Now Donna, I never thought I would say this but while I will always love you with your fail safe and amazing desserts, you have been outdone. I have discovered The Saint. And of course, I am referring to that paragon of amazing English cooking, Saint Delia. The story goes a little something like this.
My good friend Helen the Melon lent me several books and magazines a few weeks ago to help me with my quest to cook a terrific pudding (and yes, the magazines were Donna Hay, she still has a place in my heart!) Among the collection were the Delia’s How To Cook books One Two and Three. No matter how much I learn about cooking I always feel that theres still so much I dont know. So I was delighted to see that Delia’s books were a comprehensive guide to the absolute basics of cookery. Perfect for beginners, Book One’s opening chapter is “All About Eggs.” Hooray! I love eggs!
So I dutifully set about reading and testing, testing and eating, eating and, well, more eating. Until I reached a certain recipe that had me salivating like Pavlov’s Dog. That recipe was Warm Lemon Curd Souffles. My love of lemons has been well documented in this blog and its not often that I can return from the supermarket without one or two lemons. They just look so damn tasty at the moment! But despite this enduring love of citrus, I was apprehensive, for I had NEVER tried to make a souffle before and their reputation for being fickle and deflating had far preceded them.
mmmmmmm lemon curd…
With the help of Saint Delia, I rallied and attempted these amazing desserts. I followed all the instructions to the letter, popped them in the oven and crossed my fingers and my toes. I suspect my sister may have also had her fingers crossed. Maybe it was all that crossing, but when I took them out they were BLISSFULLY risen and utterly delicious! Beautifully puffed souffle on top, gorgeous creamy layer of Lemon Curd on the bottom, what more could you ask for? Except for more please!! If you try no other souffle recipe in your lifetime, you must try this one.
yummoriffic!
P.s. I did have some difficulty with my grated lemon zest being quite chunky, can anyone recommend a fine grater that is good for zesting?
Warm Lemon Curd Souffles – From Delia’s How To Cook Book One
Ingredients – For The Lemon Curd
The grated zest and juice of one small lemon
1 large egg
40g caster sugar
25g cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 tsp cornflour
Method – For Lemon Curd
1. Lightly whisk the eggs in a small/medium saucepan
2. Add the rest of the ingredients (only the lemon curd ingredients!) and place the saucepan over a medium heat
3. Whisk the mixture continuously using a balloon whisk until it thickens (about 3 mins)
4. Lower the heat to its minimum setting and let the curd simmer for 1 more minute, whisking all the time
5. Remove from heat and divide the curd between the bases of four ramekins (Delia says to use ramekins with a base diameter of 6cm and a top diameter of 7.5cm. I just used ones that I thought would work!)
Ingredients – For the Souffles
3 large eggs
Grated zest and juice of one medium lemon (should be about 2 tablespoons of juice)
50g caster sugar (Delia specifies Golden Caster sugar, but I couldn’t find any and normal seemed to do the trick)
1 dessert spoon of caster sugar
Method – For the Souffles
1. Separate the eggs putting the yolks into a medium sized bowl and the whites into a larger bowl
2. Whisk the whites until they reach the stiff peak stage (about 4-5 mins depending on what whisking method you use)
3. Add the dessert spoon of sugar and whisk for 30 seconds more
4. Add the zest and lemon juice and the rest of the sugar to the yolks and whisk briefly
5. Take a tablespoon of the whites and fold into the yolks mixture
6. Gently folk in the rest of the whites being very careful not to knock the air out of the mixture
7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared ramekins, piling it high like a pyramid. Run your finger around the inside rim of each ramekin (this will help prevent any of the mixture leaking out around the sides)
8. Place the ramekins on a baking tray and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 15 mins on 170 degrees celsius (I only baked them for about 8 minutes, use your judgement and when they are nice and golden on top, take them out)
9. Let them rest for about 5 mins before serving to allow the curd to cool a bit
10. EAT EAT EAT!