Recipe - Little Fruit Souffles

6 tablespoon Sugar; (up to 8)
6 Eggs; separated
1 pn Salt
2 cup Fresh fruit of choice; or a
combination of:
raspberries,
strawberries,
apricots,
Peaches,
Bananas,
Kiwi,
Blackberries, etc.
One half teaspoon Vanilla extract; or 1/4
teaspoon Vanilla and
One fourth teaspoon almond
extract
Creme fraiche or whipped
cream for serving
optional

Areas famous for their fruits give their names to many souffles: Wild
strawberries make a simple Souffle Plougastel, bananas become a Souffle
Antillais, and peaches a souffle Rouissillonnais.

Cherries, apricots, ripe pears are all luscious made into souffles. No
matter which fruit you use, it is simply crushed with a little sugar, mixed
with the egg yolks, then folded into beaten egg whites and baked. A simple
trick to make both souffle and sauce is to reserve half of the mashed fruit
to serve as a coulis.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Butter 6 individual souffle dishes and sprinkle the insides evenly with 2
tablespoons sugar, turning them so that the sugar coats all of the sides,
then tipping out the excess. Set aside.

Beat the egg whites with the salt until they form stiff, glossy peaks. Mash
the fruit with a fork or masher; add the remaining sugar and vanilla or
almond extract. Reserve half the fruit mixture to serve as a coulis and mix
the rest with the yolks.

Stir one third of the egg whites into the fruit mixture, then fold this
lightened fruit mixture into the rest of the egg whites. Gently pour into
the prepared souffle dishes.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the souffles have risen and turned golden.
While the souffles are baking, puree the reserved mashed fruit to make a
coulis.

The souffles may be served with the fruit coulis and a little creme fraiche
or lightly whipped cream, if desired.

Excerpt from THE VEGETARIAN BISTRO, copyright © 1997 by Marlena Spieler.
Reprinted with permission of Chronicle Books.

Formatted for you by: Bill Webster
Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #812 by Bill Webster thelma@pipeline.com on
Sep 27, 1997