French dessert Archives - Spice Up Your Life

Making this chocolate caramel pecan souffle takes some time and energy, but the deep bitter chocolate flavor, along with the sweetness of homemade caramel and the nuttiness of pecans makes all the effort worth it.

If you have been reading my column for very long, you might remember a fancy lemon tart I made last year about this time.

It was a French recipe and included making everything from scratch. I decided to try it as a donation to one of our local non-profits, Peace Connections, for their annual soup supper and dessert auction.

When the group contacted me this year to see if I wanted to come up with another dessert for the auction, I turned to my “complicated” list to see what I should make.

With most of the recipes I choose, I try to pick things that are fairly easy for anyone to make and don’t take hours in the kitchen to create, but my feeling on dessert auctions is that I want to make a recipe that most people have no desire to try to do themselves but would gladly pay for the opportunity to try.

So I decided this was my week to try something I have never made before: a souffle.

I was intimidated by the project, but I figured that the auction isn’t until next week, and this was just my test run, so if I failed miserably, I had time to come up with a new idea.

But it turned out really, really well, and in case you can’t make it to the auction, I’m sharing the recipe so you can try it, too.

This comes from the blog “Bake or Break” by Jennifer McHenry. You can find the original post at https://bakeorbreak.com/2012/09/chocolate-caramel-pecan-souffle-cake/. I actually followed this recipe to the letter, because making a souffle for the first time scared me.

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Souffle

Making this chocolate caramel pecan souffle takes some time and energy, but the deep bitter chocolate flavor, along with the sweetness of homemade caramel and the nuttiness of pecans makes all the effort worth it.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Keyword bittersweet chocolate, bourbon, caramel, fancy dessert, pecans, semisweet chocolate chips, souffle, vanilla

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter melted
1 cup butter room temperature
1 cup superfine sugar divided, plus extra for coating pan
16 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped (I used bittersweet)
8 eggs separated, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Caramel Ingredients

1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
pinch cream of tartar
1 cup pecan halves
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons bourbon

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Brush the melted butter generously over the entire inside of a 10-inch springform pan.
Pour about a tablespoon of superfine sugar into the coated pan and rotate it until the entire inside is coated with a thin layer of sugar (add a little more to the pan, as needed). Tap out any excess sugar and set the pan aside.
Add the cup of butter and chocolate to a large, microwave-safe mixing bowl, and microwave for 90 seconds at half power. Stir the mixture, and if it’s not yet melted, microwave at half power again, 30 seconds at a time and stirring after each time, until the mixture is smooth and everything is melted together. Set the chocolate aside.
In another mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and salt on medium speed until the mixture is smooth. While continuing to beat the mixture, slowly add 1/2 cup of the superfine sugar, and continue to beat until the mixture turns a pale yellow color. This will take several minutes.
Beat in the bourbon and vanilla, and then hand stir the egg mixture into the melted chocolate.
In another mixing bowl, add the egg whites and the cream of tartar (it’s recommended to use a stainless steel bowl for this). Start with your mixer on low and beat until the egg whites are a bit foamy, then turn the speed up to high and beat until peaks begin to form. Add in the other 1/2 cup of superfine sugar, a little at a time, continuing to beat the mixture on high, and once it forms stiff peaks, you’re ready for the next step.
Stir about one-third of the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture until all of the white disappears, and then gently fold the rest of the eggs into it, just mixing until all of the white is incorporated but being careful to keep the mixture as airy as you can.
Pour the batter to the springform pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cake puffs up, the top is firm, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.
Let the souffle cool for at least 15 minutes before removing the sides of the pan. (Don’t worry if it falls a bit while it cools; that’s supposed to happen, and we’ll cover it all up with caramel soon.)
While the cake cools, make the caramel. In a heavy saucepan, add the sugar, water and cream of tartar and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the sugar is fully dissolved.
Turn the heat up to high and let the mixture boil for several minutes, continuing to stir intermittently, until it turns a deep amber. Remove it from the heat as soon as it reaches that color so that it doesn’t burn.
Off the heat, stir in the pecans, cream and salt. (Mine fizzed up a bit when I did this. Just keep stirring.)
Put the pan back on low heat and stir continuously for about five minutes or until the caramel thickens. Stir in the bourbon, and continue to stir for a couple more minutes until the sauce thickens again. You’re looking for a gooey consistency like an ice cream topping.
Pour the caramel mixture evenly over the cake, and let the cake cool completely before serving. Store in an airtight container.

This was definitely a several-hour project, but not only did my souffle turn out beautifully, it was absolutely delicious, too. It was extremely decadent with the bitter chocolate and the sweet caramel. It was amazing with a cup of coffee, and I bet it would be great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, too. This is one of those desserts where a small piece is the perfect amount because of how rich it is.

And if you don’t want to try to make this one yourself, I’ll be making another that could be yours.

The Peace Connections soup supper begins at 5:30 p.m. and is by donation. The dessert auction will go from 6:15 to 7 p.m. Everything will take place Thursday, Feb. 29, at Newton Nazarene Church, 1000 N Main St., Newton, and the proceeds will benefit Harvey County Circle of Hope, which helps community members reach financial stability. You can learn more at peaceconnections.org.

Plus, I can cross a souffle off my list, along with a French cream tart. Now I just have to figure out what I’ll make next year.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 22, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

French Lemon Cream Tart

This French lemon cream tart is the perfect balance between sweet and tart, with a crispy, shortbread-like crust to top off the experience.It takes a bit of effort to make, but the time commitment is worth it.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Keyword butter, fancy dessert, fresh berries, fresh lemon, heavy cream, lemon cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, powdered sugar, shortbread, tart, vanilla

Ingredients

Crust Ingredients

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons heavy whipping cream
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter cold

Filling Ingredients

1 cup sugar
5 to 6 medium-sized lemons
4 eggs
1 cup plus 5 tablespoons butter room temperature

For Decoration

fresh berries I used blackberries and raspberries
powdered sugar

Instructions

To prepare the crust, add the cream, yolk and vanilla to a small bowl. Whisk them together and set it aside.
In a food processor, pulse the flour, powdered sugar and salt a few times to combine them. Cut the cold butter into chunks and pulse it in with the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Turn the processor on low and stream in the egg mixture. As soon as the dough starts to come together in the food processor, turn it off and dump the contents onto a clean countertop. Gently press the dough together, trying not to handle it too much so you don’t melt the butter.
Form the dough into a six-inch disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Once the dough is chilled, roll it out into a large circle on a well-floured surface until it is about one-eighth-inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 10-inch tart pan and press the dough into all the nooks and crannies of the pan. Fold about one inch of the overhanging dough over to create thicker sides and press those in, too. Trim off any excess dough.
Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork and place the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
To bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a large sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray and place it, spray side down, in the cold crust, lining it with the foil. Fill the area with dry beans or pie weights. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil and weights and bake for another five to 10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
Let the crust cool completely before filling it.
For the filling, combine the sugar and zest from about five lemons (you’ll want to get at least four tablespoons worth of zest) in a bowl. Stir until they are well combined.
Juice the lemons into a measuring cup until you have 3/4 cup of juice, and add it to the sugar mixture, along with the eggs. Whisk the mixture until it’s well combined, and add it to a medium-sized saucepan.
Turn the heat to low-medium and monitor the temperature with a candy thermometer, whisking constantly, until it reaches 180 degrees. (If the temperature stalls out, carefully turn the burner temperature up a bit at a time. Be careful not to heat it too quickly, or your eggs will clump up.)
Once the mixture is up to temp, remove it from the heat and pour it into a sieve over a bowl. This will remove all the zest and any lumps formed in the cooking process.
Let the mixture cool for at least 10 minutes.
Pour the filling into a food processor and turn it on low speed. Add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, letting the mixture process for at least one minute between each addition. Once all the butter is added, process for another three to five minutes.
Pour the filling into a clean bowl and gently press a piece of plastic wrap on the top of the cream so it doesn’t form a skin. Place it in the refrigerator for at least four hours.
To assemble the tart, stir the cream (it should be thick), and add it to the crust, smoothing it out evenly with a spoon or offset spatula.
Place a piece of plastic wrap pressed on top of the cream and refrigerate for at least 30 more minutes.
Before serving, top with fresh berries and a sprinkling of powdered sugar, if so desired. Refrigerate any leftovers.