Getting Ahead: The soufflé can be made, and the lemon zest candied, 1 day ahead and kept, covered, in the refrigerator. The soufflé can be decorated with Chantilly cream and candied zest, then refrigerated up to 4 hours. Remove the collar just before serving.
#One of the all-time best endings to a grand dinner, lemon souffle is cool, light, and fluffy, with just the right balance of tart and sweet. Choose lemons with bright, even colour, and smooth rather than pitted skin.# Prepare The Souffle Dish: Cut a piece of foil 5 cm (2 inches) longer than the circumference of a 1 litre (1 3/4 pint) soufflé dish. Fold the foil lengthwise in half. “Fold the foil in half to increase strength”
Wrap the foil around the dish. It should stand well above the rim Wrap the foil around the dish. It should stand well above the rim. Secure the foil with tape. “So the souffle appears to have ‘risen’, the foil should reach above the rim.” #Make The Lemon Souffle Base# Put 75 ml (2 ½ fl oz) of the water in a small saucepan, sprinkle the gelatine on top, and set aside to soften until spongy, about 5 minutes. “Sprinkle gelatine evenly over water in pan”
Grate the zest from 3 of the lemons. Pare strips of zest from the remaining lemon and reserve it to candy. Squeeze the juice from all 4 lemons – there should be 150 ml (5fl oz).
Separate the whole eggs. In a medium saucepan, mix together the egg yolks, grated lemon zest, and lemon juice, and two-thirds of the sugar until blended.
Cook, stirring, just until mixture boils. Pour into a large bowl and beat with the electric mixer until light and thick enough to leave a ribbon trail when the whisk is lifted, 5-7 minutes.
Warm the gelatine over low heat, shaking the pan, until the gelatine is melted and pourable, 1-2 minutes; do not stir. Whisk into the lemon mixture and continue whisking until cool. #Finish And Chill The Souffle# Pour the cream into a chilled bowl and whip until soft peaks form; chill the cream.
Heat the remaining sugar with the remaining water in a small saucepan until dissolved. Boil without stirring until the syrup reaches the hard ball stage. To test, take the pan from the heat, dip a teaspoon in the hot syrup, remove, and let cool a few seconds. Take a little syrup between your finger and thumb. It should form a firm, pliable ball. “If you have a sugar thermometer, you can use it to test the syrup; it should register 120°C (248°F).” TAKE CARE: Dip your fingers in cold water before testing the syrup.
While the syrup is boiling, put the 6 egg whites in a bowl and whisk While the syrup is boiling, put the 6 egg whites in a bowl and whisk. Begin whisking slowly, but increase speed when they become foamy and white. Continue whisking until stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted.
Gradually pour the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites, whisking constantly.
Continue whisking until the meringue is cool and stiff, about 5 minutes. “Pour syrup in thin, steady stream” “Electric mixer takes over from balloon whisk”
Set the bowl of lemon mixture in a larger bowl of iced water Set the bowl of lemon mixture in a larger bowl of iced water and stir the mixture gently until it starts to thicken. Remove the bowl from the ice bath. “Iced water helps mixture to thicken” “Mixture will form mound when dropped from spatula”
Fold in the whipped cream, then fold in the meringue in 2 batches. TAKE CARE: Work quickly because the mixture sets fast.
Pour the soufflé mixture into the prepared soufflé dish Pour the souffle mixture into the prepared soufflé dish – it should come at least 5 cm (2 inches) above the rim of the dish but below the edge of the foil collar. Chill the soufflé until firmly set, at least 2 hours. “Scrape mixture from bowl with rubber spatula” “Pour mixture into center of dish” #Decorate The Souffle# Candy the reserved lemon zest. To make the Chantilly cream, pour the cream into a chilled bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla essence and continue whipping until the cream forms stiff peaks and the whisk leaves clear marks in the cream.
With the kitchen scissors, carefully trim the foil collar level with the top of the soufflé mixture.
Spread about one-third of the Chantilly cream over the top of the soufflé. “Smooth cream with palette knife.”
With the tines of the fork, mark a lattice design in the cream.
Fill the piping bag with the remaining Chantilly cream and pipe a scroll border around the edge of the soufflé.
Top the piped cream with the candied lemon zest. “Candied lemon zest forms a brightly coloured decoration” “Ease foil away gently, using small knife” #TO SERVE# Carefully remove the foil collar from the soufflé. Place the soufflé dish on a serving plate. “Soufflé looks as though it has risen above the dish”Cold Lemon Souffle-Easy desserts Recipe
