Apple and Wensleydale Souffle
Wensleydale cheese has been made in Wensleydale in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales since 1150 when Cistercian monks established a monastery at Fors. Today the Wensleydale Creamery continues the handcrafting of Wensleydale in the traditional method using local milk. Apple and cheese are natural partners but I am not sure what Wallace and Grommit would make of this souffle.
To make the souffle melt the butter in a saucepan and add flour to make a roux. Add the apple juice and calvados gradually, whisking in after each addition. Cook on a low heat until mixture thickens a bit. Add cheese and continue whisking until the cheese is incorporated. Add the yolks and continue whisking until the mixture thickens. Butter 4 ramekins and pre-heat oven to 200°C (390°F). Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gently fold into the mixture. Divide it into the ramekins and put in the oven for approximately 15-20 minutes. Peel, core and chop the apple into small, neat cubes. Drizzle a little lemon juice over the cubes to keep them fresh. Meanwhile prepare the butterscotch sauce. On low heat melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the brown sugar and stir with a wooden spoon until melted. Once it bubbles and foams add the cream while continuing to stir. Serve the souffle’s with the butterscotch sauce in tiny jugs or cups, and the cubes of apple alongside.
Theo Hodges
Theo Hodges was born in Kent. After a degree in Graphic Design she joined J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency as an Art Director working on accounts such as Rowntrees, Kraft and The Butter Council. While she was at University in Perugia, Italy she started collecting recipes from friends and family. In 1980 she set up her own design agency: Theo Hodges Design Consultants. For many years when they were young Theo, her sister and six cousins used to spend vacations at her Grandmother’s Victorian vicarage in Kent. ‘The thing about remembering childhood’ she says, is ‘there’s a whole lot of oblivion, and then out of it something floats up, quite sharp and clear. Many of the meals I can still see vividly and various recipes of mine were originally from Granny’s kitchen. ‘The kitchen garden was stuffed with raspberries, huge red dessert gooseberries, strawberries, runner beans, peas and much more with the hens in a shed at the back. But Granny only ate chicken breast and runner beans, followed by raspberries and Jersey cream - and therefore so did we. When raspberries were out of season, and in those days the season was much shorter, Granny made Victoria sponge cakes sandwiched with cream and home-made raspberry jam. On this limited but delicious diet we all thrived’. Theo’s mother was an excellent cook as well, and had been taught by the house- keeper at their house in Mougins, South of France. And once rationing was withdrawn in England in 1952 and good, fresh ingredients became available again, she amassed an enormous number of recipes which has formed the basis for Theo’s collection of family desserts.