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Orange Souffle
3 egg yolks, beaten 3 tablespoons powdered sugar 1 tablespoon orange rind, grated 1/2 cup cake crumbs 1 orange (juice) 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 egg whites, beaten stiff 1 1/2 tablespoons currants 1 cup cream, whipped Beat egg yolks until lemon colored and very thick. Add sugar, orange rind, cake crumbs that have been soaked in the strained orange juice, lemon juice and salt. Mix the ingredients thoroughly and fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites and currants. Pour into a greased souffle dish and bake for 25 minutes in a moderate oven. Serve with sweetened whipped cream. Serve 4.
A light baked pudding rather than a classic flour-based souffl e as the structure comes from cake crumbs and whipped whites, so it is more forgiving than it sounds \to the table quickly all the same.
- Moderate ovenIn books of this period a moderate oven is usually reckoned at about 350-375F. Twenty-five minutes suits a dish of about 1 to 1 1/2 quarts; a deeper, narrower dish will take somewhat longer.
- "Powdered sugar"In American books of this period the term often means finely granulated sugar rather than the cornstarch-cut confectioners' sugar sold today. Either works here, but superfine dissolves into the yolks most cleanly.
- Cake crumbsDry, plain crumbs from pound cake or a leftover sponge layer, not a moist frosted cake. Stale crumbs absorb the orange juice properly; fresh ones turn to paste.
- CurrantsDried Zante currants, not fresh red or black currants. Plump them briefly in warm water or a spoonful of the orange juice and pat dry, or they will draw moisture from the batter and sink.
- FoldingFold the whites in two additions and stop while a few streaks remain. The crumbs make the base heavy, and over-mixing here is the difference between a risen souffl e and a dense one.
- The dishButter it well and, for a better climb, dust the buttered surface with sugar. A straight-sided 1-quart dish gives the best lift; a shallow gratin dish will spread and set flat.
- Doneness and timingIt is ready when the top is browned and the centre only just trembles. Like all souffl es it begins to fall within a few minutes of leaving the oven, so have the sweetened whipped cream ready before you bake.
- YieldFour small servings as written. The cup of cream is measured before whipping and yields roughly two cups whipped, which is generous for four.
Crumb-based souffles of this kind appear in American cookbooks of the first half of the twentieth century: stale cake was soaked in fruit juice and lightened with beaten whites into something that could be sent to table as a dessert course. The technique sits between the English bread-and-butter pudding tradition and the French souffle proper, borrowing the name and the rise from the latter without the bechamel base.