Passion Fruit Crêpes Soufflé

You absolutely read the title of this post right. It’s not a crêpe, it’s not a soufflé – it’s a combination of the two. And this might be the best dessert you’ll have all year. This fantastic recipe came all the way from Claude Troisgros restaurant in Rio de Janeiro (the son of the famed Pierre Troisgros in France) and also served by Laurent Tourondel at BLT restaurants in the US. It may look simple, but there’s more than meets the eye.

The crêpe part is a batter made with hot milk beaten into egg yolks to gently cook them, with just enough flour added to add structure. The egg whites are beaten with sugar separately and folded into the batter. The batter is then poured into a hot skillet like a crêpe, and cooked just long enough to get some color on the bottom. The skillet is placed in a hot oven, which, in turn, puffs the crêpe up like a soufflé. It’s so magic it will mess with your mind!

The crêpe soufflé is then removed from the oven and filled with a Tahitian-vanilla pastry cream before it’s folded over. It’s topped with sugar and caramelized with a blowtorch to add a little crunch and served with a passion fruit sauce made with caramel, passion fruit puree, fresh passion fruit and glorious butter for richness. It’s a simple, elegant dessert that you’re likely to make over and over again. Don’t forget to invite me!

  • Passion Fruit Crêpes Soufflé

    • Adapted from Claude Troisgros & Laurent Tourondel
    • Serves 6 to 8
    • For the pastry cream:
    • 2 cups milk
    • 1 Tahitian vanilla bean, split and scraped out
    • 4 egg yolks
    • 1/4 cup sugar
    • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
    • For the passion fruit sauce:
    • 6 tablespoons sugar
    • 1/4 cup water
    • 2/3 cup passion fruit puree
    • 3 tablespoons butter
    • 3 fresh passion fruits, halved
    • For the crêpes soufflé:
    • 3 cups milk
    • 8 tablespoons butter + more for cooking the crepes
    • 12 eggs separated
    • 3/4 cup sugar
    • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
    • 3 tablespoons sugar, for caramelizing
    • Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
    • mint leaves for garnish
    • For the pastry cream:
    • In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, vanilla bean and seeds and bring to a boil.
    • Meanwhile in a bowl, mix together the yolks, sugar and cornstarch. Whisking constantly, pour the hot milk over the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream until smooth and well blended. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and place it over high heat. Stir constantly with a whisk and bring to a boil. Cook for a few minutes until thickened and smooth. Pour the pastry cream into a bowl, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate until cold.
    • For the passion fruit sauce:
    • In a small pot, cook the sugar and water until light amber caramel in color. Stir in the passion fruit puree and cook for 2 minutes more. Just before serving, whisk in the butter until smooth. Scoop out the fresh passion fruits pulp and seeds and stir them into the sauce. Keep warm.
    • For the crêpes soufflé:
    • Preheat the oven to 375’F.
    • In a saucepan, bring the milk and 8 tablespoons butter to a boil. In a mixer bowl, beat the egg yolks and 6 tablespoons of the sugar on high speed for 30 seconds. Add the flour and beat on high for 2 minutes, until creamy. Slowly pour the boiling milk and stir until blended.
    • In a clean mixer bowl, beat the egg whites until very thick and foamy. Slowly add the remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar, beating until the egg whites form peaks when the beaters are lifted.
    • With a rubber spatula, gently fold the beaten whites into the egg yolk/milk mixture, folding it well from top to bottom.
    • Warm a 10 inch ovenproof pan with some butter over medium heat until the pan is greased. Ladle 1 cup of the batter evenly into the saute pan and cook for 10 to 20 seconds. Transfer the pan to the oven for 3 minutes or until puffed and set.
    • Place a large sheet of wax paper on a baking tray. Carefully slide the crepe onto the waxed paper with the browned side facing down (the top side would stick). While still hot, place a tablespoon or two of vanilla pastry cream in the center of the crêpe and fold in half. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
    • When ready to serve warm up the crêpes in the oven for 4 minutes (or 20 seconds in the microwave). Sprinkle some granulated sugar on top and brown lightly with a blowtorch. Spoon some passion fruit sauce around and over the crêpes soufflé, dust with confectioners’ sugar and garnish with a mint julienne.
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  • http://moonfullofsoup.wordpress.com/ MissNom

    Oh good god…

  • http://mushitza.blogspot.com/ Silvia

    oh, this one sounds so good that I could almost smell the passion fruit through the screen. Exquisite!

  • http://willtravelforfood.com/ mayssam @ Will Travel for Food

    I don’t even like passion fruit but this does look delicious… Oh oh, I think it’s messing with my mind already! 😉

  • Chez Catherine

    This looks amazing! I wonder if it would work as well with other fruit purees, like blueberry or raspberry?

  • Anonymous

    God has nothing to do with this dessert.. :) 

  • Anonymous

    That’s because you switched the Smell-O-Vision on! :) 

  • Anonymous

    Oh no, oh no! Ruunnn for the hills! 😛 

  • Anonymous

    Absolutely, pretty much anything would work here. Except okra. I don’t like okra. :) 

  • http://www.unintentionalsteam.blogspot.com Chris Chang

    OH my…this looks SO DELICIOUS! I want this right now…

    I just made some pineapple puree, I think I’ll try using that for this recipe.  Is a cast iron skillet the best choice for this? I hope to buy one soon, maybe this is a great excuse to do so…

  • http://www.simplygoodeating.com/ Jerry Ko | Simply Good Eating

    Wow this looks amazing! I love crepes and souffle so having the best of both worlds is something I’m down for! Thanks for sharing this!

  • Anonymous

    A non-stick pan works too. But if you need an excuse, yes.. go for it! Make sure it’s well greased. 

  • Anonymous

    Thanks, Jerry. And I guarantee you it’s even better than it looks. 

  • Baker Street

    Oh my! This is divine! Perfect way to kick start the year! :)

  • http://www.theculturaldish.blogspot.com/ Elyse @The Cultural Dish

    Wow! Wow wow wow… this looks amazing!

  • Yue Cheong

    Passionfruit! Lovely photos, clean & bright :)

  • http://moonfullofsoup.wordpress.com/ MissNom

    Perhaps this dessert is God?

  • Chez Catherine

    Ha,ha! I don’t like okra, either! The passion fruit looks luscious, and I would definitely try that before anything else. I’m looking forward to trying this gorgeous dessert.

  • Anonymous

    Perhaps God is reading this blog.  

  • http://www.foodgal.com/ Carolyn Jung

    That looks AMAZINGLY good. Puffy, tender and tropical — the perfect way to start a New Year. Happy 2012!

  • Anonymous

    Thank you! Happy New Year!

  • Anonymous

    Thank you!

  • Anonymous

    Thank you, Yue. You do great things on your blog. 

  • Anonymous

    I don’t know if it’s the perfect way to start the New Year since I had 4 of those, but it was tasty and I have no regrets. :) 

  • http://twitter.com/djudigg Rodwin

    picture is worth a thousand bites AWEsOME,cant wait to tantalize my tingling taste buds.Another master class thanx..DYNAMITE  photos.

  • http://betivanilla.blogspot.com/ beti

    they look amazing, the passion fruit adds a really nice touch

  • Tora Teig

    You have got. to. be. kidding. me.

    This is outrageous! WANT! :<

  • http://www.kitchenriffs.com/ kitchenriffs

    Utterly fantastic.  Thanks for this.  And I really like it that you’re marrying your signature deliberately overexposed (almost) whites with deep black in your pictures.  Really a pleasure to look at them.

  • http://comowater.com/ Tiffany

    Passion fruit is one of those words that I only think about in portuguese (maracuja!). These maracuja crepes souffles look amazing!!!

  • http://www.ouichefnetwork.com Oui, Chef

    Oh man, you are killing me with this one.  I will make this one day as a special treat for my wife, and thank you for all the goodness that is then bestowed upon me.

  • Anonymous

    I wasn’t trying to be funny.. 😛 

  • Anonymous

    Let me know if you try it. Good luck with MasterChef!

  • Anonymous

    Ha, you know me. I like to experiment with different shots. It doesn’t always work, though.

  • Anonymous

    So much more fun to say! Maracuja, it is. :)

  • Anonymous

    It’s a really nice combination. 

  • Anonymous

    You HAVE TO make this for her!

  • Sharro

    I’ve had this dessert at BLT Miami, it was divine, the best dessert (for my personal taste sure) I’ve had in years, gave everybody to try it everybody loved it.

  • Not the usual

    Claude Troisgros is a flavor God. This dish is sublime. Same guy created ‘Poire Poire poivre’ a tease for the tongue in both senses

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