Not a serious question, of course. But it is a dilemma.
We’re having six guests for Christmas. Mr. Rilch wants me to make eight chocolate souffle cakes. Problem is, I only have four ramekins. And remember, these are souffle cakes. Not as delicate as, say, a cheese souffle, but still a flourless cake.
What I normally do is make the batter the day before, pour it in the ramekins and keep them in the fridge until I’m ready to bake, so they’re fresh and hot enough to melt ice cream. But I can only do that four at a time; I’m not sure how to do eight.
He suggests making four cakes the day before, plating them, and making four more. I have my doubts about this, though. Wouldn’t they fall?
Or I could make the batter the day before, have four cakes oven-ready, put them in right when the turkey comes out of the oven, plate them, then pour in the rest of the batter and bake the other four. (Dessert won’t be sooner than an hour and a half after dinner, at least.)
Or I could make one big cake…but I’m not sure this recipe will support that.
Or I could go to Target tomorrow and get four more ramekins. A set is ten bucks. Problem with that is…Target on the Saturday before Christmas.
Thanks for the offers! I’m going to go with option two. Make the batter ahead, but don’t bake anything until the day. The idea is not to be stressed out on the day, and have plenty of time to socialize. My mom never planned anything ahead, then grumbled about being in the kitchen for hours.
The thing is, if I was only making four cakes, or had eight ramekins, this would be one of the easiest desserts I could make. The batter is as easy as falling off a log, unlike mousse or a cake with flour. The batter is all there is to it as well, unlike cheesecake or pie. And once the ramekins go in the oven, that’s it, unlike cookies which have to be baked in shifts. And they’re just darn good!
Anyway, Mr. Rilch agreed weeks ago to take me out to dinner on the 26th or 27th, no matter how long we have to wait for a table!
I was going to suggest getting 8 of those little heavy duty, disposable, foil, baking ramekins/pans. It will save you the money, if you don’t mind their looks. It only matters how they taste, right? You might conceivably be able to turn them out if you grease and flour them well enough and run a knife around… though they’ll probably deflate.
In the UK there are several kinds of dessert that come with a ramekin to keep. GÜ is one of many brands that do it (and they’re incredibly tasty). If they do these in US supermarkets, you could buy two desserts, have a tasty treat tonight, then reuse the ramekins tomorrow.
Seriously, Mr. Rilchiam should be on his way to Target right now. And he should pick up two sets while he’s there. Ramekins are the best things: flan, souffles, flourless cakes, pudding, holding tiny screws and other hardware when you are taking something apart, holding one-person doses of salsa, burning cone or brick style incense, melting butter in the microwave for waffles. I can’t stand that they won’t stack well, but I still have a drawer devoted to my 12 ramekin first string team, and the half dozen emergency back-up ramekins. You’d be welcome to them, of course, but Target - even on the Saturday before Christmas - would be more convenient. Besides, there’s this ramekin-requiring recipe I want to get and try out on Mark (M.), Amelie, Heather (N.) , Chris (LaB.), Johann, and Noah this week.
On this note, you can also use them to set your mise en place (i.e., get your stuff for cooking all prepped and ready before actually starting) when you’re making big meals. They’re nice for corralling small amounts of ingredients for that kind of thing.
I had to buy 25 ramekins about 12 years ago. I’m down to about 8. I need those suckers. I agree with Tabula Rasa, those are some mighty useful gadgets. I probably use those more than any other dish type item in my kitchen.
Microwaving eggs, steaming single servings of veggies, craft projects, and of course, creme brulee.
10 tbs (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, plus extra for buttering the ramekins
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus extra for dusting the ramekins
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
2 T cornstarch
3 large eggs plus 4 large yolks, room temp
2 t Grand Marnier
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 375. Coat ramekins with butter, dust with sugar and set aside.
Melt chocolates and butter in double boiler, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Whisk sugar with cornstarch. Add chocolate. Add eggs, yolks and Grand Marnier and whisk until fully combined. Pour into ramekins (you know the drill; just below the lip).
Place ramekins on rimmed baking sheet and bake until tops are set and shiny, beginning to crack. Recipe says 20 minutes, but you know your oven best.
Transfer ramekins to wire rack, cool 2 minutes. Cut around edges with knife and invert, then invert again onto serving plates. Dust cakes and plates with powdered sugar and add one scoop of coffee ice cream next to cake.
I think I will get another set of ramekins, but not this weekend. If it turns out I don’t have enough GM, as is likely, I’ll get those disposable ones. Thanks for the tip!
Do you have a Dollar Tree in the area? They’re springing up all over around here… anyway, if you do, try there. The one nearby usually sells ramekins. Which reminds me, I have a lava cake mix I’ve been meaning to make.