Peter Doyle
Banana souffle
Serves 6
Ingredients
500g banana
extra 1/2 banana, diced
4 egg yolks
20ml lemon juice
60ml sugar syrup (500g sugar, 500ml water)
300ml egg whites (approximately 10 egg whites)
3 tablespoons caster sugar
pinch cream of tartar
butter and sugar for souffle moulds
Method
To make the sugar syrup, place the water and sugar in a saucepan.
Place over high flame and whisk together to dissolve the sugar.
Bring to the boil then remove from flame.
Pour syrup into a clear bowl and cool completely.
Keeps in a sealed jar in refrigerator indefinitely.
Lightly butter each 250ml mould with softened but not melted butter, making sure you butter the whole inside of the mould, right to the top edges.
Sprinkle in sugar to coat the buttered mould completely and tap on bench to remove any excess sugar.
The butter and sugar ensure the souffle base will rise unhindered up the sides of the mould and continue above the mould to create a souffle. Any unbuttered or unsugared pieces will act as an anchor and catch the souffle mix, preventing it from rising evenly.
Peel the bananas and weigh the flesh. Cut the banana into 1 cm slices and toss quickly with the lemon juice. The lemon juice adds a lift to the banana taste and also helps prevent the banana puree oxidising and becoming brown.
Place the banana mixture into the blender with the egg yolks and puree until smooth.
Measure out 11/2 cups of puree and place in a large bowl.
Place egg whites into a perfectly clean large bowl and add a pinch of cream of tartar.
Begin whisking the egg whites slowly. Gradually increase your speed as the egg whites begin to grow in volume.
When soft peaks begin to form, sprinkle in a few large pinches of sugar and increase whisking speed to stiffen the egg whites slightly. (The whites will begin to shine and amalgamate into dense foam. In the case of souffles, very stiff whites are not needed because the structure will begin to granulate and will not fold into the souffle base to form a cohesive mass. The idea is to leave a little strength in the egg whites so it can perform better in the oven.)
Fold 1/4 of the egg whites carefully but quickly into the souffle base. Then fold in the remaining whites in one go.
Half-fill each mould with souffle base, add some banana dice into the centre of each souffle and then fill each souffle to the top of the mould.
Level the souffle with a spatula and run your fingers around the edge of each mould to prevent the souffle from catching at the edges.
Place in a gas oven 200ƒC and bake for 11-12 minutes. Smaller or larger moulds will need the times adjusted.
Check the souffles after 11 minutes and reset the timer for 2 minutes more.
Place whipped cream in a side dish.
The souffle should be ready, remove from the gas oven and place on plates.
Serve immediately.
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