Blueberries are back

Hooray! It's blueberry season again. Every year, in addition to stuffing myself with fresh blueberries, I like to try new recipes with blueberries.
My sister-in-law's mother brought us a huge bucket of the biggest and sweetest blueberries I've ever tasted. One night I made a yummy blueberry almond crisp. I've been snacking on the rest and was down to about a cup's worth and decided to try something else. Earlier this week, John had gotten a Frozen Blueberry Souffle for dessert at a restaurant in Oxford. He has raved so about it, I googled it to see if I could find a recipe. I did find a recipe for it, as well as several for baked blueberry souffle. So, I decided to try the baked version. As soon as I get some more berries, I'm going to try the frozen one.
For some reason, I had been led to believe that making a souffle was just too difficult for anyone below the ranking of professional chef with a culinary degree. Well, I'm here to say, this souffle was quite easy to make. Other than the blueberries, all the ingredients are staples I keep all the time. You basically make a blueberry compote, which is blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, and  a little water cooked until it makes a thick sauce. Then, you stir that into egg whites beaten with sugar, spoon into ramekins, and bake. It's just that simple.
The batter is the most beautiful shade of purple that bakes into a golden brown mountain of fluffiness. (I really do need to take a course on food writing so I can sound like the judges on Iron Chef.) It's a quite impressive looking dessert. I can't wait to try a chocolate one. I'll be sure and share how that one turns out.

Blueberry Souffle
1 cup blueberries
1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. water
2 egg whites
pinch of cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
Combine blueberries, half of sugar, lemon juice, and water in saucepan. Cook over medium low heat until blueberries begin to burst and make a thick sauce, about 15-20 minutes. Cool completely. Spray two individual size ramekins with cooking spray and coat with sugar. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat egg whites in bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment until soft peaks begin to form. Add remaining sugar and a pinch of cream of tartar. Beat until stiff peaks. Reserve about 1 tbsp. of the liquid portion of the blueberry compote and fold in remaining compote and lemon zest. Gently spoon into ramekins. Bake for 25 minutes. Make a small slit with knife in center of souffle and pour reserved sauce in slit and drizzle on top. Serve immediately.

Before baking

Beautiful dessert

The inside is so pretty, too

I didn't take a photo of the Blueberry Almond Crisp, but here's the recipe. The recipe I'm posting is called a Fruit Crisp. Just use whatever fruit you like. The almonds are not listed in the recipe. Just add whatever nut you prefer to the top before baking. Also, this makes about 4 servings. So, just double it if you want a bigger one.

Fruit Crisp
2 cups fruit

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

3 tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp cinnamon

Put fruit in baking dish. Sprinkle lemon juice and sugar over fruit. Mix remaining ingredients and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Filling will be somewhat runny. If you want it to be thicker, add a little cornstarch to the fruit and sugar.