Chocolate Soufflé

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Adapted from a Jacques Torres recipe
Ingredients
1/3 cup half-and-half
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 cup water
8 large egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Powdered sugar for dusting
Creme anglaise (optional- recipe follows)
Directions
Makes 8  ¾ cup ramekins
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Soufflés are baked at a high temperature to ensure a good rise.
Use a pastry brush to evenly coat the inside of 8 (3/4 cup or 3 1/2” wide by 1 ¾” tall) soufflé ramekins with softened butter. Completely coat the insides of each ramekin with granulated sugar.   If you have properly buttered the ramekin, the sugar will stick to the side and bottom of it. The butter and sugar keep the soufflé from sticking to the side of the mold and allow it to rise evenly. The sugar also gives the soufflé a crunchy crust.
Prepare the soufflé base: Pour the half-and-half into a 1 quart heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium high heat until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. Remove from the heat and make a ganache by adding the chopped chocolate. Stir well until combined and all of the chocolate has melted.
Place a 1-quart saucepan half-filled with boiling water over high heat and bring to a boil. Make a double-boiler by setting a large mixing bowl over the boiling water. Place the ganache in the mixing bowl, add the cocoa powder and water, and whisk until very hot. Remove from the heat and set aside.
To finish the soufflé: Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and make a French meringue by adding the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and whipping the whites to stiff but not dry peaks. Do not overwhip the egg whites or they will not incorporate evenly into the ganache, and when baked, the soufflé will have chewy pieces of egg white in it. You can tell the egg whites are overwhipped if they start to separate and resemble scrambled eggs.
Use a rubber spatula to gently fold about half the meringue into the warm chocolate mixture. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the remaining meringue, being careful not to deflate the batter. The soufflé mixture should be homogeneous in color, but if you still see streaks of meringue in the batter, that’s okay.
Use a rubber spatula to gently place the soufflé mixture in the buttered and sugared mold. Fill to about one inch above the rim of the mold. Place the soufflé in the center of the oven and remove the top oven rack if necessary to allow enough room for it to rise. If the soufflé is too close to the bottom of the oven, the bottom of the soufflé will burn before the inside is properly baked.
Bake until the soufflé has risen to about one and a half times its original height and starts to brown on top, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and dust the top with powdered sugar. Serve immediately with creme anglaise, if desired.

Note: These soufflés can be frozen for a few hours.  Freeze them immediately after putting the mixture into the baking dishes.  When ready to bake, remove from the freeze and immediately place in a hot oven.  Allow approximately 15 minutes to bake the frozen soufflés.