I once worked for a great French chef at a small cafe in Florida. The chef was running the kitchen at a very nice old restaurant that changed ownership and went out of business before taking over as the chef at the cafe where I was at. For the last two weeks that the older restaurant was open, the chef ran a very interesting special du jour. "Any kind of souffle that you can think of" was the special offering!
At a cost of a $5.00 promotional price, that restaurant did the most amount of business that it ever had done before closing its doors forever. The chef's idea was to offer souffle at a great price, so he could sell all the remaining food stock in the restaurant. The plan worked! On the final night of business, all the old restaurant had left in the kitchen was items to make a few different souffles with. Customers are drawn to a nice souffle just like a magnet!
Recipe: Heat sugar and water over high heat in a sauce pot.
When the sugar cooks to the hard crack stage, add chopped fresh cranberries. Stir the mixture. Add a splash of brandy. Simmer and reduce the cranberry sauce over low heat till it easily glazes the back of a spoon. Press the sauce through a strainer and puree the pulp. Return the cranberry sauce and puree to the heat to keep warm.
Heat a little bit of cream and chopped white chocolate over medium low heat. Add a pinch of nutmeg. Reduce the cream gently while stirring over medium heat till it becomes a thin sauce consistency. Keep the white chocolate cream warm. The cream should be a medium thick sauce consistency.
Separate the yokes and whites of 2 eggs. Whisk the egg whites till stiff peaks form.
Stir the egg yokes into the warm chocolate cream off of the heat.
Stir the cranberry sauce into the white chocolate cream souffle mix.
Gently fold the cranberry white chocolate cream mix into the egg white meringue one third at a time. Immediately pour the mixture into a large souffle cup.
Bake in a 375 degree oven till the souffle puffs up and gets a thin brown crust over the top. (About 20 minutes)
Set the souffle on a serving dish and sprinkle a little bit of powdered sugar on the souffle. Serve immediately!
Try not to disturb a souffle while it is baking. A souffle takes almost twenty minutes to bake. No accompanying dessert sauce is needed with this great tasting souffle. The flavor of fresh cranberry and white chocolate is so very decadent! The rich tart cranberry flavor is fantastic with white chocolate. This is a great holiday dessert souffle. Delicious! ... Shawna
