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Orange Souffle
Peel and sliee six oranges, put in a glass dish a layer of oranges, then one of sugar, and so on until all the orange is used, and let stand two hours; make a soft boiled custard of yolks of three eggs, pint of milk, sugar to taste, with grating of orange peel for flavor, and pour over the oranges when cool enough not to break dish; beat whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, stir in sugar, and put over the pudding. Praised by all. -Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, Melrose, Mass.
This is a layered orange trifle rather than a baked soufflé in the modern sense: macerated fruit, a stirred custard poured over, and a raw meringue crown. The one thing that decides success is the custard, which must thicken without ever simmering.
- The custard is the hingeThree yolks to a pint of milk is a thin, pourable stirred custard. Cook it over low heat or a water bath, stirring constantly, until it coats a spoon at about 170-175F; a moment of boiling will scramble the yolks and no amount of beating will bring it back.
- "Soufflé" hereIn nineteenth-century American cookbooks the word often meant nothing more than a dish made light with beaten whites. There is no baking, no rise, and no dish set in a hot oven.
- Unspecified sugarThe original gives none. Roughly 1/2 to 3/4 cup total between the fruit layers, 2 to 3 tablespoons in the custard, and 3 tablespoons beaten into the whites suits modern palates; adjust to the sweetness of the fruit you have.
- Preparing the orangesPeel deeply enough to remove all white pith, then slice crosswise into rounds and pick out seeds. Segmenting free of membrane gives a better texture, though it costs juice. The two-hour stand is not optional: it draws out syrup that becomes part of the finished dish.
- Grated peelGrate the zest only, from an unwaxed orange, and grate it into the milk before heating so the oils infuse. Any white pith taken with it turns the custard bitter.
- "Cool enough not to break dish"Sound advice with period glass and still worth heeding. Let the custard come down to warm before pouring, and never set a cold glass dish under hot custard.
- The raw meringueThe whites go on uncooked and are never heated. If that concerns you, use pasteurized whites, or make a Swiss meringue by whisking whites and sugar over hot water to 160F before beating.
- Chilling and yieldRefrigerate at least two hours before serving; the custard firms only slightly and the dish is meant to be spooned. Six oranges and a pint of milk serve six to eight.
The contributor is worth knowing: Mary A. Livermore (1820-1905) of Melrose, Massachusetts, was one of the best-known American women of her generation, an organizer for the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War and afterward a suffrage lecturer and editor. Community and compiled cookbooks of the era carried signed contributions from prominent women, and her name here is of that kind. The dish itself belongs to the large family of English trifles and "floating islands" that fill the creams-and-custards chapters of these books: fruit, a stirred custard, a froth of whites. Oranges appearing raw and in quantity fits the period, since by the 1880s Florida and Mediterranean fruit was reaching northern markets by rail and steamer.