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Raspberry Soufflé by Raymond Blanc

Serves: 4 peopleRecipe course: DessertsTotal time (min.): 25Complexity (1 to 3): 2
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"Once you understand the technique of making a soufflé you will have the confidence to try many different flavours. The key is consistency, making sure you have the ingredients weighed out correctly and ensuring your whites are perfectly whipped. This is why I always use my trusty Kenwood machine with its specially designed whisk that is made up of 12 little whisks. I still use a Kenwood machine to prepare all the soufflés in my professional kitchen and at home." - Raymond Blanc

Tool

Stand Mixers or Cooking Chef
Folding tool (Standard Chef sized or Chef XL/ Major sized)
Whisk tool

6 Souffle dishes, size 10cm diameter x 6cm deep

Ingredients

For the soufflé dishes:

Creme Patissier

Ingredients:

Method

Planning ahead:

The pastry cream and soufflé flavouring can be mixed in one bowl, the egg whites in another. This can be prepared the day before. The soufflés can be kept in the freezer for 2 hours.

Preparing the dishes:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Using a pastry brush, evenly butter the insides of each soufflé dish.

Pour the caster sugar inside the first dish and rotate it until completely coated. Tip the excess sugar into the next dish and repeat (*2).

Preparing the soufflé base:

Ensure your pastry cream and reduced raspberry puree are well mixed and kept warm, up to a maximum temp of 60oC. This is essential to maintain the heat when making a soufflé otherwise the pastry cream will clump if it gets too cold.

 

Adding the egg whites:

Whisk the egg whites in the Kenwood Chef Titanium with the lemon juice (*3) using the whisk attachment until they start to thicken and begin to mousse, then slowly add the sugar and whisk until medium soft peak stage.

Remove the bowl and whisk from the machine and attach the folding tool. Place the bowl with the warmed raspberry pastry cream onto the Kenwood machine base, add one third of the whipped egg whites and on speed two mix the egg whites into the pastry cream to loosen the mixture.

Add the other two thirds of the whipped whites and fold in on speed one to retain as much of the air and lightness as possible. (*4).

Fill the soufflé moulds with the mixture, level with a palette knife and dust with icing sugar. Allow this to dissolve and repeat again with another layer of icing sugar. Clean up the edge of the soufflé moulds by holding the rim of the dish with your thumb and index finger encircling the dish to remove about 2mm of mix away from the edge of the bowl.

Clean the outside of the moulds with a damp cloth.

At this stage you could reserve in the freezer for a maximum of 2 hours before you cook them (You will need to microwave each soufflé on high for 10 seconds before you cook them in the oven as per recipe), otherwise cook the soufflés in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, and serve immediately.

Chef’s notes:

*1        The key to getting maximum raspberry flavour in your soufflé is to reduce a fresh pureed raspberries by 1/3rd in a hot pan as quick as possible. You could buy a large quantity and make this in advance and store it in your freezer in small 80g batches.

*2        Lining - The sugar and butter coating acts as a barrier between the dish and the soufflé, enabling the soufflé to rise without hindrance. Badly buttered dishes will produce an uneven rise or perhaps even prevent rising altogether. The sugar also gives the soufflé a wonderful crust.

*3        By adding lemon juice you are doing two things here, you are heightening the flavour and are also preventing the graining of the egg white due the lower PH. The acid makes the egg proteins unstable - making them more likely to denature and whip. Do not over whip the egg white to hard peaks, by doing so the bubbles of air would be smaller and smaller and the foam tighter resulting in a firmer texture, losing a little bit of its magic.

*4        1/3 egg whites- this must be done briskly to lighten the base; this will ease the remaining egg whites to be gently folded in to the base, ensuring that the maximum lightness is kept. It is better to slightly undermix and overmix the two together. By overmixing you may undermine the lightness of the soufflé.

            … I told you it was easy!

Variations:

There are many variations for soufflés– strawberry, apricot, blackcurrant, lemon, lime or passion fruit, pistachio are just a few.

CREME PATISSIERE

Pastry cream has many uses and very versatile. It can be a base for fruit tartlets, a filling for cakes and éclairs, and as a base for sweet soufflés.

Serves           400g

Preparation: 5 mins

Cooking:       10 mins

Planning ahead:

The cream can be made up to 4 days in advance kept covered in the fridge.

In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer with a little of the sugar, to prevent the milk from sticking to the base of the pan. Add the vanilla syrup. Draw off the heat and cool for 30 seconds.

Meanwhile cream together the egg yolks and sugar and then whisk in the flour and corn flour. Pour approximately ⅓ of the hot milk onto the egg mixture, and whisk until well blended (*1). Pour back into the remaining milk, return to the heat and bring up to the boil. (*2), (small bubbles will begin to come through) whisk continuously.

Cool down on ice as soon as possible (this will prevent the growth of harmful bacteria). To store, transfer to a bowl or container, cover with cling film directly touching the surface (to prevent a skin from forming) and refrigerate.

Chef’s notes (*1):

*1        It is critical to pour the hot milk into the egg yolks slowly, taking great care to whisk as you pour.

*2        Once the mix starts to thicken take off the heat and let the starch coagulate with the eggs, whisking to form a paste. Place back on the heat, still whisking well, and it will not turn lumpy.

Variations:

Infuse this pastry cream with flavours other than vanilla, if you like. Citrus zest or a stick of cinnamon can be equally good.




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