Monday, April 20, 2009

Lemon Souffle


I always laugh a bit when I hear the weather men talk about the "Official beginning of summer". Here, in the Phoenix area, our weather knows no stinking dates. It gets hot when it wants to, and hot is what it was today- mid 90's. I caved. My air conditioner is officially on. I, am a wimp. I grew up on Long Island, and while I moved here in high school, I have yet to get used to the heat. Last week I was wearing sweats and a coat, this week, stick a fork in me, I'm done.






While I love a great stack of pancakes now and then, the heat definitely gets me looking for lighter breakfast fare. I was looking through a cookbook I have, From a French Country Kitchen~ The Culinary Tradition of la Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe, by Monique Esquerre and Patrick Esquerre, when I came across this recipe for Lemon Souffle. Surrounded by a neighborhood full of citrus tree's, I thought it an easy and perfect brunch idea. Start to finish was 30 minutes, and that was with a 2 year old "helping".

Lemon Souffle or Souffle au Citron

4 large lemons
4 eggs, separated
4 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs lemon juice
Juice of one orange
1 tsp Grand Marnier (optional- I only had, and used, Caravella Limoncello)
1 tsp lemon zest (optional)
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Slice off the top of each lemon. Also cut a small sliver off the bottom of each so that they will stand easily in baking dish. If desired, cut a small decorative pattern around each top portion. Remove pulp from lemons, reserving 1 Tbs for recipe, and reserve remaining for another use. Preheat oven to 375 F. Place lemons in baking dish. They will serve as souffle molds.

In a medium bowl, mix together the egg yolks and sugar, using a wooden spoon, till creamy. Add lemon juice, orange juice, Grand Marnier, and lemon zest. In another bowl, with a mixer, beat egg whites to stiff peaks, and fold gently into yolk mixture. Fill each lemon with mixture. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve immediately.

*** You will have more filling than lemons. I took the remaining filling and added to a buttered, sugared, small souffle dish, and baked alongside the lemons. You could also use small ramekins, or additional lemons.

Stumble Upon Toolbar

14 comments:

Navita (Gupta) Hakim said...

LaDue this is very creative. Love the idea of using lemon skins...especially it helps in portion control too. :)

Rosa said...

Grazie, grazie, grazie! This sounds and looks like heaven! Can't wait to try it...

Patsyk said...

Love it! So refreshing!

Peter M said...

I've never seen anything like this and I love it!

Man of Roma said...

Wow. Surely a delicious antidoto to hot climate!

Julia from Dozen Flours said...

oh wow! These are so pretty!

Hey, I lived in Long Island too - in Mt. Siani and Rocky Point. Where were you?

By the way, I think you should move to Seattle -- we don't even own an air conditioner. ;) Can you even image that?? The thing that really cracked me up when I moved here -- "Heated Storage", so your stuff doesn't get too cold. Lol!!

Liz Harrell said...

All I can say is WOW.

Sara said...

These are so pretty! I have a similar recipe, I think from Martha Stewart. I haven't made it yet because I was a little skeptical of how the lemon cups would hold up, but it looks like it works great.

The Food Hunter said...

This is a great idea. Don't feel bad we've got our AC on too.

Laurie said...

What a beautiful blog you have!
I adore recipes that take so little time.. especially with young ones in the kitchen! :) This sounds amazing and baking them in the lemons is awesome! I am bookmarking this.
Ciao..

Proud Italian Cook said...

I totally love this!! And with the Limoncello,... to die for!!

Jamie said...

Wow! How did I ever miss your blog before? I love it! This Lemon soufflé is simply gorgeous and I can taste the lemon now!

And I grew up in Florida, so I understand you about that heat - and I always said "just stick a fork in my eye and put me out of my misery", although a lovely lemon soufflé could pull me out of the doldrums :-)

Jenny said...

Hi. I'm just here visiting your site, and I have to say, I like it a lot. You have some great stuff to check out. So, I invite you to come check out my site. I would love to have you over. :D

Mermaid Sews said...

Great blog! Just found it. Congrats on the weight loss, I am just starting out - sooo hard since I am in the kitchen and working alot. I love lemons, love the idea of using the lemons as a container.