Many people are intimidated about making soufflés… and they shouldn’t be.. they really are very easy to make… very simple steps… and you have a wonderfully airy dish… and depending on the ingredients… soufflés can be the main dish, side dish or dessert…
I learned how to make soufflés as a teenager… my parents would have to go to a meeting one Sunday a month and would leave me to take care of my brother… invariably I would forget to defrost meat… and back then we didn’t have microwaves… and I knew nothing of speed defrosting.. so I learned to make a lot of different egg or pasta dishes... oh.. and tuna too… it’s amazing how many things you can come up with … with those ingredients.
So I was left to read cookbooks and make the best of what I had… I learned how to make soufflés from reading my Mother’s Gourmet cookbooks… with a little practice.. I began experimenting with different ingredients and sizes of soufflé dishes… I was 14…. so trust me, you can do this.
This recipe for Banana Soufflé is so delicious… a perfect finish to a special meal… or even a brunch… and for you dieters… this is surprisingly something most dieters can consider… it has very little sugar.. and is mostly egg whites…
Follow the directions in the steps I will break out for you… and you will have a perfect soufflé.
I wrote the recipe for rum extract… you can substitute rum for it. Since I used 1 ½ teaspoons of rum extract… it is approximately equal to 2 ½ tablespoons of rum… I would eyeball the ½ tablespoon…
To make this without the rum flavor… substitute vanilla for the rum extract amount… (in addition to the vanilla extract in the recipe).
Want to WOW your guests? …. here’s a serving suggestion
To serve on a serving plate… use little small round hot pads… and cover them with a small paper doily or a flattened paper muffin wrapper… or … I have heat resistant plates… so I cut about a quadruple thickness of thick paper towel into a circle a little larger than the soufflé dish.. then place a flattened paper muffin liner over it…
These are individual soufflés… and they make a fabulous presentation… perfect for a dinner party… these bake in 15 minutes… so while your guests linger at the table… excuse yourself and do the last couple of steps… see instructions below to make these partially ahead.
So.. there’s lots to show you.. so let’s get to it!
Recipe: Banana Souffle
All you need:
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 very ripe bananas
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon lime juice
4 tablespoons sugar, divided
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons rum extract
3 large egg whites
Pinch of salt
Confectioner’s sugar (for garnish)
All you need to do:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In a small processor or blender, add the banana, the egg yolk, 2 tablespoons sugar, lime juice, vanilla and rum extracts. Process until smooth.
Pour the banana mixture into a large bowl and set aside.
Brush 5-6 one cup soufflé dishes with the melted butter (I used only 4 because that's what I had at the time.. I discarded the rest of the unused batter.
Put 1 tablespoon sugar in a small custard cup…. gently pour about half the sugar into a souffle dish and turn completely, coating with the sugar… dump the excess sugar back into the custard cup and repeat until all souffle dishes have been coated… discard any leftover sugar (you shouldn’t have very much left).
Place the soufflé dishes on a baking sheet and set aside.
Using a large mixer, place the egg whites and a pinch of salt into the mixer bowl. Beat until soft peaks.
Add 1 tablespoon sugar to the egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form when the beater is stopped and pulled up… the egg whites should be glossy.
Using a spatula, fold in the egg whites into the banana mixture, a quarter of the egg whites at a time… do not over mix… but the egg whites should be well distributed throughout the banana mixture.
Spoon the mixture into the soufflé dishes, fill to slightly above the rims. Tap them gently on the counter top.
With a knife, flatten any peaks and then using the knife gently cut a circle in the top of the mixture… it should be a circle about half the size of the soufflé dish.
Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes.. keep an eye on them… you want them risen and browned slightly but not burned…
Remove and place on a protected serving plate and dust with powdered sugar.
Serve immediately.
Note: Do not panic about how fast they will fall… and they will fall… this photo was taken about 10 minutes after coming out of the oven… even after falling the soufflé is still light and airy and beautiful.
To make partially ahead…
Prepare the individual soufflé dishes and set aside (see instructions above).
Prepare the banana batter portion .. and set aside.
Keep the egg whites in the fridge in a small cup ….
Have all your ingredients for the egg whites ready.
Set up the serving plates ahead of time and set aside…
Preheat the oven.
Five minutes before the oven is done preheating… follow the instructions for beating the egg whites.
Fold the whites into the banana batter and spoon into the prepared individual soufflé dishes.
Bake for 15 minutes… leave the oven light on and watch… the tops shouldn’t brown too much.
While the soufflés are baking… prepare the confectioners sugar in a small strainer… set it down near where you plan on plating the soufflés.
When they come out of the oven… place on prepared plates.. sprinkle with confections sugar and serve.
