Mocha Choca 'Lette Blah Blah

Fanny starts Part 21 with a riddle, of sorts, to tease the subject we will be tackling together next. She says it's like the ones you will find in crackers at parties. 'What is it that is so fraught with problems for home cooks yet almost everyone adores?' Fanny asks. What could the answer to this mystery be? Fanny doesn't keep us guessing for too long thankfully, the answer is, of course, Chocolate! She ponders another riddle too, this time involving men at buffet parties who declare 'I'm not really fond of sweet things and hardly ever eat them' but then come 'roaring back' for thirds when a chocolate pudding is plonked on the table. The third riddle for me is why on earth has Fanny decided to begin a partwork choc full of sweet cacao with, erm, a Mocha Chocolate Soufflé Omelette? Is it to teach those pesky men a lesson?

Fanny does love her sweet omelettes, but I've yet to find anyone else who does, and I've yet to be converted myself. They just seem so wrong, a complex culinary conundrum, but Fanny keeps right at them. Together we've already made mincemeat versions for Christmas, jam ones for everyday puddings and I may have glossed over an apple one once. Don't shout at me. Something about them just turns my stomach. There, I've said it. I love omelettes, with cheese or mushrooms, maybe an onion or even from time to time a tomato if I'm feeling crazy. But I've never come to the end of a meal and thought 'if only I had a coffee flavoured chocolate omelette to finish off this feast I'd be happy', have you?

Fanny uses chocolate chips in all her chocolate recipes. She says they are an excellent alternative for the housewife to proper chocolate 'couverture' which was only available wholesale when Fanny was writing. She says the proper stuff is somewhat beyond the average housekeeping budget's strained resources at any rate. As a result of this quandary, she embraces the chips, only if they are treated well. Apparently they respond to kindness, are otherwise fairly easy going and merely resent being overheated. This is fatal. If you do, your finished chocolate masterpieces will be sad and grey looking, like those chocolate figurines you've probably seen in south facing, unprotected sweetshop windows during hot weather. It's a very specific comparison. No dilemma really, just be kind.

To avoid any sad and grey complications, Fanny recommends that chocolate chips are softened in a bowl placed in a low oven with the door slightly ajar. Then beat the 'living daylights' out of them. To make it Mocha, Fanny simply adds a tablespoon or two of coffee. The final piece of this puzzling pudding is the omelette itself. No escaping it. While a dry pan is heating on a very low flame, the egg yolks are stirred into the softened mocha choc mix and the egg whites are whipped to a very stiff peak. They are then blended together. It makes a kind of mousse-like concoction, all ready to be cooked. Whether you want to or not.

Fanny adds a walnut of butter to the pan, turns up the heat a fraction and swirls the butter to coat the entire surface. In goes the mixture. Fanny is adamant that you should not touch it until you see big bubbles breaking on the surface. Then, and only then, do you slide a spatula underneath and fold the omelette into thirds like a letter, and out on to a waiting plate. Serve with pride, and a dusting of icing sugar as ever. It is still soft in the middle of course, as with all of Fannys' omelettes, served 'baveuse'. What a treat - a moist, slightly undercooked, puffed up, sweet, chocolatey, eggy omelette. It tastes unmysteriously like it sounds, but does have a brain-teasing consistency somewhere between a swiss roll and mousse. I don't think Fanny needs to worry herself with any more riddles, the enigmatic menfolk won't be returning for seconds, never mind thirds.

I'm linking up this lovely Omelette to the Simply Eggcellent bloggers link up for June hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen - it's important to share the weird and wonderful ways of Fanny Cradock...

Plump up the Jam - Belgian Soufflé Omelette

Fanny wants us to consider the 'reverse side of the omelette coin' for our next adventure together. My first thought is that if you flipped a coin and lost, Fanny might make you one of her sweet omelettes, just like this one. Although 'tiddled up', Fanny warns that this version of the Belgian Soufflé Omelette is presented in it's most lowly form. Doesn't bode well does it? We should bear in mind though that Fanny considers omelettes to be high up there in culinary chic. She tells us that the Normans brought them over to the UK (as they did everything that was worthwhile to eat) when 'they' invaded 'us' in 1066. The Amulet as it was known, was made by beating (with goose quills) 'egges, herbes and crumb of brede'. I'm not sure if the invaders also brought a jar of jam and insisted on another 'amulet' for pudding, but that's what Fanny is treating us to.

Fanny says we can use any jam, jelly, curd or cheese preserve - I chose a Three Berry Scottish Jam from Mackays, for no reason other than I fancy it. I have to admit at this point that I am not convinced even the finest jam could make this a delicious dish, but Fanny seems so keen and I would hate to start picking and choosing which recipes I make and share. Just think of this one as me trying it perhaps so you don't have to, unless you really want to of course! I'm jumping ahead...

So, I've not made a soufflé omelette before, but have made soufflés with Fanny of course. It's pretty much the same technique. Eggs should be separated, the yolks beaten with a spoon of cold water, the whites beaten to a stiff peak. Then, the two folded together lightly and quickly to make a light, pale yellow foam.

Fanny concedes that we can also choose our own pan, as before it can be 'proper' or 'cheap and nasty' but either way this omelette can be a success. I heat the pan with a 'nut of butter' as Fanny tells me to, and then add the foamy mixture when the butter has dissolved. Turning the heat to a fraction above a low flame, I am told to leave it now until 'big bubbles blow and burst' on the surface. It takes about 20 minutes, but they say eggs should be cooked slowly to be best, don't they? When this occurs, it's time to add my jam and start to fold the omelette in to seal the edges. We wouldn't want any jam spilling out now would we?

Fanny again encourages choice - prompting me to then turn the omelette out onto my plate of choice, before dusting it liberally with icing sugar. For Fanny, liberally means THICKLY as you will know if you have ever watched her dusting anything. Fanny provides her own photo of the finished Souffléd Omelette with grids scorched into the icing sugar in a criss cross with an ordinary skewer held over a gas flame. Fanny recognises that this is totally not the proper implement for the job, but it seems to do the trick. So here it is, the Belgian Souffléd Omelette filled with jam. Flip a coin and if you lose, give it a go... If you win you might want to try a savoury version with salt, pepper and cheese instead. Fanny says it's ok. As expected, the omelette is weird to eat, for me omelettes should never be sweet, although this one is at least light and airy. I like the soufflé technique to 'tiddle up' a simple omelette. What do you reckon?