MINI CHOCOLATE SOUFFLES WITH CREME ANGLAISE

A few years ago my daughter Sarah found a recipe and asked if I would make it for her birthday dessert. Birthdays are a BIG DEAL in our home! The birthday person always gets their favorite dinner, favorite dessert and many times we'll have extended family or other company in for dinner, with lots of presents and celebrating! When I agreed to making Sarah's dessert, I didn't realize it was a souffle! When I read the recipe, I was a bit apprehensive. But after it was done, I thought it was one of the easiest recipes I'd ever made! So tender, light and delicious! And the raspberries with the chocolate.... WOW!! The flavors just POP in your mouth! The batter for these souffles is all mixed in the blender! How easy is that?! You have GOT to try this one! The best part is, you can mix these up ahead of time and then just pop them in the oven when you sit down to dinner!

MINI CHOCOLATE SOUFFLES w/ CREME ANGLAISE

1 Tblsp soft butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water1 Tblsp espresso powder (I sub. instant coffee granules)
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate + 3 oz. milk chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 eggs
1 tsp. rum flavoring
12 oz. cream cheese, cut into chunks
Preheat oven to 375.
1. Coat 6 mini souffle dishes with butter (any oven safe, 8 oz glass bowl, will work). Using 1/4 cup of the sugar, distributing among the 6 dishes, sprinkle evenly with sugar.
2. Put remaining 1/2 cup sugar, bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate and water together in microwave safe bowl and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and whisk to combine.
3. Break the eggs into a blender, add the heavy cream and the rum flavoring. Blend until eggs and cream are thoroughly mixed.
4. With the blender running, scrape in the melted chocolate slowly. Add the cream cheese chunks one at a time. When batter is completely mixed, blend on high speed for a few seconds to make sure any leftover chunks of cream cheese don't get missed.
5. Pour the batter to 3/4 full, distributing evenly among the 6 dishes.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove from oven, sprinkle with powdered sugar or serve with mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries and strawberries) drizzle with creme anglaise and serve warm!


CREME ANGLAISE
(I usually double this - YES, it's THAT good!)

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 egg yolks
2 Tblsp butter

In a saucepan over med-high heat, combine cream, 1/4 sugar, whisk. In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar. When cream mixture comes to just a boil, remove from heat, whisk a small amount of hot cream into egg yolks, stir, then whisk in a bit more until the temp of the eggs gradually rises to meet the temp of the hot cream. This is called 'tempering' the eggs. If you do it too quickly you will 'cook' the eggs and ruin your sauce. So just a couple small drizzles at a time, until the eggs are warmed. Then pour warmed egg yolks into hot cream and whisk until smooth. Return this mixture to med high heat and cook, stirring constantly until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm over mini chocolate souffles and assorted berries.

TIRAMISU

I love Italian food, and have always wanted to make 'real' Tiramisu. The last event I catered was our church's formal Winter banquet. The theme was "A Night to Remember" and it was decorated in Italian flair, complete with red & white checked tablecloths, drippy candles, imported cheeses, grapes and big crusty loaves of bread w/ seasoned olive oil. I served Chicken Marsala, Mozzarella stuffed meatballs, Angel hair pasta, Strawberry lemonade salad, Garlic bread, and then Tiramisu for dessert. If you like coffee flavored desserts, then you will love this. So easy to put together too.

TIRAMISU

3 egg yolks
3 1/2 oz. white sugar
8 oz. Mascarpone cheese (sub: softened Cream cheese)
16 oz. cream, whipped
(if you're pressed for time, you can use cool whip - but the REAL thing is so much better!)
8 1/2 oz. strong espresso or 3 tsp. of strong instant coffee in 250 ml of hot water
20 Lady fingers (can find these in the ethnic section of your local grocery store)
1 3/4 oz. cocoa powder

Cook egg yolks and sugar over hot water until thin (to do this, fill a saucepan 1/3 of the way with hot water, place pan over med-high heat, then place a mixing bowl in the top of the pan, making sure it doesn't touch the water. Then place the eggs and sugar in the mixing bowl and continue). After eggs are thinned and heated, add them to the Mascarpone cheese (or softened cream cheese), add whipped cream and gently stir until well combined. Dip lady fingers in coffee, layer in pan, cover with cream mixture, add another layer of dipped lady fingers and cream mixture. Refrigerate until firm. Before serving, dust with cocoa powder (do this by holding a small mesh seive over a bowl, place a couple of tablespoons of cocoa in the seive. Gently move over the top of the pan of Tiramisu and begin tapping the edge of the seive as you move it evenly over the top of the dessert.