Apricot Soufflé
The 1980’s and 1990’s were the glory days of food magazines. There was Gourmet, the shining star of them all, first published in 1941 and required reading for anyone interested in fine food. There was also Bon Appétit, Food and Wine, Chocolatier, and The Pleasures of Cooking, published by Cuisinart. We subscribed to all of them, often cutting out stories and recipes for future reference.
Most of these cutouts were discarded over the years, but an early 1980s story about Greenwich Village’s La Tulipe and its chef, Sally Darr, from The Pleasures of Cooking magazine, has been safely preserved in a three-ring binder. It is an exceptional article with step-by-step photographs for both savory and dessert recipes. Several components of her Layered Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Tiles recipe are used in my Chocolate Truffle Cake. The Upside-Down Pear Tart inspired me to venture into the world of Pear Tart Tatin.
Her Apricot Soufflé recipe, long on my to-do list, finally got its moment. On the first taste, all I could think was, “Wow, this one of the best plated desserts I’ve ever had.” It’s a beautifully simple dessert, just barely sweet with a distinct apricot flavor, complimented perfectly with whipped cream.
The recipe begins with a velvety smooth pure of apricots, which have been soaked and simmered until tender. This apricot purée base can be made a day or two ahead, or frozen for one month. When it’s showtime, egg whites are beaten to a meringue stage with a little sugar, folded into the base, and then the mixture is divided into eight soufflé dishes. Then into the oven for thirty minutes. A light dusting of powdered sugar and whipped cream follows, and that’s all there is to it!
Granted, this is not a typical dessert that is ready before dinner and just requires slicing. You do have to get up in the middle of dinner to get the soufflés in the oven. But bringing hot soufflés to the table is such a dramatic finale to a dinner party and sure way to wow your guests. And if they’re not perfect, your guests will still love you and remain your friends.
Another option is to bake the soufflés ahead of dinner, and serve them room temperature, which is still quite wonderful.
Apricot Soufflé
| Yield: 8 individual soufflés | Serves: 8 |
Ingredients
8 oz (227 g) dried apricots
1 ½ cups (12 fl oz) cold water
1 cup cold water
¾ cup (5.25 oz / 149 g) sugar
3 tbl (1.5 fl oz) fresh lemon juice
6 large egg whites (6 fl oz)
Pinch of salt
¼ cup (1.75 oz / 50 g) sugar
Confectioners’ sugar, as needed
1 ½ cup (12 fl oz) heavy cream
3 tbl confectioners’ sugar, sifted, or to taste
Special tools and equipment needed:
- Eight 6 oz soufflé dishes, approximately 3.5″ in diameter and 1.5″ in height (see below for source suggestions)
- Roasting pan large enough to hold 8 soufflé dishes. The pan I use is 15 ½” by 11″by 2 ¼”
- Small saucepan
- Fine mesh strainer
- Countertop mixer with whip attachment or handheld mixer
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Bring egg whites to room temperature
- Thoroughly clean and dry the bowl that will contain the egg whites
- Butter and sugar the soufflé dishes. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Directions:
Making the base:
- Place the apricots and 1 ½ cups of cold water in a small, deep 2 qt saucepan. It is important that the apricots are covered by the water. Let stand for 2 hours.
- Add remaining cup of water, cover, and place over a medium heat. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the hot mixture (including the water) to a food processor fitted with the blade and pur©e until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice.
- Push the mixture though a fine mesh stainer into a medium-sized mixing bowl. It should be extremely smooth.
- Whisk in the ¾ cup of the sugar and the lemon juice. There should be approximately 20 oz of purée.
- Let cool for one hour and then refrigerate for at least another hour. This mixture, known as the base, may be kept in the refrigerator, overnight, or for two days. It also may be frozen for up to one month.
Finishing and baking:
- Preheat oven to 375 °F.
- Fill a water kettle and bring the water to the boil.
- Whip cream to soft peaks with desired level of sweetness. Store in the refrigerator.
- Remove the apricot base from the refrigerator and place in large mixing bowl.
- Place the room temperature egg whites in a clean machine bowl, or medium mixing bowl.
- Beat egg whites until foamy with the salt on medium-high speed (KA speed 7). Continue beating until soft peaks, and remaining ¼ cup of sugar and beat to a just firm meringue
- Stir ¼ of the meringue into the apricot base to lighten. Fold in remainder of the whites just until no steaks of meringue remain.
- Fill the molds with the soufflé mixture. Smooth and clean the edges of the molds.
- Place the molds in roasting pan and fill with hot water until it reaches one half of the way up the molds.
- Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven, and using a slotted spatula remove the soufflés from the water to the counter.
- Dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar and lift onto small plates. Serve at once with the softly whipped cream.
Baking notes:
- Small, inexpensive 5.5 oz soufflé dishes are available from Crate and Barrel.
- The whipped cream may be added two ways. One, as was done in La Tulipe, is to cut a circle out of the center, place a dollop of whipped cream and then place the circle back on. Or each guest can take a taste of the soufflé and then place a good-sized whipped cream dollop in that spot.
- Nutrition notes: without the whipped cream Apricot Soufflé is a dairy-free and fat-free dessert.
