Souffléd Bananas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch / 30 cm round metal ovenproof platter or flat baking tray
• •Small heavy saucepan, about 3 cups / 750 ml
• •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible bowl scraper
• •Large balloon whisk
• •Flexible rubber spatula
• •Sharp paring knife and narrow teaspoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven fully

   Set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat it to 475°F / 245°C conventional, or 450°F / 230°C fan, for a full 25 minutes. Line a 12-inch / 30 cm round metal ovenproof platter or flat baking tray with parchment. The six-minute bake depends on fierce, stored heat, so let the oven come fully ready. Do not use the broiler; it colors the crowns before their centers can set.

   An inexpensive oven thermometer earns its place here. A dial that promises 475°F while the oven sits at 425°F gives a pale, heavy soufflé and then blames the cook.
2. 2

   Build the appareil

   Melt the butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook this pale roux for 1 minute, until it smells faintly of biscuits but takes no color. Add the cream in three small pours, whisking each one smooth before the next; the mixture will seize into a stiff, glossy paste, which is exactly right. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the salt, let the appareil à soufflé à la crème bubble for 30 seconds, then remove it from the heat and whisk in the yolk. Spread it in a wide bowl and cool for 5 to 8 minutes, until barely warm.

3. 3

   Hollow and sieve

   Wash and dry the bananas because their skins are the serving vessels. With each banana resting on its outer curve, cut away one long strip of peel, roughly one quarter of its circumference, from near the stem to near the tip. Slide a narrow teaspoon between pulp and peel, then coax the pulp out in two or three pieces without puncturing the remaining skin. Press every bit of pulp through a fine sieve, scraping the smooth purée from its underside, and stir it into the cooled appareil. A small split in a peel can be held closed by setting that side against the neighboring banana in the star.

4. 4

   Whip and fold

   Whisk the three egg whites in a spotless bowl until they hold soft peaks. Add the remaining tablespoon of sugar in a thin rain and continue only until the whites are glossy and form medium peaks whose tips bend slightly. Stir one quarter of the whites briskly into the banana appareil to lighten it, then fold in the rest in two additions, cutting through the center, sweeping across the bottom, and turning the bowl. Stop as soon as the large white pockets disappear. If overfolding has left the batter thin enough to pour instead of mound, ça se rattrape: whip the optional extra white to a medium peak and fold it through in two broad additions. The late, gentle fold is the dish; a mixer cannot do it for you.

5. 5

   Fill the skins

   Spoon the batter into the banana skins immediately, dividing all of it evenly and mounding each crown about ¾ inch / 2 cm above the cut edge. Wipe away any drips on the outside of the peels. Arrange the filled skins cut-side up in a four-point star on the prepared platter, with their narrow tips meeting at the center and their stems pointing outward. The arrangement preserves the original service and lets the soft skins brace one another.

6. 6

   Bake six minutes

   Bake for 6 minutes without opening the oven door. The crowns should swell above their skins, turn cream-gold along the ridges, and tremble softly at the center. Judge doneness by that tremble, not by deep browning; if the center still sloshes, give it 60 seconds more, but do not bake until firm. Carry the whole star to the table at once. Every hot Soufflé begins settling as its air cools, which is its nature, not a failure. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose bananas that smell fully ripe and show perhaps a few brown freckles, but whose yellow skins remain firm and unbroken. Black-soft fruit is too wet for the batter and leaves you no sound vessel to fill.
• •The sieve is not ceremony. It removes the banana's fibrous threads and gives the dense pulp enough smoothness to join the cream appareil without lumps. A processor makes the fruit looser than this brief bake wants.
• •Bring everyone to the table before you whip the whites. The cream appareil can wait, and the hollow skins can wait a few minutes; folded soufflé batter cannot.
• •Serve without extra sauce or decoration. A small glass of demi-sec Vouvray has enough freshness for the sweet banana and cream, though strong coffee does the job just as happily. La gourmandise n'est pas un péché.

Advance Preparation

• •The cream appareil can be prepared through the addition of the yolk up to 4 hours ahead. Press parchment directly against its surface, chill it, then let it lose its refrigerator chill before adding the banana.
• •Wash and dry the bananas, measure the ingredients, and arrange the tools before dinner. Do not hollow the fruit more than 10 minutes ahead, or the pulp darkens and the empty skins soften.
• •Whip the whites, fold, fill, and bake only when the table is ready. Bananes soufflées are generous but punctual.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 130g)