The tale of 3 little piggies and the Chocolate Soufflé

One Friday night, one little piggy decided that they hadn't had korean (cuisine) for a while and suggested to the other two little piggy that a little trip to the koreans was in order. So off they went to the korean restaurant nearby where they gorged themselves on a dinner of beef bulgogi, kimchi and tofu hotpot, Spicy fried chicken pieces and a plethora of side dishes.

Feeling a bit unsatisfied because dinner was only average, they decided to skip the dessert menu (at the korean restaurant) and move to another joint for dessert. So they said their farewell to the little korean lady and headed back to the parking lot where they parked their little piggy wagons.

Now, there were a fair few cafes and restaurants nearby where they could move on to for dessert, but as usual, the little piggies couldn't decide which cafe they should go so they started chatting in the parking lot. Mind you, it was about 10 degrees and Grey* piggy decided then to start talking to Orange* piggy about the up coming snow trip to Mt Hotham. (Yes, these little piggies all snowboard). Pink* piggy (who was frezzing her little piggy tail off) decide to put a stop to the conversation and said: "HALT! It's friggen freezing out here and we're talking about snow. Let's go back to pinky's place where it's nice and warm, where you two little piggies can talk about the snow and this little piggy can ponder about dessert"

Orange piggy took a bit of convincing but when Pinky told Orange how sad it was to be at home on a Friday night by his piggyself playing throwing food at other pigges on facebook.... It took a few more prodding but Orange agreed to come over for a bit.

So when they got home, Pinky decided that something warm was in order and whipped open her new Donna Hay chocolate cookbook for inspiration. Inspiration came when she flipped to page 79 and saw a photo of some mouthwatering chocolate soufflés. Pinky was instantaneously inspired and skipped to the other room (where grey and orange piggies were watching repeats of Simpsons) and promptly declared that they were going to stay at the House of Pinky for dessert and dessert was going to be Donna's chocolate soufflé.

Chocolate soufflé
from Donna Hay, chocolate

Ingredients:

150g dark chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup cream (single/pouring)
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup caster sugar
6 egg whites

*extra caster sugar for dusting
*melted butter for brushing

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
2. Brush 4 ramekins (1 cup capacity) dishes with butter and dust the insides with sugar. (by placing 1 tbsp of sugar into the ramekin and rotating until the insides are completely coated.)
3. Melt chocolate and cream in a saucepan over low heat, when chocolate's melted and smooth, add in cocoa powder. Stir until smooth.** Remove from heat.
   
4. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Add sugar (in several batches) and continue whisking until thick and glossy.
5. Fold in 1/4 of egg white through the chocolate mixture.
   
6. Once mixed, fold through the remaining egg whites.
7. Spoon into prepared ramekins.
8. Carefully tap down the dishes to release any trapped air in the ramekins. Place on a baking tray and bake for 20mins.
   

The verdict:
Pink piggy loves it! Grey piggy and Orange piggy hmm'd through it. (pink piggy will take it as they loved it) It was warm and chocolatey. Perfect dessert for a cold winter night. Serve with strawberries and dollops of cream on the side. Mmm paradise...

Pinky was a bit worried (being a sinkerphobia sufferer and all) when the soufflé came out all cracked. But a quick look at the photo in the cookbook showed that Donna's was cracked too so it was all good. =)

Notes:
*Pinky = me, Grey = Alv, Orange = Fabian. Those were the colours we were wearing that day.
**My suggestion> I had a bit of trouble with this step. Donna suggested that all three item be placed into the saucepan and melted over low heat until smooth. All I got was a brown lump of chocolate. I think it may work a bit better if the chocolate and cream were melted first and then the cocoa powder added. Feel free to tell me if I'm wrong.
***What's with the 3 little piggy? The 3 of us have been eating out a lot together the last few weeks. Hence, the inspiration for the 3 little pigs. =)