Wolfgang Puck's soufflé pancake with strawberry sauce
Wolfgang Puck is the Hollywood chef who's brushed shoulders with more A-Listers than he's had hot dinners - and that’s saying something! He caters the Oscars every year and in April he was even honoured with his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Today Wolfgang is taking over our kitchen to cook from the menu of his very first restaurant Spago, using nothing but the best British strawberries.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the strawberry sauce
960g strawberries, hulled and quartered180g sugar115g water180g orange juice, from 3 medium oranges1 star anise15g grand marnier
For the soufflé pancakes
60g butter, softened100g sugar, plus additional for dusting the pans4 egg yolks, at room temperature115g fromage frais170g crème fraiche 30g dark rum90g plain flour60g golden raisins (plumped in 60g white wine)240g/8 large egg whites½ tsp cream of tartar60g icing sugar for dusting
Method
For the strawberry sauce
Set aside 350g strawberries and 60g of the sugar
In a heavy saucepan, combine the remaining strawberries, water, 120g sugar, orange juice, star anise and grand marnier
Bring to the boil over a medium heat and keep stirring to prevent scorching. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to infuse for 10 minutes before removing the plastic and discarding the star anise.
Cover with plastic again and allow to infuse for a further 2 hours
Pass the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer and reserve until later, or refrigerate if not using straight away.
For the soufflé pancakes
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius
Generously butter two pyrex glass dishes 19 x 14 cm (0.8litre pans). Add 20g sugar to each pan and tap and turn the pans to dust evenly. Tap out any excess sugar.
In a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the egg yolks with 25g sugar until the mixture is light and lemony yellow. Beat in the fromage frais and scrape down the bowl and beaters.
Beat in the crème fraiche and rum, and again scrape down the bowl and beaters before adding in the flour and raisins then put to one side
In a bowl of a standing electric mixer with a whip attachment, beat the egg whites on medium low speed until they foam, then add the crème of tartar. Turn the speed up to medium and continue to beat while streaming in the remaining 80g of sugar and beat until you reach medium to stiff peaks.
Fold half of the egg whites into the crème fraiche base then gently fold in the remaining egg whites. Divide the batter between the two prepared pans.
Bake for 10 minutes in the centre of the preheated oven. Turn the pans and bake for a further 5-8 minutes, until puffed and brown. The centre should be set and slightly firm.
Assembly
Meanwhile in a large saucepan bring the strawberry sauce to a boil over a high heat
Add the reserved 60g sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Reduce the sauce for 1 minute.
Add the reserved 350g halved strawberries and toss to coat. Divide among the serving plates.
When the pancakes are done, remove from the oven and using a serving spoon, divide each into 4 portions. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.