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.