CHOCOLATE MOUSSE OR PUDDING SOUFFLE

Steps:

• If you intend to prepare chocolate souffles, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. If you intend to serve this dish as a cold mousse, ignore this step.
• Combine one-third cup of the sugar and one-half cup of the water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Let this mixture barely simmer.
• Put one-quarter cup of the sugar into the container of a food processor equipped with a metal blade. Add the egg whites. Combine the remaining two tablespoons of water and the vinegar and set aside. Start processing the egg whites for eight seconds while adding the water and vinegar through the feed tube. Process for exactly two minutes, no longer. The mixture should be thick and hold its shape.
• Pour and scrape the mixture into a mixing bowl. It is not necessary to clean the processor container.
• Return the container and blade to the machine and add the chocolate pieces. Add the remaining sugar and coffee powder into the container of the food processor. Start processing until the chocolate is very finely textured. At this point, with the machine running, gradually add the simmering syrup through the feed tube. Process for 30 seconds.
• Stop the machine and add the egg yolks and vanilla. Process by starting and stopping the machine four times (four short pulses). Scrape the egg whites back into the machine and combine the mixture, using a few short pulses, just until the egg whites have almost disappeared. Do not overprocess.
• If you are going to serve this dish as a mousse, pour and scrape it into a one-and-one-half-quart serving dish. Refrigerate at least four hours or, preferably, overnight.
• If you are to serve this mixture as a souffle, butter eight six-fluid-ounce individual souffle dishes, using about one teaspoon of butter for all of them. Sprinkle the inside of each with sugar, using a total of four teaspoons. Shake out the excess.
• Pour an equal amount of the chocolate mixture into each dish. Place in the oven and bake 12 minutes, or until well puffed and soft and creamy on the inside. Serve immediately.