White Chocolate Souffle & Strawberry Souffle (August and December 2009)

        A dessert that is close to my heart is the souffle. This dessert relies on beaten egg whites for it's light anf fluffy texture. I fell in love with this dessert after being shown a video of Gordon Ramsay making one. I'd always been a bit weary about making this dessert, the fact that it could just turn out to be one sweet sunken mess that would refuse to rise at all. Even after reading recipes and watching videos and eating my very own souffle I was still not convinced that I would be able to achieve it.

        One day (in August 2009) I thought I would face my fears and attempt the ever fearful task of baking my first souffle. If I remember correctly I used this recipe from cuisine.com.au, even though the recipe was specifically for a chocolate souffle I decided to use white chocolate instead. That was quite a game move for someone who has never ever attempted to bake a souffle before. Mum also happened to have a box full of mandarins lying around and Ryan had left a small bottle of Grand Marnier at my place so we made a bit of a mandarin syrup to go with it.

        Ryan and I sat in front of the oven watching... just watching. It rose a little but we didn't quite get that "poof" that usually happens with a souffle. It actually started sinking quite a bit straight after we pulled it out of the oven. For a first go I was quite proud of myself and it was deliciously yummy. The citrus went well with the white chocolate adding a little bit of tang to the dish but nothing too overpowering.

        In November we were in the Gold Coast on a mini break and dined at Vanita's Restaurant at the Palazzo Versace Hotel. (By the way, awesome place to eat if you want fine dining). When we spotted a souffle on the dessert menu we just had to have it! From what I remember I think it was a mango souffle with a raspberry sauce. It looked absolutely perfect, the way it sat so high above the ramekin. It actually inspired me to attempt to make my own again.

        One day in December 2009 I happened to get my hands on some cheap strawberries on my lunch break, I just love it when they are in season. I googled some strawberry souffle recipes (can't seem to remember where from and can't find it again) and Ryan and I made them for dessert that night. It could have possible been a Gordon Ramsay recipe. It involved making the crème pâtissière, beating the egg whites until they were stiff, and blending all the strawberries and pushing the pulp through a sieve only taking the juice or essense of the strawberries for the souffle. It was all pure strawberry.

        As usual we sit there watching the oven like hawks. Can you imagine how absolutely excited I was at the sight of what was in the oven? I was just completely over the moon, and just couldn't wait to eat it too.

        Our almost 100% perfect souffle! Maybe about 99% there, one of the sides got a little stuck so the souffle didn't rise evenly. The ramekins were a little big too (especially when the souffle almost doubles in size). Ryan wouldn't have it any other way but to have one all to himself, let me say I said "sucked in" when he struggled to finish it, I struggled to finish mine! He wouldn't listen to me when I said we should share and let the rest of his family try the other one (we cooked two). We only managed to make two little ones with the rest of the batter that was left and felt a bit guilty for eating the two big ones all to ourselves.

        We felt that it was such a waste to throw out all the strawberry pulp so mixed some with some cream and served it on the side. The souffles were quite sweet and were good on their own anyway.

Souffle goodness!