Grapefruit Souffle (or Any Other Citrus)

One of my all time favorite desserts is Grapefruit Souffle. It is relatively simple to make.
This recipe comes from khymos.org's Texture: A hydrocolloid recipe collection.
All of the ingredients can be purchased at a grocery store, and if you don't like grapefruit you can just substitute it with any other citrus.
From start to finish it takes about one in a half hours to make.

This tutorial also has a green twist because you are using the grapefruit rind instead of ramekins, recycling is fun!

If you don't wish to recycle and help the environment, real ramekins can be substituted, the cooking time is the same, I did notice that they don't hold the souffle as well as the grapefruit halves do.

Enjoy!
NOTE: I advise you to read through the entire instructable before you try and make the souffle.If

Step 1: Ingredients

What you need:
2 Grapefruits (or any other citrus)
1 Orange
100 g sugar, divided (1/2 cup- two 1/4 cups)
15 g cornstarch (4 1/2 tsp)
2 egg whites
30 ml Water (2 Tablespoons)

Pretty simple stuff.

Step 2: Extract the Juice, and Make Some Ramekins

There are 2 ways to get the juice out of the grapefruit: an electric juicer or a hand juicer.

You will need 250 mL (about one cup) of the juice, most Pyrex liquid measuring cups have metrics on them.

Getting the juice out with the hand juicer goes without explanation, but I will explain anyways.
1.) Cut the grapefruit in half (Try to be as precise as possible, you will be using the rind later)
2.) Place the half of the grapefruit on the juicer
3.) Spin around until all the juice has been squeezed out
4.) Strain the juice to remove the pulp.

If you want to use an electric juicer DO NOT just cut the grapefruit up and put it in.
1.) Cut the grapefruit in half (again, try to be as precise as possible)
2.) Using a grapefruit spoon, spoon all of the edible fruit into a bowl, try not to rip the rind
3.) Put the fruit in the juicer, and let it do its thing.

If you don't get exactly 250 mL of juice do the same thing to the orange. You can use another grapefruit, but you will have excess juice.

Making ramekins
After you have gotten the juice out of the grapefruit, use a grapefruit spoon to clean out the membrane of the grapefruit. All that should be left is the pith, the white part.
To prepare the ramekins coat the pith with sugar, this can be done by pouring sugar into one half, and rotate it to cover catching the sugar that drops out into another.

If you used the orange to get more juice, use one half of it to make a ramekin, and save the other half.

If you didn't use the orange, prepare it as above, using one half for a ramekin, and saving the other.

Step 3: Simmer the Juice

First you need to take that extra half of an orange rind, and chop it into 1/2 inch chunks. If you don't have an orange, you can use another grapefruit.

Then you pour the 250 mL of juice into a small saucepan.

Measure out 50 g of the sugar, or about 1/4 cup, and add it to the juice.

Put the rind pieces in the juice and turn the heat to medium.

Once it starts to boil lower the temperature a bit, and let the juice simmer until there is 150 mL (2/3 cup) of juice remaining, about 13 minutes.

To check if the juice is at 150 mL you can strain out the rinds, and then pour the juice back into your liquid measuring cup.

Step 4: Thickening the Juice.

Once you have reduced the juice to 150 mL strain out the rind chunks and pour the juice back into the saucepan.

Mix the 15 g (4.5 tsp) of cornstarch, and 30 mL (2 Tablespoons) of water in a bowl, and add this to the juice.

Over low-medium heat, stir the mixture. After a few minutes it will start to get thick like milk, then it will start to look like a milk with jelly in it, and finally it will look like a thick glob of goo.

Once it has got to that stage take it off the heat and immediately immerse the whole saucepan in a ice water bath.

Stir the grapefruit goo until cool.

Step 5: Whipping Time!

For a souffle to rise it needs egg whites, so separate the eggs keeping the whites in a medium sized bowl. You can choose to do what ever you want with the yolks, but don't waste them.

Once you have the whites, whisk them with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.

Add the remaining 50 g of sugar.

Whisk until stiff peaks form.

Step 6: Mix It Up!

Take a spoonful of the egg whites and add it to the grapefruit goo. Stir it until it is completely incorporated. This gets the mixture ready for the rest of the egg whites.

Add half of the remaining egg whites to the goo, and fold until it is well mixed. Then add the other half and fold once more. The batter should be light and fluffy.

Spread the batter evenly between the five "ramekins" you made.
They do not need to reach the top because they will rise.

Step 7: Bake Them

Preheat your oven to 355F (180C) and put them directly on the rack. Let them cook for 15 minutes, or until the tops are slightly browned, and the souffles have risen.

The good thing about using the grapefruit halves as ramekins, besides recycling, is that they don't hold heat well, so oven mitts aren't necessarily required. I still recommend them.

Put the souffles on the counter to cool for a little bit, or dig in immediately.


If you have any questions just leave a comment, and I will reply back ASAP.