Recipes

From the New Country Kitchen by Henrietta Green, this is a lovely autumnal souffle, best made with heritage variety apples for real depth of flavour.

Serves 4-6

    30g (1oz) butter, plus extra for greasing
    3 tbsp caster sugar
    225g (8oz) quince, peeled
    225g (8oz) eating apples, peeled and cored
    2 cloves
    1 tbsp Calvados
    3 eggs, separated
    1 tsp icing sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Grease a soufflé dish with butter. Put a tablespoon of the caster sugar into the dish and turn it round and round to coat it evenly with the sugar.

Chop the quince into small dice and put them into a heavy saucepan with 5 tablespoons of water. Chop the apples into slightly larger pieces and scatter them on top along with the cloves.

Cover the pan and simmer over a medium to low heat for about 10-15 minutes until the juices run and the fruit softens. Remove the lid, turn up the heat and simmer rapidly for a further 5-10 minutes until it has reduced to a soft but dry consistency.

Purée the fruit in a food processor or by passing it through a sieve. Stir in the butter, Calvados and caster sugar to taste (make the purée on the sweet side as the sweetness will be diluted by the beaten egg whites) and beat in the egg yolks while it is still warm.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Using a metal spoon, carefully fold them into the fruit purée. Pour the mixture into the prepared soufflé dish and put the dish on a baking tray. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Half open the oven, carefully draw out the baking sheet just far enough to be able to reach the soufflé and sprinkle the top with icing sugar. Close the door gently and leave for another 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Check out our Little Green Book on Apples for more on where to buy apples, juices, cider and more...