Raspberry Soufflés

When Elsa first requested to go to Aunt Jane’s After-School Cooking Class, she asked to make a soufflé. I, naturally, went right to my America’s Test Kitchen gazillion-recipe bible and found a recipe for a cheese soufflé ~ perfect! Except that Elsa was expecting something sweet, and this one was savory. She enjoyed the process of the recipe (she learned how to separate eggs and how to fold in whipped egg whites — culinary graduate school, if you ask me!), but she wasn’t keen about the finished product.

I’m not all that concerned about Elsa actually liking to eat everything we make. She is a five-year-old, after all, and her tastes will mature and change. As long as she enjoys the process of creating good food, all is well.

Last class we made zucchini bread in cute mini-pans. Elsa relished grinding walnuts in my hand-cranked nut chopper, but when she took a bite of the finished bread, she spit out every tiny bit of nut. Amazing tongue dexterity!

For this week’s class, we revisited the soufflé. The mere words “raspberry soufflé” reduced Elsa to a wriggling ball of excitement. Now this is going to be fun! Here’s the recipe. It makes delicious individual soufflés, and as long as you can separate egg yolks from whites, it’s actually quite easy. Even a five year old can do it!

Note: If you want to dazzle your guests at a dinner party — you do have dinner parties, don’t you? — you can assemble the soufflés an hour or so ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator. (If you can make room!) Set your oven to preheat when your guests arrive, and pop the soufflés in to bake when you sit down to dinner.

Raspberry Soufflés        makes 6

1, 12 ounce bag frozen raspberries, thawed, from which you’ll measure out 4 ounces (1/2 cup) puree. (There’s no advantage to using fresh berries in this recipe.)

4 eggs, separated, at room temperature

2 1/2 ounces (1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) granulated sugar  + 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) granulated sugar (they’ll be used in different parts of the recipe)

1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch

juice of one medium lemon

pinch of cream of tartar (that’s about 1/8 teaspoon)

pinch of salt (again, 1/8-ish teaspoon)

powdered sugar for dusting

fresh raspberries for garnish (if available)

Here are the directions, with Elsa B demonstrating:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Grease six, 8-ounce soufflé ramekins generously with butter (after washing hands!), then coat the ramekins with a thin layer of granulated sugar–shaking to remove any excess sugar (this step will help the soufflé rise and brown evenly).  Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and set aside.

Puree the thawed frozen raspberries in a blender until very smooth. Strain through a fine meshed sieve. Discard the seeds and reserve 4 ounces (1/2 cup) of raspberry puree for the soufflés. (You’ll probably have more than 4 oz, so save the extra for a smoothie!)

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 2 1/2 ounces of sugar, and cornstarch until thick and pale yellow in color. Whisk in the raspberry puree and lemon juice. Set aside.

egg white magic!

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt, and whisk over low speed until foamy. Increase the speed to medium-high and slowly add the 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Continue to beat the egg whites until they reach soft peaks.

Add about a third of the beaten egg whites to the egg yolk mixture, and whisk in gently. Fold in the remaining egg whites (some white streaks are okay).

ready for the oven

Pour (or scoop) the mixture carefully into the ramekins, and smooth the tops with a spatula. (They should be filled up to about a half inch from the top.) Run your finger along the edges of the ramekins to remove any excess batter from the sides (this can cause the soufflés to rise unevenly).

Carefully place the in the oven (on the baking sheet) and bake at 400 degrees for 16-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top. (16 minutes was enough in my oven.) Remove, dust with confectioners sugar, and garnish with raspberries. Serve immediately.

Voila!

she likes it!