Pierre Koffman’s Pistachio Souffle [Thermomix]

Pistachio soufflé with hibiscus flower ice-cream

We all know I love a soufflé, but now I have a thermomix I’m going through my recipes seeing how I can adapt them accordingly. This Pierre Koffman soufflé was an absolute doodle in the thermo, the creme patisserie is now so simple to do, that soufflés are now a very real option for every day eating (though perhaps not to be recommended!). It also means that it’s a very simple and viable option for a dinner party – the creme patisserie has to be made in advance anyway, but whilst your thermo gets on with that, you can be prepping the rest of your meal! Watch this space, soufflés are going to be flooding out of my kitchen…

Ingredients

Creme Pattiserie:

½ vanilla pod

100g caster sugar

500ml milk

120g egg yolks

50g corn flour

40g pistachio paste

For lining the dish:

25g butter, softened

25g caster sugar

For the Meringue:

4 egg whites (let’s say 140g)

1 tbsp caster sugar
Icing sugar to serve.

Preparation:

Grind together the vanilla pod and caster sugar until smooth. Mix in the remaining creme patisserie ingredients and cook for 7 minutes at 90ºC, speed 4 until smooth. Put in a bowl to cool and cover with cling film and cool rapidly.

Generously butter 4 individual soufflé dishes. Put the grated chocolate inside and rotate the moulds so that the chocolate completely covers the inside, sticking to the softened butter.

In the thermomix, beat the egg whites until firm, add the tablespoon of caster sugar and whisk until stiff. Add a small quantity of the whites to the pistachio mix to soften it, then fold in the rest of the egg whites and pour into the soufflé dishes.

Bake in a hot oven 240°C/ 475°F/ gas mark 9 for 15 minutes or until well risen. (If you’re making large individual ones, 15 minutes will leave them baveuse, which is my preference anyway – if you want them slightly further along than that, you’ll need to watch the oven like a hawk.)

To serve, dust the top with icing sugar and serve with ice cream of your choice.

Serves 4

Additional notes…

I know Pierre recommends the chocolate flake lined moulds in the original recipe, but I always find they go a strange colour. This time have melted some of the pistachio paste into the butter before double lining the moulds. I realise these seem very heavily lined, but having recently seen Alan Murchison line his moulds for an apple and cinnamon soufflé, I’m now trying out this heavier method. It seems to work well, and perhaps offers more ‘structure’ to the soufflé?

And yes Bruno, I know that creme patt doesn’t look smooth, but I was just forking it out :0)

I use the Sevarome purees, fantastic things, though jolly expensive. There are lots of recipes to make your own on-line, and now I have a thermomix, I may just do that :0)