Look around the dining room at downtown DC’s Hay-Adams hotel in the morning and you’ll see an inordinate number of people tucking into . . . a soufflé? For breakfast? Yes, it’s a thing and it’s delicious. (Hey, it’s got oatmeal, blueberries, and raspberries in it, so you can at least feel decent about yourself.) Here’s how to make pastry chef Josh Short’s version at home. One thing you don’t have to get fancy with: the oats. Short uses plain old Quaker brand. And unlike other soufflé batters, this won’t deflate almost immediately. You can make it and store it in the fridge an hour before filling the ramekins and putting them in the oven.
(Serves 4)
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
¾ cup quick rolled oats
1⁄3 cup cream cheese
½ cup light-brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
3 large eggs, separated
½ cup and ¼ cup granola, divided
8 blueberries
8 raspberries
Softened butter, as needed for ramekins
Sugar, as needed for ramekins
Set the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 4 medium ramekins (about 4½ inches diameter) by brushing the interiors with butter, then dusting with sugar.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the milk and butter to a simmer. Slowly add the oats and cook, stirring with a spatula, until thick, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the cream cheese, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon and stir until smooth. Stir in the yolks from the 3 eggs and ½ cup of the granola. Let the batter come to room temperature.
In a medium mixing bowl, whip the 3 egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold them into the batter and divide the batter in half. Fill each ramekin halfway with batter, then add 2 blueberries and 2 raspberries to the center of each soufflé (don’t let them touch the sides). Dust each soufflé with 1 tablespoon of granola. Top with the remaining batter and bake 35 to 40 minutes, until the soufflé has risen and the top isn’t soft. Serve immediately.
This article appears in the October 2017 issue of Washingtonian.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
