Sunday, November 14, 2010

The Daring Cooks make soufflé!

I realize there is a bottle of Amaretto right behind the soufflé, but there was no time to move it!
Watching a soufflé rise in the oven is way better than anything you can find on television. I watch what's happening in my oven all the time, but this was the best show I've seen in ages, and I wouldn't mind watching a repeat. In fact, I think there should be a specialty channel: Soufflé TV.
After a few minutes. They started out level with the top of the dish.
This month's challenge comes to us from the lovely Linda and Dave of MonkeyShines in the Kitchen. For my sweet soufflé, I couldn't decide what to make, meaning I left this close to the deadline. I had some lovely homemade applesauce from freshly picked apples, but then I made something else with it. Oops. Passionfruit? A favourite flavour, but I kept forgetting to pick any up. Banana? Possibly. Then I spied the bag of oranges in the back of the fridge. Orange and Amaretto are one of my favourite flavour combinations. I used a simple recipe and added orange zest, along with a couple of tablespoons of Amaretto.
After 10 minutes or so. MonkeyShines described these as rocket ships!
The soufflé mixture was fairly liquid, from the booze, I guess, and I was afraid it would spill over the edge and end up on the bottom of my oven. That didn't happen, and as you can see, they rose rather well. I was actually afraid they were going to propel themselves right out of the dish! I took the one on the right out after about 18 minutes, as I like a creamy centre. I left the other one in the oven while I took pictures, and it was fine--just a bit drier. These tasted wonderful--they were crispy on the edges from the sugar crust, and had a lovely orange flavour. The Amaretto was subtle, but I fixed that:
By scooping out a place for more Amaretto. Mmm. Getting pictures of these was the trickiest part, as they don't last long, and it was a partially cloudy day. The sun was playing cat and mouse, or, more accurately, playing chicken. I need to work on my food styling, but I was satisfied with the taste, and that's what counts for me. But that's not all...
I also made a savoury soufflé, a beet and feta one, soon after the challenge was revealed. It made a nice lunch, but didn't puff as much as I wanted. The texture was creamy, though, and the feta added bursts of flavour. It looked like a big fuschia cauliflower, I think.
Can you see me, reflected in the kettle?
Blog-checking lines: Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.

Recipes and full challenge PDF after the jump.

Challenge PDF, with recipes and lots of soufflé-making information.

Orange Amaretto soufflé
Adapted from How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman


1 cup sugar, plus extra for coating dishes (I will reduce this next time, as I found these a bit too sweet)
6 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon orange zest (I used the zest of one orange for one third of the recipe)
¼ cup Amaretto (or another liqueur)
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350℉. Butter 6 1-cup souffle dishes, or a 2-quart one, sprinkle with sugar and turn to coat all sides. Beat egg yolks with ¾ cup of sugar until thick and light. They should leave a ribbon when dropped from the beater. Beat in Amaretto, orange zest and salt and set aside. Beat egg whites to soft peaks, then continue beating while adding remaining sugar gradually. Beat to stiff peaks, but not until whites are dry--they should still be shiny. Add about ¼ of whites to yolk mixture and fold in with a spatula or whisk. Fold in the rest gently but quickly. Divide amongst souffle dishes, filling to top and leveling with the straight edge of a knife. Wipe the rim and run your finger around the inside to about a 1 cm depth. This helps the souffles to rise straight up. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 25 minutes for individual dishes, 25 to 35 minute for the large one, until golden brown and the centre is nearly set. Serve immediately, with extra Amaretto to pour, if desired.

Savoury beet and feta soufflé

1 cup pureed cooked beets
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
¼ cup milk
⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese, plus extra for topping
salt and pepper
2 egg yolks
3 egg whites
⅜ teaspoon cream of tartar
dry breadcrumbs

1.     Preheat oven to 400F. Butter 3 1-cup soufflé dishes and coat in breadcrumbs.
2.     Melt butter over medium heat, add flour, and cook, stirring for a few minutes. Add milk, whisking, and bring to a boil. Cook for a few minutes to make a thick sauce. Add beet puree, 1/3 cup crumbled feta, a scant amount of salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
3.     Now, either mix the egg yolks into the beet mixture, or beat them in a bowl over simmering water until warm, light and thick and then beat into beet mixture. I cooked mine over hot water.
4.     Whisk egg whites till foamy and then add cream of tartar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Fold a spoonful into beets to lighten and then carefully fold the rest in with a balloon whisk.
5.     Divide amongst ramekins and wipe edge clean. Sprinkle with feta if desired. Bake from 17-22 minutes, depending on how you like them. I prefer a creamy middle, so baked mine for the shorter time.  Serve immediately.

28 comments:

yummychunklet said...

They look delicious! I've been wanting to try my hand at soufflés but have been wary to do so. I'm glad they turned out well.

Suz said...

Fabulous soufflés, Mary! I saw your orange and amaretto one on the forum and gaped. It's so perfect and tall! Definitely a rocket ship.

Your beet and feta soufflé is gorgeous. I love the combination and the colour. I meant to make a blackberry one to achieve a similar pinkness, but it didn't get around to it in the end.

Sarah said...

Wow--the first picture in this post is amazing! Both souffles sound delicious. Well done on this month's challenge.

Lisa said...

Mary..I love the oven photos and I agree, watching a souffle rise beats a lot of what's on TV these days! lol Your souffles are gorgeous! Love the orange - amaretto and what a rise! The beet-feta has such a beautiful, vibrant color and also looks and sounds delish ! Beautifully done!

Rosemary & Garlic said...

When I look at everyone's gorgeous pictures, the sweet ones seem to have a little better rise.

Beet and feta, they look amazing.

Renata said...

I love soufflé and yours are looking sooooo delicious! They are PERFECT! Love the pink one! I have also used beetroot this week in a cake!
I have given up and applied for the DCs. Hope to join you on the next challenge!

Monkeyshines in the Kitchen said...

Mary your souffles both look gorgeous! Who could resist that pretty pink beet souffle? It just looks fun, as well as being fun to watch rise in the oven. I am with you - could do that again and again.

shelley c. said...

I love the color of the beet souffle, and that orange amaretto souffle just sounds so perfectly decadent... You are, as always, awesome, amazing and completely impressive!!!

Evelyne@CheapEthnicEatz said...

Creative flavors and a great job! Funny how your savory one looks like a strawberry sweet one.

Anonymous said...

You and LisaMichele have the hot hands when it comes to tall souffles.

Your savory one looks like a big pink cupcake. I would watch souffle TV. How wrong is that?

A Canadian Foodie said...

I had crowned LisaMichele as the winner until I saw yours... so now, you both TIE! WOWOWOW. I love the effect of the syrup poured into the souffle, too. I cannot wait to try these... yours and hers.
:)
Valerie

Valerie Gamine said...

You're a soufflé pro, Mary! Well done. Maybe I'll have to give the savory version a try, it looks so pretty! :-D

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! I love the rise you managed to get out of the souffles. Drizzling booze makes the orange souffle look so decadent, and I love the colours of the beet and feta one. The latter's adorable, and so incredibly pretty. Lovely job!

Laurie {Simply Scratch} said...

I applaud you for these suffles! They look light and airy!! Beautiful job Mary!

Tara said...

I love how much your orange amaretto souffle rose!! Beautiful!

Koci said...

Your souffles are so pretty! The amaretto one has got me seriously drooling and the beet version looks so cute. Not to mention that it contains feta cheese. I'm completely sold! :D

Jenn said...

I love your towering soufflés! And the beet and feta combination sounds fantastic!
And I agree, totally better than TV :)

Ms. Meanie said...

OOOh wow. Those look beautiful. I think Julia would very much approve. The amaretto sounds like it added a great touch too. Oh, and I am loving the semolina pudding from your last post. I LOVE semolina anything. I must try that recipe soon.

Thanks for the very nice comment on my blog, btw.

Beth said...

Wow Towering souffles.. Some of the tallest I've ever seen. I loved the color on the beet and feta ones. Pretty cool. But the orange amaretto one has me thinking...YUMMY Thanks for the post. Your stuff always turns out great..B

Cakelaw said...

Oh wow! Both souffles look amazing. I adore beets and citrus, but I am a sweet tooth, so I guess the orange wins - but why stop at just one?

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

Wowow, those souffles sure rose beautifully, very!!!
and i like both the pretty variations!!
I have never baked souffles and these are sure on my list!

Valérie said...

Both versions look AMAZING! The texture is so unbelievably light, great job! Love the pretty colour the beets give the savoury version.

Judy said...

Gorgeous souffles! I'll take some of the amaretto one, please.

Renata said...

Hi Mary,
You know how much I enjoy reading your blog, so I chose it as one of my favorites to grant an Award. Please visit my blog and find out all about it here: http://tiny.cc/3tx7l
Renata

Elaine said...

Your souffles look amazing! I have not made one yet - one of these days I'll get brave.

Mom's Cafe Home Cooking said...

My gosh, your souffles look gorgeous! The beet and feta souffle is so pretty. Very nice done :)

whozyerdanny said...

Textbook souffle, great pics!

Mary said...

Oh my. These souffles look AMAZING. I'm not part of Daring Cooks, but I must try this! I'm never given it a go before. Everything you prepare is so pretty, great job!