Ask the Chef
Ask the Chef
Stumped by a soufflé that won’t rise properly? Have a question about the myriad of dark chocolate varieties out there? Want to know the best type of flour to use for your tart or pie crust? Just ask Chef Jean-Yves Charon, our very own Pastry Chef and Co-Founder of Galaxy Desserts. Each week we’ll post select questions and answers submitted by you, so check back often!
We thought we’d get this column started by answering our own questions. What burning questions are on your mind? Let us know!
Q: Why isn’t my chocolate soufflé rising? I followed the recipe exactly but it turned out flat. Please help! - Fearful of Soufflé
A: No reason to fear, although making a soufflé is indeed tricky! There could be several possible issues at play here. Let me address them all.
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Egg Yolks: Egg whites do not whip properly if fat is present from the egg yolk or there was any fat residue in the mixing bowl or on the whip used.
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Over-whipped Egg Whites: Meringue is egg whites that have been whipped with sugar to create foam (tiny air bubbles) of varying stiffness. When the soufflé gets hot the air inside the bubbles expands making the bubbles larger and the soufflé rise. If the egg whites/meringue are whipped too stiff and dry, the bubbles are already stretched so when heated in the oven, the soufflé initially rises but then the bubbles break, much like a balloon, and the soufflé falls.
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Under-greased Soufflé Dish: The soufflé dish was not properly prepared prior to adding the soufflé mixture. Using soft butter, thoroughly coat the inside of each souffle dish with soft butter then add granulated sugar to each dish and swirl the dish around until the sides and bottom are completely covered with sugar. Dump the remaining sugar into the next bowl and repeat until all dishes are coated with sugar.
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Serving delay: The soufflés weren't served quickly enough after removing
from the oven.
Q: I’d like to make your recipe for chocolate mousse that’s posted on your Dessert Menu page. What type of dark chocolate chips do you recommend? 62%? 85%? There are so many choices. - Confused by the dark
A: Although chocolate choices can be overwhelming, start with your own flavor preference. Do you prefer a more bittersweet or milk chocolate flavor profile? What are you serving it with? If the accompaniments are sweet then maybe you want to use a bittersweet chocolate to balance the dessert.
Once you decide which type of chocolate you prefer, there are a few chocolate basics to help guide you through the actual selection process. The percentage written on a package of chocolate means that is the amount of cocoa solids in that chocolate. For example, a 70% chocolate has 70% cocoa solids, meaning the cocoa bean itself which consists of chocolate liquor and cocoa butter. The remaining quantity is almost all sugar, often with a small amount of vanilla and lecithin, which helps with the flow of the chocolate. One problem with percentages: Cacao is a plant and like every other thing we grow to eat varies depending on soil, weather conditions etc. With that said, for a 70% chocolate you really don't know how much of that is cocoa solids and how much is cocoa butter because it isn't required to put that on a label. Because we don't know those two factors, two 70% chocolates can have different flow qualities (more cocoa butter) or stronger flavor profiles (more cocoa solids). Play around and get a feel for what you love. Isn’t that why we make desserts:
for the fun of it?
Q: I have read that using pastry flour makes a better pie crust than regular all-purpose flour that you find at the grocery store. Why is that, and what type of flour do you recommend?
- Seeking crust perfection
A: This is a very common question! Flour contains a protein called gluten. Flour with higher quantities of gluten is used primarily for breads. We want pie crust to be tender so we use cake flour or pastry flour because they contain less gluten than does all purpose or bread flour. They also contain a higher percentage of starch, which is what we want in pie crusts, because it helps to keep it tender.
If you only have all purpose flour but want to make pie crust, you can use 90% all purpose flour and 10% cornstarch, providing of course, that you have cornstarch in your pantry.
Mix the two together well prior to cutting the fat in.
