Bake Together-Caramelized Pecan Sweet Potato Skillet Souffle

Sweet Potato Skillet Souffle

This months Bake Together with Abby Dodge is a skillet souffle, Abby’s beautiful caramelized pear souffle was the base recipe and as always we are given creative license to make it our own, I used the basic recipe switching pecans for pears and sweet potato puree for the mascarpone, I made a few other little tweaks to the recipe and I must say this is like a super light pecan pie. It was not without mishaps, I had to make it three times, the first time I burnt the pecans (multi tasking doesn’t work when you have time sensitive food on the stove) the second time I didn’t burn the pecans but I caramelized the pecans in the brown sugar and found that when the souffle was done the brown sugar and pecans turned to hard candy, it was overcooked. To remedy this I roasted the pecans in the butter, added the brown sugar, syrup and rum and just let it sit until I was ready to put the souffle in the pan. This yielded the gooey caramel sauce i wanted.

I just want to give a shameless plug for Abby’s new book,  Mini Treats & Hand-Held Sweets I made her triple threat chocolate squares and they are so good, rich and fudgy I recommend you get this book, I want to make every single recipe.

Sweet caramel pecans

In a (very clean) medium bowl ( you can use a stand mixer, if you’d like. I did.), beat the egg whites with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on medium speed until the whites are frothy, 30 – 45
seconds. Increase the speed to to medium high and beat until the whites are very foamy and barely soft peaks. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar, increase the speed to high. Continue beating until the peaks are glossy and
form soft, floppy peaks (see pic above). Scrape the beaten whites into the yolk mixture and gently fold until just blended.

Heat the skillet (with the pecans) over medium low heat.  Gently pour/scrape the souffle mixture into the skillet and smooth the top. Reduce heat to low and cook until the edges begin to look dry, 3 to 4 minutes.

Using a potholder, slide the skillet into the oven and bake until the top is puffed, golden brown and the center springs back when lightly pressed, 5 to 7 minutes. Working quickly and using potholders (the
handle is super hot), move the skillet to a wire rack (or cool stovetop and dust the souffle with a light coating of confectioners’ sugar. Gently place the serving plate on top of the souffle and invert. Carefully
lift off the skillet. Using a small serrated knife, cut into wedges and serve immediately.