Prune souffle

Prune souffle brings back good childhood memories for my husband.  He reminded me this weekend that I haven't made it in a long time.  Since he has been such a good sport with all the other recipes, especially the fish soup, I made him a treat.  Also, we are still working hard on the bathroom/sauna remodel, and I haven't had much time to cook.  This week I'll hopefully get the tile floor finished, and the project will mostly be complete.  This desert is a great one for a busy evening.

First, I soaked a package of prunes for a few hours in just enough water to cover them.  Then I added 1/4 cup (1 deciliter) of sugar, and boiled away most of the liquid.

Meanwhile, I whipped 10 egg whites and another 1/4 cup (1 deciliter) of sugar until stiff peaks formed.

I folded the prune mixture into the egg whites carefully.

Then I put the mixture into a casserole dish.  I didn't grease the dish, the egg whites cling to the sides of an ungreased dish and it gives the souffle more volume.  I baked the dish for about half an hour in an oven preheated to 350 Fahrenheit (175 Celsius).  My only mistake was putting it on the bottom rack and leaving the top rack in place--it rose up so high that it hit the top rack!  Fortunately I saw it happening and got the rack removed without destroying the souffle.

The desert was delicious, it might have been even better with whipped cream.  The kids liked it, too, but I caught the youngest sorting out the prunes.