Notes from Nemosyn's Cookbook
This is one of my favourite desserts. I have been cooking and serving these souffles for - well, since Sneff first noded them. I rarely consult the node, as I have the recipe copied out in my little blue book. Over the years I have accumulated a few notes and refinements that I would like to share with you.
First, BlackPawn was right. 18 minutes is way too long. I cook these for 10 minutes and I drop my oven to about 190oC. On a newer and better sealed oven, 8 or 9 minutes would be sufficient. Because the souffle is mostly eggwhite, there's nothing wrong with undercooking them very slightly, either.
Second, you can use pretty much any combination of fruit. I quite like stone fruit - apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums - however that will make a really rich dessert. The beauty of the raspberries is that they are so light, so your dinner guests will usually be able to finish a whole serving. If you use larger fruit, be sure to chop it fairly small when cooking it; or run it very briefly through a blender. Any large chunks of fruit will be too heavy for the egg white and sink to the bottom of the dish. This applies equally to large pieces of peach and to heavy seeds like you get in passionfruit or pomegranate.
Do not skimp on the preparation of your ramekins. It doesn't matter too much what ramekin or dish you use to cook the souffle in, as long as you grease it and coat it with sugar fairly thoroughly.
Despite the amount of sugar in this dessert it's incredibly light and works best in the middle of summer, following a light meal. It's very easy to make, and to double the quantities for a larger party. A single quantity as described above can be stretched to 8 souffles if you use small ramekins.
Unfortunately this is not a 'prepare ahead' dish. You can cook the fruit in advance and leave it to cool (or pop it in the fridge). The poached strawberries and mint pesto can be made the day before. Before your dinner party, or while doing last minute pre-dinner prep, you can separate the eggs. However, you will need to allow 10 minutes eggwhite beating + 10 minutes cooking + 5 minutes serving between main course and dessert.
Finally, this dish is gluten free, dairy free, and suitable for a low FODMAP diet. It is absolutely not suitable for diabetics, and don't bother trying it with stevia-based sugar substitutes (it doesn't dissolve properly in the eggwhites).
If you have any further notes to add about this recipe, please feel free to /msg me.