Welcome to another episode of Eorzean Top Culinarian! I am Aszlyn Yunie your host for tonight. As all of you know who followed our city to city traveling culinary contest, I won the honors of the Eorzean Top Culinarian for this season. I had the pleasure of topping the very popular La Noscean Toast recipe prepared by the second-place winner, Lisette Bellareaux of Limsa Lominsa, with my original recipe of... oh wait, there is another culinary contest taking place right now isn't there? Well then, I suppose it's best that I don't give out my winning dish, lest any souls in the realm might want to copy it and use it as their own. Let's just say my original dish, which all of the faithful followers of this culinary contest already know about, edged out Lisette's to win this fantastic opportunity to share my recipes with all of you fine folks.

Before we begin our delicious recipe, please allow me to say a few things. Throughout the realm, there are many people who consider Gridania to be the least sophisticated town in Eorzea and for the record, this is simply not true. Granted, we don't have the sophistication of Limsa Lominsa, the site of "The Bismarck," the famous culinarian guild where all serious chefs (myself included) undergo rigorous training to serve the refined palates of discriminating Eorzeans. Although for all of its sophistication, one could argue that they might have a slight pirate problem. And we may not have a Sultana to command us among the superior wealth and riches of Uldah... along with the black markets, gambling and seedy back alleys that are also found there. But what Gridania lacks in sophistication and wealth, it makes up for in environmental awareness and forest conservation efforts. Not to mention the generous and humble nature of the people and the heartiness of the recipes!

I understand some people have doubts about the existence of our forest elementals... rest assured that they are indeed real and if you have not yet seen one, you should consider yourself lucky. If you visit Gridania, please aid us in our forest conservation efforts... remember that only YOU can prevent the greenwrath!

Ahem, back to the recipe! I use only the best and freshest ingredients in all of Eorzea for my recipes and all of my recipes are my own original creations. Unlike La Noscean Toast which is and has been a specialty of the Carline Canopy in Gridania since I can remember. Without further ado, I've decided to share my favorite Gridanian recipe with you tonight since it is of my own heritage and close to my heart.

~Gorge-worthy Gridanian Hot Chocolate and Walnut Souffle with Hot Chocolate Sauce~
3 Tbsp. Sweet Cream
3 Tbsp. Salted Butter
1/2 cup Sunset Wheat Flour
1 Tbsp. Kukuru Powder
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon (finely ground)
4 Tbsp. Gridanian Walnuts (coarsely chopped)
2 cups Buffalo Milk
4 Puk Eggs, separated
4 Tbsp. Maple Sugar
1 Tbsp. Powdered Sugar
1/2 cup Blood Currants and Rolanberries for garnish
4 Fire Crystals
2 Wind Crystals

~Hot Chocolate Sauce~
6 oz. Bubble Chocolate
4 oz. Distilled Water
2 Tbsp. Salted Butter
6 Tbsp. Sweet Cream
3 Tbsp. Maple Sugar
1/2 Tsp. Lavender Oil
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Beans (scraped)
1 Fire Crystal
1 Water Crystal

First, mix the Sweet Cream with the Salted Butter in a mixing bowl, then melt the resulting Sweet Cream butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the Sunset Wheat Flour, Kukuru Powder and ground Cinnamon and blend well over the low heat. Next, stir in the Buffalo Milk, stirring continuously, until the sauce thickens. Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

Beat the Puk Egg yolks in a mixing bowl and then add to the slightly cooled sauce, mixing the eggs into the sauce. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites lightly then add the Maple Sugar and whisk them until you can form peaks with the egg whites. Fold the egg whites into the sauce, add 2 tbsp. of the chopped Gridanian Walnuts and mix them into the mixture. Reserve 2 tbsp. of the Gridanian Walnuts and set them aside. Pour the batter into greased 2-pint souffle dishes. Place the dishes in a medium-depth roasting pan and add enough water to come halfway up the side of the dish. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F (5-6 standard syntheses, 2 careful syntheses) for 45 minutes (a little more than half of a bell) until well risen.

When you only have 10 minutes left for the souffles to be done, heat the Distilled Water and Maple Sugar in a medium-sized pan, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. Bring it to a boil (5 standard syntheses) and continue to stir until all of the sugar has been dissolved.

Cut the Salted Butter into small chunks and add the butter and the Bubble Chocolate to the sugar and water and stir. Remove the pan from the heat and stir the sauce until the chocolate and butter have melted and all the ingredients have blended together. Add the Sweet Cream, Lavender Oil and the scraped Vanilla Beans (slice vanilla beans lengthwise and run the flat blade of the knife along the bean to scrape the beans) and stir into the sauce.

Remove the souffles from the oven with your Sheepskin Mitts (they will be hot) and sprinkle them with the Powdered Sugar. Pour the hot chocolate sauce over the souffles and sprinkle the reserved 2 tbsp. of Gridanian Walnuts on top of the sauce. Place the Blood Currants and Rolanberries either on top of the souffles or place the souffle dish on a plate and arrange the fruit around the dish for a dash of color and tartness.

Aren't they just beautiful? Take a spoon and dig in and enjoy! Mind that you don't burn yourself since they will be hot right out of the oven. MMmm, I think that tastes divine! A word to adventurers, this rich dessert may not aid you in battle all that well as the high calorie count will no doubt make most people feel sleepy directly after eating it. But wow, it is worth it!

Once again, this is your host Aszlyn Yunie hoping you enjoy this wonderful and original treat I've shared with you. Until next time, keep your ovens warm and your crystals intact and plentiful! Thank you for attending this demonstration from Eorzean Top Culinarian!

/bow
/blowkiss



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