Friday 3 July 2020

Coffee souffle



With a nod to the inclination of the Leaning Tower - which is all of five minutes on foot, thattaway...

My standard go-to for the frequent times when the dinner hour arrives, and I've got nothing started for dessert. Five minutes to make the souffle base, and then a comfortable pause before the dessert course, as the oven does its magic.

For two individual souffles  

Ingredients:
11g plain flour; 28g sugar + 1 tbs sugar; 60ml milk; 1 tbs good quality instant coffee powder; 2 eggs, separated plus one extra egg white; a pinch of salt.

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 210 degrees C. Grease two ramekins (I use ramekins of approx 200 ml capacity).

2. In the bowl of a double boiler, combine the flour, sugar, coffee granules and milk. Set over a gentle heat, and stir with a whisk from time to time, as the mixture thickens - about five minutes.

3. Once the mixture has thickened, take it off the heat and whisk the egg yolks into it. If not proceeding to bake the souffles immediately, at this point set the mixture to one side.

4. When you're ready to bake the souffles, beat the egg whites until stiff; as you begin to beat, add the pinch of salt to the egg whites, and as the mixture visibly thickens, add the spoonful of sugar little by little.

5. Add a third of the beaten egg white to the coffee mixture and whisk it in, to lighten the mixture, and then return everything to the remaining egg whites and fold in to amalgamate thoroughly.

6. Divide the mixture between the two prepared ramekins. Make sure that none of the mixture sits on the side of the ramekin, as this will prevent the souffle from rising properly.

7. Bake in the pre-heated oven for thirteen minutes, while you sit at table and talk over politics, music, or books, and consume another glass of something sustaining.

Serve.

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