Posted in Recipes

My five year old made this desert for us last night (under my supervision), and it is soooo yummy.

The recipe comes from a well-known NZ cook, Annabel Langbein, and was in a recent edition of a magazine, Growing Today. My children love looking through these magazines as they have lots of photos of animals and children and farms, and Meredith (5) found this recipe and asked if we could make it. It's a simplified version of a traditional souffle. I told her that a souffle is the hardest thing to make in the kitchen, so she felt very proud of herself.

Here it is:

Annabel Langbein's make-ahead souffle

3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries or blackberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp lemon jice

1 Tablespoon cornflour mixed with 1 Tablespoon water

3 large egg whites at room temperature

1/2 cup caster sugar

Optional: 1/4 cup chopped pistachios

Combine berries, sugar, water, vanilla and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring ot a simmer over medium heat. Add cornflour paste and stir until lightly thickened. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. In a large, very clean mixing bowl beat egg whites and caster sugar until thick and glossy and the sugar has fully dissolved. Bring berry mixture back to the boil. Gently fold 3/4 cup of the boiling berry mixture into the meringue, swirling it into a marbled pattern. Divide remaining berry sauce between six 1/2 cup ramekins and top with meringue mixture. Sprinkle with nuts if using. In not cooking straight away, place souffles in the fridge for up to 4 hours. Preheat the oven to 190deg.C. Bake souffles until they are just beginninbg to brown, about 5-6 minutes. Do not overcook or they will shrink. Remove from oven andserve.