Homemade: Pumpkin Soufflé with Maple Crème Anglaise

Note: Most of this post was written before Hurricane Sandy and Election Day 2012. Does that change anything? Not really. Just thought I’d mention it.

If you follow food blogs, this is probably the ninetieth recipe you’ve seen recently featuring pumpkin or some other sort of winter squash. The ingredient is everywhere these days, which is probably what inspired me to whip up this soufflé. And by the way, “whip up” is an intended double entendre; of course, I’m referring to the egg whites that are the base of this French dessert, but I’m also hinting at how easy it is to put this together.

Libby’s canned pumpkin; next time I won’t be so lazy and make homemade purée

There aren’t many ingredients: pumpkin purée, two kinds of sugar, a bunch of spices and egg whites. And if you prepare everything beforehand, it’s super-easy to finish it off right before you plan on serving it. In fact, it’s helpful to do your prep ahead of time, because then you can play with your leftover egg yolks. This recipe calls for a full dozen whites, so good luck using them all, but I usually get rid of a few by making a crème anglaise that goes with my egg white–laden dessert.

For the soufflé, I used a recipe from pastry chef Emily Luchetti’s Classic Stars Desserts. I love her books; she writes in an easy-going, friendly voice that makes them fun to flip through and read. The anglaise recipe was found in a three-ring binder from when I worked in restaurants. I have no idea whose it was or where I got it, but I tweaked it, so now it’s mine.

In terms of outcome, the results were tasty, but the soufflé didn’t rise as high as I’d expected. It also took longer to bake than the time given in the recipe; when I first cut into it, it was still pretty liquidy inside. Both of these things were most likely my fault. First, I folded room-temp whites into cold pumpkin purée, causing it to seize up instead of incorporating nicely; next time I’ll take it out of the fridge earlier. Also, my baking dish is more of a round casserole than a traditional soufflé, and it slopes out at the top a little. I’m not sure that made a difference but it was all I had, and can you blame me for wanting to use Le Creuset bakeware for such a trés Français dessert?

Recipes after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »