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–+ servings

Chartreuse Soufflé

Adapted from Hungry for France by Alexander Lobrano, recipes by Jane Sigal 
As mentioned, I used Izarra, an herbal liqueur somewhat similar to green Chartreuse. Chartreuse is widely available and unless you have a similar herbal liqueur on hand, like I did, there’s no substitute. Another liqueur would take it in another direction. If you want to do some experimenting, am not sure exactly how much of another liqueur would work, but I’d try 1/4 cup (60ml). I used the chocolate sauce that was a ripple in the ice cream recipe here. It’s not too thick and it good served warm or at room temperature, which I offer in pitchers alongside, so guests can add their own.
Servings 5 servings
  • 1 cup (250ml) whole milk
  • 4 tablespoons (50g) sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or seeds, or 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 3 tablespoons (25g) corn starch
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 5 tablespoons (75g) green Chartreuse
  • 5 large egg whites, at room temperature
  • Pinch of salt
  • Additional sugar and softened butter for preparing the molds
  • Chocolate sauce (recipe for Fudge Ripple)
  • Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Butter the inside of five ramekins or custard cups with an approximate capacity of about 6oz/175ml capacity, including the rims, with softened butter. Sprinkle them with sugar and tap out any excess.
  • Heat the milk with 1 tablespoon of sugar and the vanilla seeds or half bean, to a simmer, in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside for 15 minutes
  • Whisk together the corn starch with 1 tablespoon of sugar and the egg yolks in a small bowl. Gradually pour the warm infused milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. (If using a vanilla bean, remove it first. It can be rinsed and dried for another use.)
  • Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until it starts to thicken. Once it begins to get thick, whisk it more vigorously until it’s very stiff, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the pastry cream into a large bowl, let cool for a few minutes then whisk in the Chartreuse.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whip attachment, or by hand, whip the egg whites with the salt until they start to stiffen. Continue whipping, adding the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, until the egg whites are thick and hold their shape when you lift the whip.
  • Fold one-quarter of the egg whites into the pastry cream (if it looks lumpy, okay to give it a couple of pass-throughs with a whisk). Once incorporated, fold in the rest of the egg whites just until no – or very few – streaks of white are visible. Divide the mixture into the prepared ramekins. Smooth the top and run your thumb around the inside of the soufflés, which will help them “crown.”
  • Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and cook for 12 minutes until the soufflés are somewhat firm but still jiggly. They make take a minute more, or a minute less – ovens are like that. Remove from the oven and serve immediately, preferably with a pitcher of chocolate sauce. You can also dust them with powdered sugar if you want to be more upmarket.

Notes

Do-ahead: You can make the pastry cream (up to step 4) in advance and chill overnight in the refrigerator. You can also prepare the soufflés in advance (up through step 6) although I like them best made at the last minute, since that’s part of the excitement of serving a soufflé.