Blackberry Apple Souffle

Tonight some of my girlfriends and I got together for one of our wonderful "True Blood Supper Club" nights.... which has slowly morphed into being called "Vampire Night" or even more informally "Eric Night" (for those of you who watch True Blood or read the Sookie Stackhouse novels, you will completely understand this.

We have a great system worked out-- one of us provides an entree, one provides salad, and one makes a dessert. Tonight, Lisa made a caprese salad, Mandy made incredible stuffed shells, and I was in charge of dessert. I found a recipe in an old cook book I have (Omelettes, Frittatas & Souffles) and just decided to go for it. The recipe was remarkably easy, fairly healthy, pretty delicious and SO BEAUTIFUL. So beautiful that I forgot to take a photo. So, I will need to make it again, obivously.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, cook two pints of blackberries, one finely diced apple (cored and peeled), and the zest and juice of one orange. Cook about ten minutes or until everything starts turning to mush.
3. The book says to push through a sieve into a bowl, but I didn't have one, so I just mashed it all up and put it in a bowl. Then I stirred in a quarter cup of caster sugar and let it cool for a bit. (I actually made this part ahead of time so I let it cool for several hours).
4. Get six ramekins out and put a spoon full of the berries the bottom of each. Save the rest for the egg whites.
5. Beat three egg whites on high until peaks form-- while beating, slowly add 1/2 cup of caster sugar.
6. Fold in berry mixture
7. Spoon into ramekins and bake for 10-15 minutes until it is puffing up and browned on top.

If I made this again, I might try experimenting with the flavors involved. This seemed fairly heavy on the orange flavor-- and while it was delicious, it was called a "blackberry apple" souffle with no mention of "orange". The point of the sieve would obviously be to remove seeds and variations in texture, but I didn't mind them. And honestly, this was one of the most beautiful desserts I've ever made. The top is golden brown and the puffed areas are the most gorgeous pinkish purple-- the dark fruit in the bottom of each dish bubbled around the sides providing even more contrast.

A perfect end to a perfect evening!