Chocolate-Yogurt Souffles

This ended up quite a bit different than the recipe intended. Namely, this was supposed to be a chilled mousse. Well, we had an issue with bringing the egg whites up to temperature and, in certain parts of the bowl, the egg whites started to cook, which wasn't going to work.

Well, you can't eat raw egg whites either. So we decided, with the chocolate-yogurt mixture already sitting there, that something had to be done. Souffles are essentially baked mousses, so that's what we did.

We had made this in advance hoping to chill the mousses. To make souffles, you really ought to do the egg whites near the time of baking them. We couldn't be bothered, and made the whole thing and chilled them until we needed them. Had we done the egg whites closer to baking time, I'm sure they would have risen higher.

How did it eat? Pretty good, but it could have used some kind of sweet sauce; something like a custard or fruit coulis. Other than that, hot and chocolate-y.

The following recipe makes 8 (we cut it in half). The recipe below is for the MOUSSE. If you want to make the SOUFFLES, skip the step where you warm the egg whites, and just make meringues, and fold it into the chocolate mixture. As I said, do the meringues as close to baking time as possible and bake them for 10-12 minutes at 190C.

480 milliliters nonfat yogurt
57 g dark chocolate
45 g cocoa powder
20 g egg white
100 g sugar

Drain the yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined sieve in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

After the yogurt has drained, allow it to come to room temperature.

Melt the chocolate in a stainless-stee l bowl over simmering water. Combine the chocolate with the yogurt.

Sift the cocoa powder twice. Fold the cocoa into the yogurt mixture and warm over simmering water.

Combine the egg whites and sugar In a stainless-steel bowl. Heat to 135F/ 57C over simmering water. Remove from the heat and beat until the whites form medium peaks. Fold the meringue Into the yogurt mixture, mold, and chill until firm.

Spray the molds lightly with vegetable oil and dust with powdered sugar. Place the molds on a sheet pan lined with plastic wrap and fill with the mousse. Chill until set.