I learned to cook by watching Jacques Pépin and then cooking A LOT in my kitchen, as I didn’t go to cooking school. These simple soufflés with my spin of annatto and bitter orange are easy to make and, if you are worried about timing, you can cook them ahead, let them settle–they will deflate as they cool–and serve them warm.

Bitter Orange-Chocolate Soufflés

Recipe details

Serves

4 to 6

If you can find bitter orange, the citrus that grows wild in Puerto Rico, use it, but my mixture using the zest or grapefruit, orange, lime and lemon works really well as a substitute.

Ingredients

For the Soufflés

  • ¾ cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon annatto seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  • ¼ teaspoon finely grated lime zest
  • ¼ teaspoon finely grated orange zest
  • ¼ teaspoon finely grated grapefruit zest
  • 4 ounces Scharffen Berger semisweet chocolate (62 percent), chopped into ½-inch pieces
  • 4 large egg whites at room temperature
  • Pinch salt
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

 

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, for coating the ramekins
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, for coating the ramekins

For the Bitter Orange Cream Sauce

  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon grapefruit juice
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

 

  • Lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit zest, for garnish

Method

  1. In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat the cream and annatto seed just until it is steaming. Remove from the heat and let steep for 20 minutes. Put back on the heat and return it to steaming, pour through a fine sieve set over a bowl to remove the annatto seed. Stir in the lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit zest and let steep for 10 minutes.
  2. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400°F. Grease four 6-ounce or six 4-ounce ramekins with the butter and coat with the sugar, rotating each ramekin to ensure that they are evenly coated.
  3. Set a bowl with the chocolate over a saucepan filled with 2-inches water to make a double boiler, over medium heat. Make sure that the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove the chocolate from the heat and pour in the annatto-zest infused cream, whisking until smooth.
  4. In a separate glass, stainless or copper bowl, whisk the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Sprinkle in the sugar and whisk again until glossy with stiff peaks.
  5. Working in 3 batches, gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until there are no streaks of white remaining. Divide the soufflé mixture evenly among the prepared ramekins. Set the soufflés on a baking sheet and bake until they are just set in the center, 10 to 13 minutes.
  6. While the soufflés are baking, make the bitter orange cream sauce. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, grapefruit, orange, lime and lemon juices and sugar, mixing until smooth.
  7. Remove the soufflés from the oven. Immediately drizzle with the sauce, sprinkle with some of the zest and serve. You can also let them sit, they will deflate a little, but serve them warm.

Annatto is an orange-red seed, native to Puerto Rico and tropical parts of the Americas, that tastes a little sweet and a little peppery. Derived from the achiote tree, it’s used as a food coloring as well as a flavoring.