Grand Marnier souffle ... in the Thermomix

I have recently decided that I need to spend more time working on and testing dessert recipes as desserts seem to be the most lacking component of my cooking repertoire. As a result, we did a little shopping trip to my favorite bargain book store and picked up a heap of dessert recipe books.

Even before the recipe books, I decided that I would like to try my hand at a souffle because I wanted to focus more on individual serve desserts rather than big pies and cakes (plus I suck at baking!).

I had a few souffle recipes in the books I got but randomly found a Youtube video of a really corny American guy (you have to watch the video to get what I mean!) making a Grand Marnier souffle to impress a girl on Valentine's Day. Of course, if you want to make the souffle the traditional method, by all means, just do what the guy did in his video (with his freakishly small spatula!). I have also included links below to the written recipes.

I decided to study the recipe and convert it for the Thermomix because (1) I could not find a Thermomix Grand Marnier souffle recipe and (2) The Boy really wanted a Grand Marnier souffle. He's been talking about it forever.

It took quite a while to convert the recipe from a regular recipe to a Thermomix recipe and I worked on it for a little over an hour, researching other souffle recipes to compare and to make sure that I got the timing and settings right. I have to admit, going into making the souffle that I was quite stressed and anxious as I did not know if it would turn out, or rise, or taste good. (The initial batter was not tasty at all!!)

Here's the recipe for what I did:

Ingredients: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grand-Marnier-Souffle/Detail.aspx 

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 5 teaspoons butter, melted
• 5 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cold milk
• 2 egg yolks (room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
• 1 tablespoon brandy-based orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier®)
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup white sugar, divided

Creme Anglaise (souffle filling): http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Creme-Anglaise-Sauce/Detail.aspx 

• 2 large egg yolks (room temperature)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon brandy-based orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier®)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

• Butter and sugar ramekins and set aside on top of baking sheet.  Butter the ramekin and use a brush with strokes going straight up the sides. It encourages the rise to work properly.
• Heat oven up to 180°C
• Add butter, flour, milk, egg yolks, orange zest, grand marnier liquer and vanilla extract into Thermomix. Cook on  7min/90C/speed 4. VERY IMPORTANT: Check it at 5 minutes and make sure that is has not gotten too thick. Add more milk if necessary. You can't just let it run for the full 7 minutes without checking it, as your batter will probably end up too thick and dense, and not creamy enough! It needs to be a thick, creamy consistency. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool.
• In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites and slowly add sugar until they form soft peaks. Insert the butterfly whisk and whisk the egg whites on speed 3 measuring cup OFF / 4 minutes. Add sugar slowly when it starts to foam. Continue whisking until soft peaks (the whites shouldn't be very firm).
• Pour grand marnier mixture into a bowl when it is lukewarm, add 1/3 of the beaten egg whites and stir vigorously to loosen it. Then, add the remaining egg whites and fold them in gently in order to keep as much air in as possible.
• Bake in the preheated oven until risen and browned, 16-20 minutes.
• To serve, take out of oven, sprinkle with icing sugar. Then, make a hole in the middle of the souffle and pour in 3 tablespoons of the Creme Anglaise. Makes it very lush! Serve and eat immediately!!
  

Creme Anglaise (souffle filling):

• Add everything into TM bowl. Cook 8 min/80C/speed 3.
• Pour into a small gravy boat or a milk jug to serve.

This recipe makes 2 medium sized souffles. If you want to make more, just double or triple the recipe as required.

From start to finish, between prep and cooking time, this took between 45 - 60 minutes, so if you are planning on making this for dessert after a dinner party, be prepared for that. It could take a while between courses.

Also, I didn't slowly pour the sugar into the egg whites to slowly whisk to make soft peaks. I just dumped all the sugar in and whisked away. I did, however, stop and check while whisking and whisked a total of about 4 - 4.5 minutes. The meringue was quite soft (slighly liquidy but not runny) and very glossy in texture. I expect that if you didn't want to check it and just ran it for 4 minutes, you could be okay, but with meringues I like to be safe and check regularly. It's a fine line and a short time between just right and too much!

This was a two Thermomix bowl jobbie for me. I used the first bowl to make the batter. Then immediately switched to the second bowl to make the meringue. After that, I washed (okay, The Boy washed, not me!) the first bowl and set it aside to use to make the Creme Anglaise. If you do not have two Thermomix bowls, then you will have to quickly wash and dry between each step.

I got so darned excited when I checked (okay, stalked!) the oven to see if it had risen at all, and it had!!

I have to say, I am super happy with the way that this turned out. It was light, fluffy and delicious. Adding the Creme Anglaise in the middle made it super decadent. When you poke a hole in the souffle to pour in the Creme Anglaise, just bear in mind that your souffle will deflate somewhat because of you putting a hole in it.

The Boy was super pleased with the dessert (we had it for afternoon tea as I was recipe testing!) and even went so far to say that it was the best thing he had ever put in his mouth. :-) Of course, that compliment from him made me very happy!

If you do make this, be sure to post pictures for me to see either on Instagram - be sure to tag me with @langshipley or on my Daz In The Kitchen Facebook page.


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Pork dumplings with chili oil

I recently bought a cookbook called "Asian Wraps & Rolls" by Vicki Liley, which I've started using. The reason I bought this cookbook was also the reason for this post. These very yummy pork dumplings. I was browsing through the cookbook while at the store and when I saw the recipe for pork dumplings, it sealed the deal for me!

I have to say that I love dumplings. Well, both The Boy and I do and we've been buying ours from Chinese grocery stores frozen, which we would then steam for a snack or a light lunch.

However, I wanted to make them myself (so much more control as we don't live near any Chinese grocery stores now) and this recipe made it a great opportunity for me to do so.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

• 150g ground minced pork
• 150g jumbo shrimp / king prawns, shelled and deveined (I use frozen ones that have been defrosted)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon peeled and freshly grated ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro (fresh coriander)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Vietnamese mint
• 16 wonton skins

For chili oil:

• 1 tablespoon chili oil
• 1 teaspoons kechap manis
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon Chinese red vinegar

Instructions:

• In a good processor, combine pork, shrimp, garlic, ginger and salt. Process for 20 seconds, or until well blended. Transfer to a bowl and add cilantro and mint. Using wet hands, mix until well combined.
• Place wonton skins on a work surface. Cover remaining skins with a clean damp cloth.
• Place 1 tablespoon of pork filling in centre of wonton skin and brush edges of skin with water. Gather edges around filling, forming a basket. Gently squeeze centre of dumpling so that the filling is exposed at top. Tap base of dumpling on work surface to flatten. Set aside on a tray and cover with plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining wonton skins and filling.
• Line a medium sized bamboo steamer with parchment (baking paper). Fill a medium sized wok about 1/3 full with water (steamer should not touch the water). Bring water to a boil. Arrange the dumplings in steamer. Cover with lid. Place steamer over boiling water. Steam for 12 minutes, adding more water to wok as necessary.
• Meanwhile, stir all chili oil ingredients together in a small bowl. Lift steamer off work and carefully remove dumplings from steamer. Serve hot, with chili oil for dipping.

I doubled the recipe as I wanted to make a bit more so that I would have some leftovers for lunch the next day as I made these for an afternoon snack and also perhaps, if there was enough, to freeze for another day. Alas, between us eating them (The Boy had seconds) and me giving some of them away to my neighbour, we didn't have much left. There's enough for me to have a small serve for lunch tomorrow. I'll need to make more next time.

I did do a few things differently, just because I had some ingredients (in different forms) already in the fridge and I wanted to use them. I used the same measurements (just doubled) for the substitutes.

Instead of freshly chopped coriander and ginger, I used a coriander paste and a ginger paste from Gourmet Garden. They do some lovely herb pastes that are excellent quality and taste wonderful.

I also used minced garlic from a jar rather than fresh garlic, again because I had some in the fridge and I was wanting something quick and easy with minimal chopping to get the snack made quickly.

The grocery store did not have Vietnamese mint, so I just used plain old mint. It was a fine substitute.

I put everything except the mint into the food processor (I used my Thermomix!) and mixed it for 10 seconds instead of 20, just because my Thermomix mixes faster. If you are using a regular food processor, try the 20 seconds but keep an eye on your mixture. You don't want to over process it. Then, I hand mixed the mint through the meat mixture, just so that the mint was still in little pieces rather than processed to mush.

When steaming, make sure that you allow quite a bit of space between the dumplings as they do expand in size when they are cooked. I made the mistake of not allowing enough room as I wanted to steam them all in one batch and they got pretty stuck together. Fortunately, I was able to remove them without damaging the wrapper.

These turned out SUPER tasty. We usually put soy and chili sauce over our dumplings, but in reality these did not need them, in particular it did not need the chili sauce.

I hope you try these out. If you do make this, be sure to post pictures for me to see either on Instagram - be sure to tag me with @langshipley or on my Daz In The Kitchen Facebook page.


© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny's Fortunes Pty Ltd

Find me around SOCIAL MEDIA:
Cooking blog: http://dazinthekitchen.blogspot.com.au/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dazinthekitchen
Twitter: @langshipley https://twitter.com/langshipley
Instagram: @langshipley http://instagram.com/langshipley
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/langshipley/
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Makeup and beauty blog: http://langshipley-deannasworld.blogspot.com.au/