Today I decided to make another spin on a classic household item, namely, bananas. Now I'll start off by saying that this is the first time I've actually made a souffle, let alone a Banana Souffle, but it's always been something I've wanted to try making. As for the rumours you've heard that souffles are difficult to make? Those were unfortunately true, as it took me two tries to get the whipped egg whites to create a stiff peak. Also, sadly I overfilled the souffles a bit, which caused them to overflow in the oven, but it still turned out great regardless. However, I would recommend using 5 ramekins rather than 4, if you do end up making them. I would still recommend trying this recipe out, as the flavour and texture were spot on and if you follow the attached link on how to find stiff peaks below and a few of the tips I recommend in this article, you'll have a lot fewer issues with making them!
Some of the key tips for making the stiff peaks in the egg whites are:
1) Use fresh eggs
2) Use a pinch of salt as recommended
3) Use caster sugar/superfine sugar instead of granulated sugar once you have the soft peaks appear
4) Use the whisk attachment for the Kitchenaid mixer and start from low (2-setting) and slowly ascend to medium (6-setting) or medium-high (8-setting)
5) If you over-mix the egg whites you have two options:
a) Start over and get rid of the old batch
b) Add an additional egg white and stir again
i) I chose option a) as I wanted to know exactly how much egg whites to stir into the banana mixture
I also ended up using 3 bananas instead of 2, as the bananas I was using were quite small and when I measured them out, 3 bananas worked out better. Also, make sure to not over-fold your peaked egg whites into the mixture, as it's better to under-fold than over-fold. In terms of baking, it took 16 min in the oven, and you need to serve it immediately, as they do deflate a bit as they cool off. Also, be gentle with your souffle in terms of loud sounds, as this will make them deflate faster and don't open the oven until they look lightly browned on top. Fortunately, all of the work was worth it and they turned out really well. As for the next time that I make a souffle, hopefully, I can use the mistakes I made this time to perfect it in the future, but until then I hope you enjoyed this review!
Side Note: The banana souffle in the picture looks a bit deflated since by the time I got around to taking a picture it had been about 20 min later. However, when they initially came out of the oven they had risen really well, as they are best served immediately out of the oven :)
Here is the link to the recipe: foodandwine.com
Here is the link to 'How to get stiff peaks in egg whites': sweets.seriouseats.com
Photography by: (c) 2020 Lauren Tang
Comments