AskTog: Recipe: Apricot Souffle

Apricot Never-Fail, Pneumatic Soufflé

One of the closely-guarded secrets of cooking is that a beautiful soufflé is actually easier to master than a lowly pineapple upside-down cake. And you'll get a lot more "Ooh"s and "Ah"s for your effort. This soufflé is particularly forgiving, making it ideal as a first soufflé. I love it not only because it explodes with flavor, but because all the preparation has been completed before the first guest sits down, so you get to enjoy your meal, too.

I've tried to include all the tricks that should give you a grand result the very first time. Let me know how it works out.

Ingredients:

6 oz. dried apricots	1/4 teaspoon salt	1 cup chilled whipping cream
2/3 cup water	1 teaspoon lemon juice	sugar
1/2 cup sugar	5 egg whites	vanilla

Earlier:

Remove eggs from refrigerator and lay aside so they will be at room-temperature at the time of beating later on. Put dried apricots in a small pot, cover with the water, cover, and gently simmer over very low heat for around 25 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed. Purée the apricots in a blender or food processor. If things bog down, add just enough water to loosen it up.

Combine purée with sugar. Stir well. Add salt and lemon juice. Result should have the consistency of a thick jam. If it is too thick and sticky, thin with a little added water.

Whip well-chilled whipping cream until it begins to thicken. (Warm cream immediately turns to butter.) Sweeten with sugar to taste. Add a few drops of vanilla. Do not over-beat, as it will become butter. Return to refrigerator.

One hour and 15 minutes before dessert:

Grease upper part of a 2-Quart double boiler with butter.

Separate the five eggs. (You can use the yolks for Hollandaise Sauce or wash them down the drain. Drain-washing is lower in cholesterol.) Whip egg whites until they stand in stiff points when the beater is removed. Check the bottom of the bowl for any sign of unwhipped egg white. I, personally, hold the bowl upside-down over my head and see if the egg white falls out. This ensures you err on the side of too much beating, rather than the dreaded too little. (Children: you should not try this at home.)

Fold apricot mixture into whites. Pour into prepared double boiler. Set over, not in, hot water. Cover soufflé. Keep the water in the bottom of the double-boiler just barely bubbling—a true simmer. Cook 1 hour. Do not uncover during cooking period.

If you have an attractive double-boiler, serve the soufflé directly from the double-boiler. Otherwise, turn out the soufflé onto a warmed serving plate. Serve with the whipped cream.

The actual cooking time is not critical: as short as 55 minutes, as long as 90 minutes. (Ideal time is 60 minutes.)

This is a great soufflé to serve when you don't want to deal with critical timing. As long as the egg whites were beaten enough (no loose "goo" at the bottom of the bowl) and the double-boiler is kept on low enough heat not to run out of water, the soufflé will not fail.

You may substitute an equal amount of dried prunes, to make a prune soufflé. Either soufflé may also be served cold. But don't count on left-overs.

Serves 4 to 6

Don't miss the next action-packed column!
Receive a brief notice when new columns are posted by sending a blank email to asktoglist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

return to top