Spiced Pumpkin Souffles with a Bourbon Molasses Sauce
I found this recipe a few years ago on Gourmet.com and just HAD to try them. I had been watching that show, with Gordon Ramsey…the one where he has chefs come and compete against each other…was it Top Chef or something like that? Can you tell I don’t watch much TV?
Anyway, he had been going on about how soufflés were so difficult to make. Obviously I had to try my hand at it.
So I made these little guys and absolutely fell in love with soufflés. Personally I did not find them super difficult to make – just to photograph! They deflate rather quickly and any jiggling and they fall, so to get them from the oven to the shoot was rather challenging. But as you can see I managed alright…”Kids – stay OUT of mommy’s way!”
As a reward, they got to eat the soufflés so they were happy.
As to the details about eating these…they are delish. Very sweet, I recommend serving with coffee…but soufflés are very fun to eat and are so completely light and just melt in your mouth. Mm, just amazing,
If you want to serve these at a dinner party, and trust me they are perfection for such a thing, simply make them earlier in the day or even a day or two ahead. Go ahead and put the batter in the soufflés, place them on a baking sheet and freeze them.
You can then put them straight into the oven from the freezer. It will take a touch longer for them to poof but from a serving point of view it’s perfection.
FOR THE BOURBON MOLASSES SAUCE- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water, plus 4 tablespoons
- 3 tablespoons bourbon (I actually use homemade vanilla extract which is made with bourbon and then you get that extra vanilla flavor)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1½ tablespoons molasses
- ¼ teaspoon salt
FOR THE SOUFFLES - ½ cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Sprinkle of ground allspice
- Pinch of ground cloves
- ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided, plus additional for coating ramekins
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- 10 large egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon salt
TO MAKE THE SAUCE- Bring sugar and 4 Tbsp water to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir until all the sugar has dissolved, then wash down any sugar crystals from side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water.
- Boil, without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until caramel is dark amber.
- Remove from heat and stir in remaining ¼ cup water, then stir in bourbon, butter, molasses, and salt.
- Return to heat and simmer, stirring, to dissolve any hardened caramel if necessary.
- Set aside to cool while you make the souffles
TO MAKE THE SOUFFLES - Whisk together milk, cornstarch, spices, and 1 Tbsp granulated sugar in a small heavy saucepan.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat whisk continuously, reduce to simmer for 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and whisk in pumpkin. Transfer to a large bowl and cool to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in lower third.
- Butter ramekins and coat with granulated sugar, knocking out excess, then put in a large shallow baking pan.
- Beat egg whites with salt in another large bowl using an electric mixer until they hold soft peaks.
- Add remaining ¾ cup granulated sugar a little at a time, beat until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks, 1 to 2 minutes more.
- Fold one third of whites into cooled pumpkin mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.
- Divide mixture among ramekins, mounding it.
- Bake soufflés until puffed and golden, 18 to 20 minutes watch them though! I live at about 5200ft and it only took about 13 minutes, so just keep an eye on them.
- Dust with confectioners sugar and drizzle with the sauce, serve immediately.
- COOKS’ NOTES:
- Pumpkin mixture (without egg whites) can be made 1 day ahead and chilled.
- Soufflés can be assembled 1 hour before baking and kept in freezer.
- Baked soufflés can be repuffed if necessary in a 400°F oven 10 to 12 minutes (serve quickly, as they will deflate a little faster the second time around).
Recipes from www.gourmet.com
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