Bake and Create: Soufflé Suzette

Grand Marnier soufflé meets crêpe suzette

Back in my November Chef’s Kisses newsletter, I wrote about some dishes I made that take a fun twist on soufflé. This is where the soufflé series all began (see recent recipes under Baking Blocks: Soufflé pt. 1 and Bake and Create: Soufflé Île Flottante). One of my favorite recipes from that November was a pancake soufflé inspired by Genevieve Yam’s genius recipe.

When testing Salzburger Nockerl soufflé recipes earlier this month for Baking Blocks: Soufflé Pt. 1, I realized how similar the Salzburger soufflé formula was to Yam’s soufflé pancake: unlike the soufflé recipes coming later in the series, neither of these includes custard folded into the egg whites. Instead, egg whites are whipped with sugar, egg yolks and dry ingredients are folded in, and then the whole thing is baked (Yam’s soufflé pancake has milk and a bit more dry ingredients). As these soufflés both have no custard, and a little more dry ingredients for stability, the texture and taste are a bit more sponge cake-like than their custardy cousins.

With that in mind, I started to think of other pancake-soufflé-crossover-dishes I could make with my base recipe from Baking Blocks, and a soufflé suzette immediately came to mind.

A crêpe suzette is a crêpe that’s soaked in a deliciously buttery-sugary-orange-y sauce and finished with a flambé in Grand Marnier or Cointreau (maybe a little cognac too). It’s incredibly reminiscent of the most arguably fun soufflé of them all (if you love a flambé like me): the Grand Marnier soufflé.

Here, the soufflé suzette starts with the same soufflé base we’ve tackled in Baking Blocks. It then gets baked over said buttery-sugary-orange-y sauce, and flambéed once out of the oven.

In this combo of the two desserts (Grand Marnier soufflé and crêpe suzette), the soufflé base acts like a sponge, soaking in the orange sauce at the bottom as it cools. While the flavors of the soufflé are just like the crêpe dish, it’s extra light and fluffy. The Grand Marnier is definitely present in the dish, but not overwhelming, just like in a Grand Marnier soufflé. All in all, a very delicious dessert – cheers!