My raspberry and lavender soufflé is just as delicious as it sounds. The fragrant lavender adds an interesting herbal accent to the sweet berries.

DAUNTING CLASSIC
One of the most daunting recipes to master is a soufflé. I haven’t met the first person who succeeded on their first attempt. Stories of soupy soufflés or those that refuse to rise are not all that uncommon. And because oven temperatures are not always accurate (crucial for a delicate recipe such as this one), many recipe writers are sometimes blamed for failures. The fact of the matter is that mastering a soufflé requires patience — and the realization that the first try might end up in the bin. No use in telling you otherwise.
However, please don’t let that discourage you from trying this recipe. If you read through it and make sure your oven temperature is correct, there is little chance of failure.

SUMMER FLAVORS
In the following recipe, I combined raspberries with a touch of lavender, just enough to give the soufflé a more aromatic and interesting flavor. If you aren’t fond of lavender or don’t have any available, feel free to omit. The soufflé will deflate soon after it comes out of the oven, so make sure you serve it immediately.

NOTE: I made the souffé in Revol’s cast iron style soufflé dish.

 

Raspberry & Lavender Soufflé
Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 250g frozen raspberries
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp berry jam
  • 500ml whole milk
  • 2 tsps dried lavender
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 egg yolks/4 egg whites, plus 1 whole egg
  • 3 tbsps flour
  • 2 tbsps maizena
  • 100g sugar, plus 2 tbsps
  • Powdered sugar, to serve

 

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 170°C and generously butter your soufflé dish. Dust with sugar, shaking off any excess. Place the raspberries in a pan with the water and jam and cook on a medium heat, just until the berries have fallen apart. Set aside to cool. In a saucepan, heat the milk with the lavender and vanilla. Leave to infuse on the lowest heat for 5 minutes, then drain and discard the lavender. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg and 100g of the sugar until pale. Whisk in the flour and maizena. Gently add the lavender infused milk to the egg mixture while whisking. Return the mixture to the pan and cook while stirring until it thickens into a custard thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Allow to cool completely. I simply placed the pan in a sink filled with cold water. Whisk the berry purée into the custard. Whip the egg whites with the 2 tbsps of sugar until stiff. Whisk  1/3 of the whites into the berry custard, then gently fold in the rest. Pour the batter into the prepared dish and bake for 40 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately.