This week’s recipe: Mini Chocolate Souffles

I read Atlas Shrugged a few years ago. I have a lot of opinions on it, which I had been known to forcefully express on first dates with anyone who indicates libertarian leanings, but one of the things that makes it so unbearable to slog through is how totally cartoonish the characters are. This applies to the heroes, all of whom are physically flawless geniuses, but even more so to the villains. In addition to having telltale signs of moral decay such as “weak chins” and “piggy eyes,” they all espouse crazy, illogical ideas with no intellectual, historical, or moral basis. They don’t bother hiding these ideas behind spin or marketing or really any form of subtlety, which makes the characters and action read as truly unbelievable. But in 2017, the unbelievable has become the quotidian, and I think that some recent events would strain credulity even in an Ayn Rand book. I don’t mean that she’d necessarily disapprove of the political implications of the below; I just mean that even she might look at, say, the Roy Moore situation and say, “Hey, that’s a little too broad, maybe you should tone it down.” Imagine you encountered any of the following scenarios in an Ayn Rand book, and tell me if you wouldn’t think that her editors really should have reined her polemical side:

-A Bible-thumping former judge who was twice removed from the bench for flouting the law runs for Senate on a platform of law-and-order, adherence to the Constitution, and family values. Despite being accused of child molestation by multiple women, he still retains the support of evangelical “values voters.”

-A coal baron who was sent to prison for conspiring to commit mine safety violations following the nation’s biggest mining disaster runs for Senate in West Virginia by accusing the government of paying insufficient attention to mine safety.

-Legislators write a tax bill that eliminates the $250 deduction for teachers who buy school supplies out of their own pockets but retains a tax break for golf course owners.

-The man nominated to lead the Census Bureau once wrote a book with the subtitle “Why Competitive Elections Are Bad for America.”

-The President’s lawyers argue that his own public statements can’t be taken as indication of his intent when trying to determine his intent in crafting executive orders, deciding to fire the FBI director, etc.

-The country suffers regular gun massacres, and Congress responds by making access to guns easier.

In other words, 2017 is garbage and needs to be over, stat.

So anyway, here’s a mini-cake/mini-souffle/mini-whatever you want to call it. Just don’t call it late for dinner! But if you are late for dinner, this is the perfect dessert. It comes together in no time, and you can just pop it into the oven 15 minutes before you need to serve it. Oh, and did I mention that it can be made pareve? It’s one of Mark’s favorites so I made it for his birthday dinner, and as always, it came out perfectly. Plus, I got to bake them in my cheery yellow mini-cocottes from Sur La Table and I will always take any opportunity to use them!

Mini Chocolate Souffles

From Kosher By Design: Short on Time by Susie Fishbein