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Prune and Armagnac soufflés

Prune and Armagnac soufflés

Soufflés are the bane of many pastry cooks’ lives. Up until I got hold of this recipe from L’Arpège, it was for me, too. This recipe saved me many times. I love it and will testify to its success. Dusting the ramekin with grated chocolate instead of sugar gives extra flavour without unnecessary sweetness. You’ll need to begin this recipe a day ahead. - Alistair Wise

Prune and Armagnac soufflés

Serves 10
Cooking Time Prep time 20 mins, cook 20 mins (plus macerating, standing, cooling)
200 gm   pitted prunes (see note)
200 ml   Armagnac
For greasing:   melted butter
For dusting:   finely grated dark chocolate (about 30gm)
14   eggwhites
120 gm   caster sugar
To serve:   vanilla bean ice-cream
Soufflé base
60 gm   plain flour
90 gm   caster sugar
45 gm   butter, softened
350 ml   milk
1   vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
3   egg yolks


1 Combine prunes and Armagnac in a bowl and stand overnight. Drain prunes (discarding excess liquid), then pulse in a food processor until a fine paste forms (makes 240gm).
2 Meanwhile, for soufflé base, combine flour and 70gm sugar in a bowl, then rub in butter with fingers until fine crumbs form, and set aside. Combine milk, remaining sugar and vanilla bean and seeds in a saucepan, bring to the boil over medium heat, whisk in flour mixture and stir continuously until mixture is thick and flour is cooked out (5-7 minutes). Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl, whisk in egg yolks and cool.
3 Preheat oven to 180C. Brush the sides of ten 1 cup-capacity ramekins with butter, refrigerate until firm and repeat, dust with grated chocolate, shaking off excess and set aside. Place 400gm soufflé base (there will be a little left over) in a heatproof bowl over gently simmering water until warmed (2-3 minutes), add 200gm prune mixture (there will be a little left over) and beat until smooth. Whisk eggwhites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form, then gradually add sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Fold one-third of eggwhites into prune mixture to lighten, then fold through remaining eggwhites. Divide among ramekins and smooth tops with a small palette knife. Clean excess mixture from rim of ramekins and bake until risen and golden (8-10 minutes). Serve immediately with vanilla bean ice-cream.

Note Use the best prunes you can find. Look for the very moist ones. Alistair uses prunes d’Agen, a professional pâtisserie product.

RECIPE Alistair Wise PHOTOGRAPHY William Meppem STYLING Emma Knowles

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