One of my personal life motto is "everything with passion, nothing with talent". Because I believe having a passion, or several, is what really thrives us in life, makes us want to move forward. No matter if we are good at it or not, the important thing is that it fulfills us.
Food and photography are two of my passions in life. I'm no Hélène Darroze or Anne-Sophie Pic, neither am I Annie Leibovitz or Sarah Moon. But that's not stopping me from cooking and shooting pictures on an almost daily basis, trying my best to improve everytime.
But a passion that predates those two, is music and going to concerts. Everybody who knows me a little, knows which band in particular I'm going to talk about: yes, it's Texas! From my teenager years, to this very day, I'm still moved by Sharleen's voice, get shivers when Ally plays the guitar and want to jump everytime I hear the intro to "Black Eyed Boy".
The prime reason I bought the book "Bryn's Kitchen" is in its dedication at the beginning of it, but it turned out to be a very good surprise. It's not an aimless series of recipe, but there's really a concept behind it, a guiding line and the chef has a point he wants to get across. So for once, music really brought me to cooking.
I know soufflé can be scary, I've had my share of dissapointment, not that much on taste, but on the look of it. From my experience, I'd advice you to be carefull when you fill it up, to make the top even and also not to take it out too early of the oven. Even if it will eventually fall back, if it's cooked properly, it will have a nice effect when you bring it to the table!
Blackberry Soufflé (Based on "Bryn's Kitchen")
For 5-6 Small Soufflés
150gr of Blackberry Jam
1 Teaspoon of Cornstarch
2 Tablespoons of Water
5 Egg Whites
25gr of Sugar
Butter for the moulds
Icing Sugar, for dusting
I only have 2 soufflé dishes, so I used coffee cups instead and it works fine. Butter them with a brush, be carefull to brush them from the bottom to the top, so it should help to rise. The book advices to dust them with caster sugar, I skipped that step, the recipe is sweet enough and it works fine without it.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Mix the cornstarch and the water together and add it into the Blackberry jam. Whisk it so it's well combined.
In the mixer's bowl put the egg whites with the 25gr of sugar and whisk them into soft peaks. Once it's done, take one spoon of the egg white and put it into the jam to loosen it. Now using a spatula, fold in very gently the rest of the egg white until it's well combined. (at this point you could place the mixture in the fridge for up to 3 hours before using it)
Using a spoon fill up your ramekins or dishes, even the top with a spatula or a knife. Place in the oven for about 12 minutes, until it's risen with a light shade of brown on top.
Take carefully out of the oven and dust it with icing sugar, serve immediatly to impress your guests.
