Happy Friday! This week I’m excited to share a special dessert straight from the Disney Cruise Line! Aboard all of the Disney Cruise Line Ships is Palo, an adult exclusive restaurant serving Italian inspired food. One of the highlights of a meal at Palo is dessert–their signature chocolate soufflé served warm with a rich vanilla sauce. While cruising is still on hold for the time being, you can experience the taste of the magic at home with this recipe for Palo Chocolate Soufflés straight from the chefs at Disney Cruise Line!
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Soufflés are a bit challenging as there are a few different things that can cause them to fall or not turn out. I was a bit nervous to try these but luckily I had some help this week from a special guest. My mom is a wonderful pastry chef and we love to bake together when we can. That’s been harder to do this past year or so, but this week it worked out so that we could take on this recipe together.
For these Palo Chocolate Soufflés, we highly recommend measuring out and preparing all of your ingredients in advance so that you can quickly add them in when needed. This is super helpful to do whenever you bake, but especially good to do for this recipe. There are two parts to this dessert, the chocolate soufflés and the vanilla sauce. Since the soufflés should be served soon after they finish baking, you can either make the vanilla sauce before starting the soufflés or you can make it while the soufflés are baking. We elected to make the sauce while the soufflés were baking, but either will work.
To start, preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare your ramekins. Coat the inside of the ramekins with butter and dust with granulated sugar, shaking out the excess sugar. For these soufflés, we used 4-ounce ramekins. Set the prepared ramekins aside.
In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer, being careful not to burn it. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cocoa powder, whisking until it has a smooth paste-like consistency. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 minute. For this recipe, it’s important to use a Dutch-process cocoa powder. We used the Burgundy Cocoa from King Arthur Baking, which has a wonderful rich chocolate flavor.
Slowly add the hot milk to the butter mixture, whisking until smooth. Add the melted chocolate, whisking until combined. Remove from the heat and let cool for five minutes. Lightly whisk the egg yolks and then stir them into the mixture.
In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. Slowly add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, and beat until the egg whites form stiff, glossy peaks. Stir a heaping spoonful of egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remaining egg whites until just combined.
Pour the soufflé batter into the prepared ramekins. Place the ramekins in a large baking dish or cake pan and add enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake the soufflés for 20 minutes. Don’t open the oven while they’re baking as it could cause them to fall. Once baked, place the ramekins on a wire rack to cool slightly.
While the soufflés are baking, make the vanilla sauce by placing the heavy cream and the vanilla bean into a small saucepan. If you don’t have vanilla bean, you can substitute vanilla paste for a similar strong vanilla flavor. Bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat.
Combine the sugar and egg yolks in a small bowl. Add two spoonfuls of the hot cream to the egg mixture, stirring well to combine. Then, pour the egg mixture into the remaining cream, stirring constantly. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 3-4 minutes or until thickened.
Serve the soufflés warm, pretty fresh from the oven, with a spoonful or two of the vanilla sauce. Enjoy these Palo Chocolate Soufflés!
Palo Chocolate Soufflés
Ingredients
Chocolate Soufflés
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for buttering the ramekins
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus more for dusting the ramekins
- 1 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa
- 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
- 4 eggs, room temperature, separated
Vanilla Sauce
- 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
- ¼ vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 small egg yolks
Equipment
- 6 4-ounce ramekins
- 1 large rectangle cake pan or baking dish
Instructions
Chocolate Soufflés
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Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bring a full kettle of water to boil.
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Butter six 4-ounce ramekins and dust with sugar, set aside.
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Bring the milk to a simmer in a small saucepan.
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Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cocoa powder to the butter, whisking until it has a smooth paste-like consistency. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 minute.
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Slowly add the hot milk to the butter mixture, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the melted chocolate. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Lightly whisk the egg yolks and then stir them into the mixture.
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In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. Slowly add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, and beat until the egg whites form stiff, glossy peaks. Stir a heaping spoonful of egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remaining egg whites until just combined.
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Pour the soufflé batter into the prepared ramekins. Place the ramekins in the large cake pan and add enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
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Bake for 20 minutes. Don’t open the oven while the soufflés are baking.
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Once baked, place the ramekins on a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm with the vanilla sauce.
Vanilla Sauce
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Place the cream in a small saucepan. Scrape the inside of the vanilla bean with a sharp knife. Add the vanilla seeds to the cream. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
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Combine the sugar and egg yolks in a small bowl.
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Add two spoonfuls of the hot cream to the egg mixture, stirring well to combine. Then, pour the egg mixture into the remaining cream, stirring constantly. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 3-4 minutes or until thickened.
Recipe Notes
Recipes from Disney Cruise Line