Dark Chocolate Souffle with Raspberries!

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I have a deliciously easy souffle recipe that has an extra dash of summer. I first posted this in December 2014 but it's perfect for our summer berries, so I'm reposting!

But first, some pictures of current happenings. 

This is "LuLu" on her baptism day! Lulu is Cassey and Noe's new baby. You might remember them from the post on savory pumpkin rolls! Robert is now six, Franny (our godddaughter) is two, and Lulu is four months. We just love this little family and I love seeing out old babysitter being an amazing mother to her own babies. 

I snapped this pic on the way to the baptism. Spring is so pretty around Dayton, Washington.

So, here's the chocolate souffle recipe!

You'll need:
7TBS sugar
1 cup raspberries
5 TBS unsalted butter
6 oz good chocolate
1/2 tsp vanilla
5 large eggs, plus two more egg whites
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
powdered sugar for dusting

YUMMY. The kids wanted to gobble these so badly, but I was strong and sent them away. (But they did get the leftovers.)

Gratuitous chocolate picture. I'm a Lindt fan, so I just picked up a bar at the grocery store.

Melt the butter and chocolate over medium-low heat. When it's all melted, add the vanilla. Butter the ramekins and preheat the oven to 375F.
                                    
Beat the egg yolks and 3 TBS of sugar on medium speed until thick and fluffy.
                                                     
Fold the chocolate mixture into the eggs yolks.
                                         
Whip the eggs whites into stiff peaks with the pinch of salt and cream of tartar, adding the 3 TBS of sugar near the end. Carefully fold the egg whites and chocolate together.

Fold the chocolate and the egg yolk mixture together.
I know, there's a lot of folding and beating, but not in that order. I think the key to a good souffle is understanding that the beating is serious business. And the folding is serious business. And never the twain shall meet...

Until the ramekin. Here 'tis, filled with sugared raspberries. It's been buttered, and then dusted with sugar. Mmmmm.... I could eat it just like this. A bite of chocolate, a bite of raspberry. That's all. But that's not very festive and the guests might appreciate more of a presentation. We'll keep the chocolate/raspberry noshing to visits with good friends.

So, spoon (not beat or fold, that's a relief) the mixture into the ramekin.

Run your finger along the edge. This makes it form that little "top hat" when it's cooking. So much prettier. And remember, we're trying to be presentable. Little known fact: souffles can be chilled in the fridge for up to one whole day. So, this is a good dessert to pop into the oven while everyone is having their main course (and you're not standing in the kitchen). Then they come out pretty and warm and ready...

Set the ramekins in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. You can poke the top to see if it's done, but with the raspberries inside, it's hard to tell, so it's best to wiggle them a little and see if the center jiggles. If it's puffed up and the center jiggles just a little, they're done!

Don't overcook. They'll still be edible, but the edges will be harder and crustier. We want light and fluffy.

And a picture of the bottom layer. I thought the raspberries might not cook enough but the were perfectly melded into the chocolate. What a pairing!


 So, that's my post for this week! I hope everyone is having a wonderful post Memorial Day weekend (only two days, how terrible) as we head into summer. Be sure to drop by my author page at Mary Jane Hathaway, or my other author page at Virginia Carmichael, or my blog at The Things That Last! All my newest book news and musings is there, including anything silly that strikes my fancy!

Post RWA15: Chocolate, Your Sweet Tooth and Chromium

Remember last week when I posted about that darn sweet tooth of mine and lamented (not really) heading into RWA where I would be served dessert after dessert after dessert?

You saw all the yummy dessert pictures in Mindy's post yesterday and I'm sure Missy has some coming up so I won't taunt you with any - yet.

Actually, I'm not just being nice. I was too busy enjoying myself to even remember to take pictures!


I noticed something with all those sweets though - many of them were dark chocolate and I found myself not eating all that much of them. It wasn't because they didn't taste good. They were sinfully delicious. But they were filling. A few bites satisfied that nasty sweet tooth.

I'm borrowing Tina's pictures from Death by Chocolate.

 

I got to wondering why I couldn't eat more than a few bites of each. So I did what any good writer would do  -  research!

In this case, the research was a bit of tying together what I had read in several different places. Several years ago, I read a really interesting article indicating that perhaps a chromium deficiency was responsible for people's cravings for sugar.

When I went to look for that article to write this post, I came across some other articles that tied it all together. Bear with me for the science part. I promise there is a payoff.

According to the article:

Chromium is a factor in blood sugar and cholesterol regulation, and is necessary for the metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Low chromium levels can thus lead to elevated blood sugar, cholesterol and triglycerides, or blood fats, explains the University of Maryland Medical Center. This raises the risk for disorders such as diabetes and heart disease.

I've read that between 80 - 90% of Americans are deficient in Chromium. That same article included this sentence: "Eating large amounts of simple sugars also can lead to chromium deficiency."

*insert heavy sigh*

Even my sugar befuddled brain can see the Catch 22 here. Lack of chromium makes you crave sugar, but too much sugar leads to a chromium deficiency.

So, a little knowledge is good, right? But what can we do with that knowledge to interrupt this vicious sugar cycle?

This is where it gets good.   

 A little more research yielded this good news:

All chocolate is made from the raw cacao bean! Cacao is the seed of a fruit of an Amazonian tree that was brought to Central America during or before the time of the Olmecs. Cacao beans were so revered by the Mayans and Aztecs that they used them as money!

Okay, I knew that, but did you know that cacao contains chromium?

Okay, bad news - I have to give a little disclaimer. My research also yielded this article that cautions that eating products made with cacao will not help you lose weight or be healthy because of all the other things in the treats. She says to beware of misleading claims and I certainly don't want to mislead my Yankee Bell pals. 

So, what do we take away from this - 

In my opinion - moderation in all things is good. If I can snack on a bit of dark chocolate and that will keep me from running to the freezer or cupboard all night in search of ice cream or cookies or candy, then it IS a good thing and not at all misleading.

So what can we eat that will give us the taste we crave without the bad stuff?

Well. there are cacao nibs. 

They are described by the company as "nature's chocolate chips"

 But we can drink it too. Remember the post Jan Drexler did back in 2013 Not Your Children's Hot Chocolate. See, Jan was onto something!  

But if you're not a fan of chocolate, according to this article by Emilia Klapp on ShareCare:

There are small amounts of chromium in most foods. However, dark chocolate (made with a high proportion of cocoa) is rich in chromium, carrying roughly 10 times the amount of the chromium in whole grains. Whole-grain products still are excellent sources of chromium, as are:

• Beef and calves’ liver
• Chicken and eggs
• Fish and seafood
• Dairy products
• Walnuts
• Lettuce, broccoli, onions, and apples
• Potatoes with skin
• Brewer’s yeast

So what do you think? 

I'm going to try this experiment and see if eating a bit of dark chocolate or cacao can fend off that sweet tooth. I'll let you know how it works out.  In the meantime, I'd love to hear experiences anyone else has had.