Chestnut Souffléd Pudding

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide, heavy 3-quart saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve and firm spoon or flexible scraper
• •Electric hand mixer or balloon whisk
• •Six 6-ounce (180 ml) dariole molds or straight-sided ramekins
• •Deep roasting tin for the bain-marie
• •Kettle

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the bain-marie

   Set a rack in the lower middle of the oven and heat it to 325°F (165°C). Butter six 6-ounce (180 ml) dariole molds or straight-sided ramekins thoroughly, paying attention to the bottom corners. Arrange them on a folded kitchen towel inside a deep roasting tin. This is the bain-marie, a hot-water bath that poaches the puddings gently and keeps the eggs from tightening into a dry crumb. Bring a kettle of water nearly to the boil and hold it for baking.

2. 2

   Poach the chestnuts

   Combine the water and granulated sugar in a saucepan. Scrape in the vanilla seeds, add the pod, and bring the syrup to a boil. Add the chestnuts, lower the heat, and poach at a quiet simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until one chestnut crushes completely against the side of the pan without a gritty centre. Tender enough to eat is not tender enough to sieve. Lift out the vanilla pod, drain the chestnuts well, and reserve a little syrup in case the chestnuts stiffen.

3. 3

   Sieve while warm

   Press the warm chestnuts through a fine-mesh sieve with a firm spoon or flexible scraper, then collect every ribbon of purée from the underside. A food mill may do the first work, but the final pass through the sieve stays; it removes hard fragments that would weigh down the pudding. If the chestnuts cool and refuse to pass, mix in 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the hot poaching syrup. That moisture must be driven off in the next step.

4. 4

   Dry the purée hard

   Put the sieved chestnuts, powdered sugar, and 3 tablespoons (43 g) butter in a wide, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir and smear the mixture continuously across the pan floor for 8 to 12 minutes. It will loosen as the butter melts, then gather into a dense mass that follows the spoon and leaves a clean track on the pan for several seconds. A cooled teaspoonful should hold a sharp ridge with no wet shine. This fierce drying is the dish. If the purée remains loose, keep cooking it before proceeding, ça se rattrape. If the bottom begins to catch, transfer the purée immediately to a clean pan without scraping up the dark layer.

5. 5

   Thicken with yolks

   Take the pan off the heat and let the purée stand for 3 minutes so it remains hot but is no longer fierce enough to scramble the eggs. Beat in the yolks one at a time, working each completely into the purée before adding the next. Return the pan to low heat and stir for 2 minutes, until the mixture looks satiny and again holds a clear track. Never let it bubble. If a few yolk flecks catch, press the warm mixture through the sieve at once; a slight catch can still be rescued. Scrape it into a wide bowl and cool until barely warm, about 10 minutes.

6. 6

   Fold the whites

   Beat the egg whites in a spotless bowl until they form stiff, glossy peaks that stand when the whisk is lifted. Stir one-third of the whites firmly into the chestnut base to loosen it, then fold in the remainder in two additions, cutting down through the centre and turning the mixture over from the bottom. Stop as soon as no white streaks remain. Stirring would press out the air you have just built.

7. 7

   Poach the puddings

   Divide the batter among the prepared molds, filling each about three-quarters full, and smooth the tops lightly. Place the roasting tin on the oven rack, then carefully pour in the very hot water until it reaches halfway up the molds. Bake for 28 to 35 minutes, until the puddings have risen, the tops look set, and the centres retain only a slight tremble. The water should quiver but never boil hard; if it does, lower the oven by 15°F (10°C).

8. 8

   Unmold and serve

   Lift the molds from the bain-marie and rest them for 2 minutes, no longer. Loosen each edge with a thin knife and invert onto a warm dessert plate. If one pudding clings, return only the base of its mold to the warm water for 15 seconds and try again. Spoon the crème anglaise or vanilla-flavoured apricot syrup around the pudding rather than over its crown, and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Frozen peeled chestnuts are an honest choice and often more consistent than tired fresh ones. Thaw them before poaching. Vacuum-packed cooked chestnuts also work, but poach them for only 10 minutes so they take on the vanilla without collapsing into the syrup.
• •Don't substitute sweetened chestnut spread. Its sugar and water content are already fixed, so you lose control of the ratio and, more seriously, of the drying that lets the pudding rise.
• •Judge the dried purée by the pan floor. When the spoon exposes clean metal and the gap remains visible for several seconds, the water has gone far enough. If the track closes immediately, keep stirring.
• •Crème anglaise makes the richer accompaniment. Vanilla-flavoured apricot syrup gives sharper fruit against the dense chestnut flavour. The source offers either, and the pudding needs no further decoration.

Advance Preparation

• •The chestnut base can be poached, sieved, dried with its sugar and butter, then covered and chilled one day ahead. Warm it gently only until pliable, cool it to barely warm, and add the yolks as directed.
• •Butter the molds and prepare either accompaniment earlier in the day. Keep crème anglaise chilled, then let it lose its deepest chill before serving so it doesn't cool the puddings at once.
• •Once the whites are folded in, the batter must go directly into the molds and oven. The baked puddings wait poorly, so begin the final folding when the table is nearly ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 150g)