Michelle reached out to squeeze Hannah’s hand and Hannah realized that she’d been holding her breath. “Smile, no matter what happens,” Michelle whispered.
“Chef . . .” Alain Duquesne began, and then he cleared his throat. Hannah shot her sister a startled glance. Chef Duquesne had called her “Miss” instead of “Chef” each time he’d addressed her. Could this possibly mean that . . . ?
“Chef Gloria Berkeley,” the head judge continued. “You brought a faultless dessert to the judge’s table. The only criticism that kept you from getting a perfect score is that you should have offered us a choice of sauces, the way Miss Hannah Swensen did. For that reason, your score was very close to a tie for the lead, but since there cannot be a tie in the hometown challenge, we unanimously declared Miss Hannah Swensen and her sister, Michelle Swensen, as the winning team.”
He beckoned to Hannah and, with Michelle, she walked forward to the judges’ table. Hannah felt as if she were in a dream as she was presented with a gold medal on a green ribbon. As she held it up for the cameras, Michelle didn’t have to remind her to smile. She could feel herself grinning from ear to ear. They had won the hometown challenge and now the Food Channel Dessert Competition would be moving to Lake Eden, Minnesota. Hannah was so happy, she could barely contain her joy. She hadn’t disappointed the people in her hometown, after all!
MAGIC WHITE CHOCOLATE SOUFFLé
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
6 large eggs (straight out of the refrigerator)
1 cup white (granulated) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces (by weight, not volume) white chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
? teaspoon salt (salt brings out the full flavor of the chocolate)
Prepare 6 individual soufflé dishes by buttering the inside and sprinkling it with a coating of white granulated sugar.
Hannah’s 1st Note: You may notice that this recipe uses chilled eggs. If your eggs are at room temperature, baking time may be a minute or two faster.
Place the individual soufflé dishes on a baking sheet with sides. A jelly roll pan is perfect for this.
Get out two mixing bowls, one large and one medium sized. Crack the eggs, one by one, and separate the yolks into the large bowl, and the whites into the medium-sized bowl.
Whisk the yolks in the large bowl until they are thoroughly mixed.
Add the cup of sugar to the large bowl and mix it thoroughly with the egg yolks.
Place the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: Michelle and I use a half-quart Pyrex measuring cup to do this at The Cookie Jar.
Add the vanilla extract and the half-teaspoon of salt to the white chocolate chips.
Heat the contents of the microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup on HIGH for 60 seconds. Let the bowl sit in the microwave for another minute and then attempt to stir the contents smooth with a heat-resistant rubber spatula.
If you cannot stir the contents smooth and there are still lumps, return the white chocolate chip mixture to the microwave and heat on HIGH in 30-second increments, followed by a standing time of 1 minute, until you can stir the contents smooth.
Let the white chocolate, vanilla extract, and salt mixture sit on the counter to cool slightly.
Beat the egg whites in the medium-sized bowl with a hand mixer on HIGH until the whites form frothy, soft peaks. Soft peaks are achieved if, when you remove the beaters from the egg whites, the peaks droop over a bit, but do not slide all the way back into the bowl. When you have frothy soft peaks, set the bowl with the egg whites aside on the counter.
Give the bowl with the melted white chocolate another stir and then SLOWLY pour the contents into the bowl with the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly to make sure that the egg yolks don’t cook and solidify from the heated white chocolate. Take your time with this. This step is critical.
When the melted white chocolate has been successfully added to the egg yolk mixture, pick up the bowl with the beaten egg whites.
Add several Tablespoons of the warm egg yolk and white chocolate mixture to the bowl of frothy egg whites. Fold the mixture in with a rubber spatula. This will temper the mixture.
Add the frothy egg whites to the rest of the egg yolk and white chocolate mixture in the large bowl, folding the egg whites in gently with a rubber spatula. Do not stir with a spoon. Your object is to fold in the egg whites and keep as much froth and air in the resulting mixture as you possibly can.
Divide the completed white chocolate soufflé mixture between the 6 individual soufflé dishes.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: If you prefer, you can use a 2-quart glass bowl instead of the individual soufflé dishes. Simply butter the inside of the bowl and coat it with sugar.