Pear Soufflé Recipes

PEAR GINGER SOUFFLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter dishes well, coat with sugar, and tap out excess. Chill.
• Peel, quarter, and core pears. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Squeeze lemon halves over pieces to prevent discoloring. Place pears and 2 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan and cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until they become a chunky sauce, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a food processor, and puree. Return to pan.
• Using a clean garlic press, squeeze juice from ginger into puree; discard pulp. Continue cooking puree over low heat until thick and a spoon drawn through puree leaves a trail, about 15 minutes.
• In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tablespoons cold water. Stir into the puree, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer a few minutes more. Transfer to a large bowl, and beat in egg yolks. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it onto the surface of the mixture. Keep warm until ready to use.
• In a large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar. Beat until stiff and glossy.
• Spoon 1/3 of the whites into pear base. Add Poire William, if desired, and whisk until smooth. Quickly fold in remaining whites until combined. (Don't worry if there are some streaks.) Fill prepared dishes to about 1/4 inch from the top. Run your thumb around edge of dishes to make a groove. Sprinkle with granulated sugar if desired.
• Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and continue baking for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

TAILLEVENT PEAR SOUFFLE

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine one and one-third cups of the sugar with three cups of water. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat.
• Peel, core and quarter the pears. Place them in the saucepan, adding a little more water if necessary, so they are just covered with the syrup. Simmer gently until the pears are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain. Discard the syrup.
• Dice eight quarters of the pears. Puree the rest in a food processor. Return the puree to a saucepan and cook until it is reduced to about two cups.
• In a saucepan, dissolve two-thirds cup of the sugar in one-third cup water. Cook over medium-high heat, without stirring, until the mixture reaches the hard-crack stage, 300 degrees on a candy thermometer. This is just before the sugar turns to caramel.
• Immediately pour the hot sugar into the warm pear puree and stir. Add the eau de vie de poire.
• Butter eight one-cup souffle dishes and dust them with the remaining sugar. Divide the diced pears among them. The souffle can be prepared ahead up to this point.
• Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
• Beat the egg whites until they hold firm peaks but are still creamy. Fold the pear puree and egg whites together and spoon the mixture into each of the prepared souffle dishes.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until the souffles are puffed and nicely browned. Serve at once.

PEAR SOUFFLé

Steps:

• Simmer the pears in a mixture of 1 cup of the sugar, 1 cup of the water, and 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice for 10 minutes. Drain pears; discard the liquid. When the pears are cool, chop 2 pears halves and set aside. Puree the rest of the pears. Cook the puree for about 4 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, to evaporate excess liquid. Set the puree aside. Combine 1/2 cup of the sugar, 3 tablespoons of the water, and a dash of lemon juice and heat without stirring to 275 F on a candy thermometer (hard-ball stage) to form sugar syrup. Pour the hot syrup into the pear puree and mix well. Add pear brandy to the puree and let the mixture cool. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Butter six 4-inch (1 cup) soufflé molds and put some of the sugar in the molds; turn them to coat the sides and bottom with sugar, dumping out the excess. Beat the egg whites in a mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Add 1/4 cup of the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Whisk 2 tablespoons of beaten egg white into the puree to lighten it, then gently fold the puree into the remaining egg white. Fill the prepared molds half way with the batter. Sprinkle with half of the reserved chopped pear. Fill the molds nearly to the top, then sprinkle with the remaining chopped pear. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until puffed and golden. To serve: Place a soufflé in its mold on each individual serving plate. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. The soufflés must be served immediately, hot out of the oven.

PEAR AND APPLE SOUFFLé

Steps:

• Fill a bowl with water, and add the juice of 1/2 lemon. Place the fruit in the water as you prepare it. When all of the fruit is prepared, drain and transfer to a large, heavy saucepan. Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the vanilla and ginger, and 2 tablespoons water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir, and then turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer, stirring often, for 20 minutes. Uncover and continue to simmer for another 30 to 40 minutes, stirring often, until the fruit is very soft and beginning to stick to the pan. It may or may not look like applesauce, depending on the texture of the apples and pears that you used (Granny Smith apples, for example, will break down, whereas Galas will not). Remove from the heat, and transfer to a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Puree until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, and allow to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with the rack adjusted to the lowest position. Butter one 2-quart soufflé dish or six 6-ounce ramekins and dust with sugar (use about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the sugar).
• In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites on low speed for one minute or until they foam. Add the cream of tartar, and continue to beat on low speed for one minute. Turn the speed to medium, and slowly stream in the remaining sugar while you continue to beat until there are firm, satiny peaks. Be careful not to overbeat.
• Fold one third of the egg whites into the apple-pear puree to lighten it. Fold in the rest. Gently spoon into the ramekins or the soufflé dish, mounding it up over the top. Put the ramekins on a baking sheet, and place in the oven. Bake individual soufflés for about 10 minutes, until puffed and golden. They should still be runny on the inside. Bake a large soufflé for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve at once.

PEAR BRANDY SOUFFLE (SOUFFLé AUX POIRES WILLIAMS)

Steps:

• For the pastry cream: Scald the milk. Beat the egg yolks with sugar until light and thick. Stir in the flour and cornstarch.
• Stir half the hot milk into the egg mixture. Then add that mixture to the remaining hot milk in the pan.
• Bring to a boil, whisking until the pastry cream thickens. Simmer for 2 minutes.
• Rub the surface of the hot cream with some butter.
• For the souffle: Peel and core the pears and put them along with the lemon juice into a food processor.
• Purée the pears and then pour into a saucepan.
• Cook the purée for 10-15 minutes. It should be thick enough to hold a shape. Allow to cool.
• Stir the cooled purée into the pastry cream and add the pear brandy. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the surface of the pear cream. It can be refrigerated up to 3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 425°F Thoroughly butter a 2-qt. soufflé dish.
• Whip the egg whites until stiff, then beat in the sugar and continue beating until they are glossy.
• Reheat the pear cream (if necessary) until it is hot to the touch.
• Fold one-quarter of the egg whites into the warm pear cream, mixing thouroughly.
• Gently fold the cream into the rest of the egg whites and pour into the prepared dish.
• Bake the soufflé in a heated oven 20-25 minutes. The soufflé should be puffed and brown.
• To Serve, dust with powdered sugar.

BREAKFAST SOUFFLES WITH SAUTEED PEARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter six 2/3-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in 6 tablespoons sugar. Add pears and sauté until tender and golden, about 5 minutes. (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.)
• Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, egg yolks and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Sift flour and cornstarch into cream cheese mixture. Stir just until blended (do not overmix).
• Beat egg whites in another large bowl until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until firm peaks form. Add remaining 1/3 cup sugar; beat egg whites until glossy. Stir 1 cup of egg whites into cream cheese mixture to lighten. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in remaining whites. Divide among prepared dishes.
• Bake soufflés until just set and slightly brown on top, about 25 minutes. Rewarm pears over medium-low heat. Remove soufflés from oven. Run tip of small knife around sides of soufflés to loosen. Using oven mitts for protection, turn soufflés out onto plates. Serve warm with sautéed pears.

CABRALES CHEESE SOUFFLES WITH ENDIVE AND ASIAN PEAR SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter six 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. Dust with flour; shake out excess. Place dishes in roasting pan. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup flour; whisk 1 minute. Gradually add milk and whisk until mixture is thick and smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cheese and whisk until melted and smooth. Whisk in egg yolks, pepper, and kosher salt. Cool soufflé base 15 minutes.
• Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into soufflé base in 2 additions (mixture will be runny). Divide soufflé among prepared dishes. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of dishes. Bake until soufflés are slightly puffed and golden on top, about 35 minutes (soufflés may not rise above rim of dishes). (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Remove soufflés from water bath; let stand at room temperature. Place soufflé dishes on baking sheet and rewarm in 350°F oven 10 minutes.)
• Divide Endive and Asian Pear Salad among 6 plates. Place 1 soufflé dish alongside salad on each plate and serve.