ago, for myself while hubby is away. I liked it, but it was oddly cake-ish to me. Squishy cake, but cake like. I have gotten into souffles recently and all the other ones I have made have more of a roux base that you cook, and a lighter fluffier texture. This rose nicely and looked beautiful, but as much as I like chocolate I don’t think I will be making this again.
We agree with Di,
Definitely will not be making these again! My soufflés are usually “over the top”in taste and appearance; these failed on both accounts and were the less than I had hoped for the ending to our delicious Valentines dinner.
Love your take on the almighty chocolate souffle, but I have to say…that touch with the raspberry sauce takes your souffles to the next level…impressive recipe
These look incredible and that top photo is one of the best action shots I’ve ever seen. Thank you for sharing, Tessa! 🙂
My ramekins are 7oz… :'( Will that work? Should I just put a little less batter?
Hi Tessa – please properly credit the recipe for the chocolate soufflé to Real Simple!
https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/chocolate-souffl
Hey, what do i do if I don’t have cream of tartar and also, why we don’t use flour in this recipe?
I made this tonight! They turned out great! My only comment would be that it took almost 8 min to whip the egg white mixture with my hand mixer (too little liquid for my stand mixer), so I wish I had known that going into it just so I could be prepared! These were much easier than I anticipated, and I will definitely make them again -many times!
Very decadent, super easy to make, thanks do much!
This recipe was so easy!! It tasted delicious. This was my first attempt at souffles and this was a great starter recipe. Can’t wait to try it again.
Hooray! So glad you gave this recipe a try!