Pumpkin Soufflé

A soufflé is a light, fluffy, baked dish made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler which means "to blow up" or more loosely "puff up" — an apt description of what happens to this combination of custard and egg whites.

Yield:

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1. 3/4 cups milk
2. Pinch of nutmeg
3. 2 large egg yolks
4. 1/2 cup sugar
5. 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6. 1/2 cup solid-pack canned pumpkin
7. 4 egg whites
8. Extra sugar and butter for ramekins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Butter 6 4-ounce ramekins, and coat them with sugar.
3. Whisk together egg yolks, pumpkin and 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk in flour until thickened evenly.
4. In a saucepan, bring milk and nutmeg to scalding over medium heat (just until little bubbles form at the edges of the pan), remove from heat.
5. Pour milk into the yolk mixture and whisk until blended.
6. In a metal bowl, whisk egg whites until very foamy. Add 1/4 cup of sugar in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Beat until egg whites form soft peaks.
7. Pour half of the egg whites into the yolk mixture and stir. Pour the new yolk mixture into the remaining egg whites, and fold until blended.
8. Pour batter into ramekins, bake immediately for 12 minutes.

Notes