Why Niklas Ekstedt puts mushrooms in dessert – and why it works

A cep soufflé might not sound like a natural fit for pudding, but the Swedish chef’s delicate, earthy take balances rich umami with sweet berries and milk ice cream

The trend of vegetables in puddings isn’t going anywhere

Mushroom might seem like an usual ingredient for a dessert, but this souffle is as light as air, and it balances with sweetness from the berries and ice cream.

Ceps souffle with blueberries and milk ice cream

Makes: 4-6 souffles

Utensils needed: souffle bowls, mixer, piping bags, palette knife

Ingredients:

For the souffle base:

250g milk

10g mixed dried cep mushroom powder

20g cornflour

1 egg yolk

30g sugar

For the souffle mix:

60g sugar

60g egg whites

300g souffle base

For the milk ice cream:

1L milk

50ml condensed milk

For the blueberries:

100g blueberries, best to use frozen

25g sugar

Method:

1. Firstly, make your milk ice cream by reducing the one litre of milk in a pan by half, to 500 millilitres. Then, add in the condensed milk and allow to cool. Place in a plastic box and freeze.

2. For the souffle base, mix the sugar, egg yolk, corn flour, and cep mushroom powder in a large bowl. Bring the milk to a simmer in a pan and pour in the sugar mix, whisking constantly and simmering to 80C. It’s important to mix continuously so that the mixture is cooked evenly and to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan.

3. Next, prepare the souffle mix by brushing souffle bowls with room-temperature butter and a little sugar so that you have a nice thin layer which covers the whole inside of the bowl. Put in the egg whites into the mixer and whip on middle speed until you have a semi-white foam. Add the sugar gently at this speed before raising the mixing speed until you have a solid creamy white foam.

4. Take the bowl of cep souffle base and add a spoon of the whipped egg white mix and stir in carefully with a spatula, adding a spoonful at a time. Put the combined mixture into piping bags and fill the greased souffle bowls just over the edge with mixture, scraping off the excess with a palette knife so you have an even surface.

5. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for eight minutes, turning by 180 degrees midway through so that they rise evenly.

6. Meanwhile, warm up the blueberries in a pan and add 25 grams of sugar, stirring together until mixed and then removing from the heat to cool.

7. Once the souffles are baked, serve with the blueberries mixture topped with a quenelle of the ice cream.