Taillevent Pear Souffles With Pear Wafers Recipes

PEAR AND APPLE SOUFFLé

Steps:

• Fill a bowl with water, and add the juice of 1/2 lemon. Place the fruit in the water as you prepare it. When all of the fruit is prepared, drain and transfer to a large, heavy saucepan. Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the vanilla and ginger, and 2 tablespoons water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir, and then turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer, stirring often, for 20 minutes. Uncover and continue to simmer for another 30 to 40 minutes, stirring often, until the fruit is very soft and beginning to stick to the pan. It may or may not look like applesauce, depending on the texture of the apples and pears that you used (Granny Smith apples, for example, will break down, whereas Galas will not). Remove from the heat, and transfer to a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Puree until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, and allow to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with the rack adjusted to the lowest position. Butter one 2-quart soufflé dish or six 6-ounce ramekins and dust with sugar (use about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the sugar).
• In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites on low speed for one minute or until they foam. Add the cream of tartar, and continue to beat on low speed for one minute. Turn the speed to medium, and slowly stream in the remaining sugar while you continue to beat until there are firm, satiny peaks. Be careful not to overbeat.
• Fold one third of the egg whites into the apple-pear puree to lighten it. Fold in the rest. Gently spoon into the ramekins or the soufflé dish, mounding it up over the top. Put the ramekins on a baking sheet, and place in the oven. Bake individual soufflés for about 10 minutes, until puffed and golden. They should still be runny on the inside. Bake a large soufflé for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve at once.

PEAR GINGER SOUFFLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter dishes well, coat with sugar, and tap out excess. Chill.
• Peel, quarter, and core pears. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Squeeze lemon halves over pieces to prevent discoloring. Place pears and 2 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan and cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until they become a chunky sauce, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a food processor, and puree. Return to pan.
• Using a clean garlic press, squeeze juice from ginger into puree; discard pulp. Continue cooking puree over low heat until thick and a spoon drawn through puree leaves a trail, about 15 minutes.
• In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tablespoons cold water. Stir into the puree, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer a few minutes more. Transfer to a large bowl, and beat in egg yolks. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it onto the surface of the mixture. Keep warm until ready to use.
• In a large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar. Beat until stiff and glossy.
• Spoon 1/3 of the whites into pear base. Add Poire William, if desired, and whisk until smooth. Quickly fold in remaining whites until combined. (Don't worry if there are some streaks.) Fill prepared dishes to about 1/4 inch from the top. Run your thumb around edge of dishes to make a groove. Sprinkle with granulated sugar if desired.
• Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and continue baking for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

TAILLEVENT PEAR SOUFFLE

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine one and one-third cups of the sugar with three cups of water. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat.
• Peel, core and quarter the pears. Place them in the saucepan, adding a little more water if necessary, so they are just covered with the syrup. Simmer gently until the pears are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain. Discard the syrup.
• Dice eight quarters of the pears. Puree the rest in a food processor. Return the puree to a saucepan and cook until it is reduced to about two cups.
• In a saucepan, dissolve two-thirds cup of the sugar in one-third cup water. Cook over medium-high heat, without stirring, until the mixture reaches the hard-crack stage, 300 degrees on a candy thermometer. This is just before the sugar turns to caramel.
• Immediately pour the hot sugar into the warm pear puree and stir. Add the eau de vie de poire.
• Butter eight one-cup souffle dishes and dust them with the remaining sugar. Divide the diced pears among them. The souffle can be prepared ahead up to this point.
• Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
• Beat the egg whites until they hold firm peaks but are still creamy. Fold the pear puree and egg whites together and spoon the mixture into each of the prepared souffle dishes.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until the souffles are puffed and nicely browned. Serve at once.