Sasha's Kitchen: Peanut Butter & Jelly Souffle

As you probably already know, I was in Ontario this weekend visiting some ice wineries during the day on Saturday, since I already wrote about my trip to one of the ice wineries that we visited, and the techniques used to make ice wine.  I spent the rest of the weekend visiting with family in Rochester, NY and didn't really do much cooking this weekend.  However, the one thing I did make this weekend, was mini-souffles Sunday morning for my family.  This souffle was an experimental souffle that worked out.  I decided to do something a bit offbeat and quirky as far as souffles go and experimented with a peanut butter souffle.  In the end, I decided to make mine a true PBJ souffle.  I liked it with the red current jelly that I added as a topping (although no one else was willing to try it with the jelly!) and figured that the recipe was worth sharing here since the souffle was enjoyed by my family.

Sasha's PBJ Souffle  (makes 4 small souffles)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 T flour
1/4 cup sugar (plus extra to sprinkle in ramekins)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 egg yolks
4 egg whites
pinch of salt
pinch of cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 400 F before you begin (the oven must be ready to go when you put the souffles in or they will not rise).  To prepare the souffle, mix the flour and milk well in a bowl and put in a saucepan.  Add half of the sugar (about 1/8 of a cup) and heat until dissolved.  Over the heat, add the peanut butter and mix for a couple minutes until well combined and creamy.  Take off the heat.  Beat the egg yolks with the salt and vanilla and add to the peanut butter/milk mixture.  Set aside.

Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites.  Beat using either a stand mixer or a hand mixer with the remaining 1/8 cup of sugar (add the sugar slowly as you beat) until the eggs are thick and fluffy (like a foam).  Then, fold the egg whites into the peanut butter mixture gently.  You must make sure to beat the egg whites properly (this is the key step) or the souffle will not rise.  Bake the souffles at 400 until they rise for about 15 minutes (depending on your oven, anywhere from 10-15 minutes).  Don't open the oven until you are ready to take the souffles out, or they will collapse!  My family enjoyed these plain, but you can make it a PBJ souffle with a dollop of jelly on top, if that's your thing.  Enjoy!