Hazelnut Soufflé Crêpes with Raspberry Coulis

I’ve always loved the idea of soufflé crêpe—a soufflé inside a crêpe—which is a classic French dessert. Unfortunately, I’ve never been that fond of dessert soufflés, which are traditionally made with pastry cream as the base; they always seemed too starchy and bland to me. But in this recipe, I’ve found an easy way to update the soufflé. Hazelnut butter gives it a deep, hazelnut-y flavor. Kettle Foods makes a great one, and you can find other brands at a natural foods or specialty grocery store. Be sure to carefully stir the oil in the jar back into the nut butter before you measure out what you need for this recipe.

Even though this is a soufflé, it’s not all that fussy. You can make the soufflé batter up to 4 hours ahead of time, keep it in the fridge, and then fill and bake your crêpes to order when dinner is done. The raspberry coulis can be made a few days ahead, too, so this impressive dessert is very easy to pull off for a dinner party.

Makes 6 filled crêpes; serves 6

FOR THE RASPBERRY COULIS

8 oz/225 g fresh or frozen raspberries

2 tsp confectioners’ sugar, plus more as needed

1 tsp fresh lemon juice, plus more as needed

FOR THE FILLING

¾ cup/190 g hazelnut butter

¼ cup/25 g confectioners’ sugar

4 large eggs, separated

¼ cup/50 g granulated sugar

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

¼ tsp kosher salt

6 Versatile or Gluten-Free Rice Flour Crêpes or your choice

Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

MAKE THE RASPBERRY COULIS

Whiz the raspberries in a blender or food processor until just shy of smooth (aside from the seeds). Add the confectioner’s sugar and pulse to blend. Taste the sauce and add more sugar, if needed. Add the lemon juice and taste again. You want the sauce to be sweet but not cloying, so tinker with the sugar and lemon until you have a nice balance. You can serve it as is or strain out the seeds with a fine-mesh strainer. (The coulis will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.)

MAKE THE FILLING

Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir the hazelnut butter, confectioners’ sugar, and egg yolks together in a large bowl until well blended. The mixture will be stiff.

In a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until they hold soft peaks, 1 to 2 minutes. Continue to beat as you sprinkle in the granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat until the whites are thick and glossy and hold nice billowy soft peaks, another minute or so. Scoop a few big spoonfuls of the egg whites into the hazelnut mixture and carefully stir to blend; the goal here is to loosen up the nut mixture so that you can fold it easily into the fluffy whites without working it so vigorously that you deflate the whites. Now carefully add a few spoonfuls of the nut mixture to the main bowl of egg whites and begin to gently fold them together. Continue folding and adding until all the hazelnut mixture has been incorporated into the egg whites.

Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F/200°C/gas 6.

Butter a large rimmed baking sheet. Lay the crêpes presentation-side down on the sheet. Carefully spoon a heaping ½ cup/120 ml of the soufflé mixture onto the bottom half of each one, and then fold the top half over to form a half-moon. Bake the soufflés until puffed and the soufflé mixture is cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes.

Transfer the crêpes to dessert plates, dust them with confectioners’ sugar, and pour a generous ribbon of raspberry coulis around each one. Serve right away.

Note: The coulis is always delicious and such a stunning color. But, even better, it’s the easiest sauce in the world to make. So make a triple batch and freeze some in a heavy-duty zip-top bag to use on all sorts of desserts, or as a neat addition to a smoothie. (The recipe makes about 1 cup/240 ml.)