Apricot Souffle

This soufflé is served warm. While it takes awhile to get the apricot syrup made, the soufflé itself cooks pretty quickly. It also rises rather impressively, so I'm going to go ahead and guess that you don't really need the four egg whites that I initially used. (It actually rose so fast and so high that it spilled over the edge of the pan. Therefore, I'm going to suggest using only the three egg whites.) 

Apricot syrup:

1 lb apricots (leave them whole)

about 1/2 c. water

about 1/4 - 1/2 c. brown sugar, lightly packed

2 mint leaves, optional

rum, optional

Put the water, 1/4 c. brown sugar, and apricots into a medium saucepan. Cover and put on a medium to medium low burner. Leave until the apricots are meltingly soft, then push through a strainer or food mill into a bowl. Discard the pits and skins. Put the puree back into the saucepan and let simmer and reduce for awhile. You want to wind up with about a cup and a half of syrupy deliciousness. Add more sugar if needed. Put in a bit of rum if you'd like. If you enjoy mint and fruit, bruise the two mint leaves and put them into the mixture for a minute or so. My mint was quite potent and left quite a bit of flavor after less than a minute, so be careful. Let it cool for at least a few minutes. 

Souffle: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter an 8*8 inch square Pyrex dish (or an 8 inch soufflé dish. . . whatever). Beat 3 egg whites until stiff peaks form. Pour in the apricot mixture, then fold it in using a rubber spatula or metal spoon. Be gentle. Pour this into the prepared pan, then put in the middle rack of your oven. Set the timer for 15 minutes. When it comes out, you can eat it as is. It makes enough for 4-6, depending. 

Bonus: Caramel Sauce

So I watch too much Chopped! and I decided that I was going to use the last 5 minutes of cooking to gild the lily. If you feel like doing so, here's how: 

Melt 1 T. of butter with 1/8 c. of packed brown sugar in a small saucepan. Add 1 T. of rum, and crank the heat up so it bubbles and all of the sugar dissolves. (This will probably take about 3 minutes if you started with a cold burner.) Dribble in about 2 T. of milk, stir well for a minute or two, and remove from heat. Make a puddle of this mixture on each dessert plate. When the soufflé comes out of the oven, put a scoop of it on the puddle.