A Strong, Strong Compulsion

I have somehow suddenly been overcome with a strong compulsion to create, to bake. My 2011 resolution is to try out and document 50 new recipes. This is Week 6 and I have only conquered 2 recipes, one successfully and the other, unfortunately not so successfully. So if you do the math, you would understand that I'm already lagging behind. Maybe this explains my crazy preoccupation with needing to bake.

Dad had bought for me a copy of my favourite magazine, Martha Stewart Living, from Houston, and as I was leafing through the pages, I came across a recipe for chocolate souffles. Seeing that the recipes I had worked on previously involved chocolate, I thought of trying something different and fruity, so I ended up working on a ginger grapefruit recipe which I adapted from the Martha Stewart website.

The first time I had ever tasted a souffle was way back at a bed and breakfast in Foster, Australia. Each morning, we would sit down to a 4 course meal. It wasn't an ordinary jam and toast, muesli and yogurt breakfast - we had blueberry pancakes, bacon and gruyere souffles, spinach and cheddar puffs. And the menu was revised each morning. The food was just impeccable.




Ginger and Grapefruit Souffle
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes 4

Unsalted butter, room temperature, for ramekins
1 cup grapefruit juice (from about 2 red grapefruits)
½ tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more for dusting
½ teaspoon finely grated red-grapefruit zest
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plain or Greek yogurt
4 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of coarse salt
Pinch of cream of tartar
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting


Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Butter three 6-ounce ramekins. Dust with granulated sugar, and refrigerate, uncovered.
Bring juice to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat, and simmer until reduced to ½ cup, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in ginger. Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and zest. Whisk in yolks, cornstarch, and flour, and then the juice mixture. Return to pan. Set over medium-high heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Let mixture cool, stirring occasionally, to room temperature. Stir in yogurt.
With a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add salt and cream of tartar, and beat until soft peaks form. With machine running, gradually add remaining sugar, and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Gently fold in grapefruit mixture in 3 additions.
Divide mixture among prepared ramekins, and place them on a baking sheet. Bake until golden and puffed, 20 to 25 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately. When batter is mixed, do not refrigerate for long before baking because batter will not rise nicely.