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Strawberry soufflé (Antonin Carême).
(printout version recipe November/December 2005 (1 page A4))

List of ingredients:
250 gram (1 2/3 cup) strawberries (Smell them before buying them: No smell, no taste)
100 gram (1/2 cup) sugar (maybe more if the strawberries aren't very sweet of themselves)
5 whites of eggs
icing sugar for decoration
soufflé dish with a content of 1½ liter (6 cups/3 pints), or several small individual moulds
butter and icing sugar for the mould

Preparation in advance: Separate the eggs.
Purée the hulled strawberries in a blender or a passevite. Add half of the sugar, taste, and add more sugar if you so desire. Butter the soufflé mould and sprinkle the inside with icing sugar.

Preparation: Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF.
Beat the egg whites until they stand up in peaks. Add 50 gram sugar and continue beating the whites to a glossy whiteness. Add a little of the eggwhites to the strawberry purée, mix well, then pour the purée into the bowl with the beaten egg whites. Mix lightly, and pour the preparation into the buttered and sugared soufflé mould. For a good result the mould be filled almost  up to the rim.
Bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes until slightly browned and concave on top.

To serve: Sprinkle some icing sugar on the soufflé and serve immediately!
You could garnish with slices of fresh strawberry, whipped cream, and maybe a sprig of mint (although that is rather cliché).

How to separate eggs?  Very simple: Pour the raw egg on the fingers of your (clean!) hand, and let the white run through your fingers. The yolk will remain wiggling on your fingers. If you absolutely must, buy an egg separator, but when nature has provided us with the perfect tool, why waste money? Other people use the eggshell halves to separate the yolk from the white, but these shells have sharp edges. 
How does one beat egg whites?
  Although this is wide-spread knowledge, I 'll state it here once more: a soufflé is made with beaten egg whites, and egg whites will never be stiff enough unless the eggs are at room temperature to start with, and all used kitchen implements are absolutely fat-free. I live in a temperate climate, so my eggs never see the inside of a refrigerator anyway, but if you keep your eggs refrigerated, remember to take them out at least an hour before using them.. 
Crack the eggs one by one above a seperate bowl. If the yolk breaks you can't use the white for the soufflé, and if you crack all eggs above the same bowl and the last yolk breaks, you'll have to throw away all the whites. So you'll need three bowls, one to break the eggs in, and two others to collect the separated yolks and whites. If you're unsure whether the bowl is absolutely grease-free, just rub a slice of lemon in it, then rinse with water and dry with a clean cloth.

This page was last updated on 21-07-09 (d-m-y).