Never fear. These Chilled Orange Souffles are not those scary souffles you bake in an oven. These are chilled mousses really… though, like souffles, their texture is as light as air.
I’ve previously made Chilled Lemon Souffles which went down as one of the family’s favourite summer desserts so when I saw this recipe from NZ Life and Leisure magazine (Issue 51, Sep/Oct 2013), I knew it was only a matter of time before I made them.
It’s the perfect summer dessert – light, airy and refreshing. It’s got booze in it, so if you’re wanting to serve it to kids, I’d sub in some orange juice instead. I really enjoyed the addition of the optional Hazelnut Orange Sugar (not show in photo) sprinkled over top – it provided a wonderful texture contrast and a zippy flavour boost. I also loved the layer of passionfruit and only wish I could have used fresh passionfruit pulp rather than sauce, but honestly, the cost per kilogram of passionfruit these days must surely rival that of gold. What’s that about??
And just a note: This recipe makes a lot. I halved it and still managed to serve 6 martini glasses full, so bear that in mind. Enjoy!
CHILLED ORANGE SOUFFLES
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups orange juice, divided
- 5 tsp gelatin powder
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 4 egg whites
- 2 cups heavy cream
- Finely zested rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- ½ cup Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
- 10-12 Tbsp passionfruit pulp or sauce
- Optional Garnish: Hazelnut Orange Sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup roasted hazelnuts
- Zest of 1 large orange
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix ½ cup orange juice with gelatin powder, stirring to ensure no lumps. Leave to stand. Heat remaining 1 cup orange juice in a small pot with honey and sugar, stirring to dissolve. Allow to boil then remove from heat and mix in lemon juice and soaked gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is fully dissolved.
- Place egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk to soft-peak stage. With the imxer still running, slowly add the hot citrus mixture. As soon as it is incorporated, turn off mixer and leave for 15 minutes to allow mixture to cool and begin to set, then beat until thick and fluffy – this will take about 15 minutes (it will take a while before it starts to thicken; be patient). When ready the mixture will be very thick (like stiff whipped cream) and hold its shape. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
- In the uncleaned mixer bowl add cream, zests, vanilla, cardamom and Grand Marnier. Whisk until cream just gets to firm peak stage, but don’t overwhip or it will split with the extra folding. Gently fold a little of the whipped cream into the egg-white mixture and, once incorporated, gradually fold in the remainder.
- Half-fill 8-10 serving glasses with the soufflé mixture. Spoon over a tablespoon of passionfruit pulp before topping with remaining soufflé mixture. Chill until ready to serve, then garnish with Hazelnut Orange Sugar.
- For Hazelnut Orange Sugar: Process roasted hazelnuts, sugar, zest and cardamom powder until you get a reasonably fine rubble. Keeps for weeks in a sealed jar.
- Souffles can be made a day ahead and refrigerated.
Thank you for sharing. I bookmark in my fb page hopefully will try the recipe one fine day. Enjoy the summer. 🙂
Thanks so much – yes, enjoying every summer’s day!