Bake

Oatmeal Soufflé With Spring Fruit Compote

April 19, 2024
3.5
2 Ratings
Photo by Food52
  • Prep time 20 minutes
  • Cook time 45 minutes
  • Serves 4 to 6
Author Notes

I am generally trying to find ways to eat more oatmeal. This recipe, adapted from Marion Cunningham in her book, The Breakfast Book, checks that box but is a pretty steep departure from what you know, and perhaps love from your classic bowl of oats. Instead, it leans heavily and gloriously into a decadent and cake-like dessert—a dessert you can have for breakfast.

This recipe is great for when hosting brunch for a group. Served alongside a roasted fruit compote, all the work of this recipe is done mostly in the oven, leaving your burners free to fry eggs, boil water for coffee and tea, and keep hollandaise warm and at the ready.

For the compote, swap in and out different fruits according to the season. (And note that sturdier winter fruits like pears may need a little longer in the oven.) A wonderful thing about this recipe is that as good as the oatmeal soufflé is warm, it's a true delight cold the next day as leftovers, that is if you even have any leftovers.
Anna Billingskog

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Spring Fruit Compote
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2-3 pieces rhubarb
  • 1 quart strawberries, hulled and washed
  • 1 orange, preferably organic
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
  • 1 pinch kosher salt
  • Oatmeal Soufflé
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • Raw sugar, to sugar casserole dish and sprinkle over souffle
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
  • 1/2 cup cream cheese
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3 eggs, whites and yolks separated
Directions
  1. Spring Fruit Compote
  2. Preheat the oven to 350°F, prepare a sheet pan with sides, or a 9x13-inch pan by greasing lightly with a little butter. If you have a little piece of butter left over after all surfaces have been well applied, leave it in the tray to mingle with the fruit while they roast.
  3. Cut the rhubarb into 2- to 3-inch pieces. Slice strawberries in half lengthwise, and any unruly large berries into quarters. Toss the rhubarb and strawberries onto the sheet tray.
  4. Grate the zest over the fruit. Slice the orange in half and squeeze the juice over the tray as well.
  5. Add the sugar to the tray and toss well with a spoon, spatula, or briskly toss with clean hands.
  6. Set the pan in the oven and roast, checking the pan and rotating if needed,15 to 20 minutes. The fruit should have softened and collapsed, but still hold some shape.
  7. Remove the pan from the oven and add the vanilla and salt while still warm. Set aside to cool 5 to 10 minutes as you prepare the oatmeal souffle. (Any leftovers will store well in an airtight container for up to a week.)
  1. Oatmeal Soufflé
  2. Butter and lightly sprinkle a 1 1/2-quart soufflé dish or casserole with sugar.
  3. In a small saucepan, pour in the milk and butter and heat until barely boiling. Add the oatmeal slowly, stirring constantly, and cook the oatmeal until thick. Remove from the heat, then add the cream cheese, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon, stirring quickly to blend and smooth the mixture. Slightly beat the 3 yolks and slowly add them to the oatmeal, stirring constantly.
  4. Beat the egg whites until stiff but still moist. Use a rubber spatula to gently stir and fold the whites into the oatmeal mixture, but be careful not to overfold. Fold only until you do not see any large lumps of egg whites.
  5. Spoon the mixture into the casserole or soufflé dish and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the center still trembles a tiny bit, but most of the soufflé is set. Serve immediately with a spoonful of the compote on top, and top with raw sugar, along with cream or warm milk, if desired.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Wanderlust67
    Wanderlust67
  • ustabahippie
    ustabahippie

2 Reviews

Wanderlust67 May 26, 2024
I love oats, and this was truly delicious. I used pistachio milk and thick rolled oats, which I cooked a bit longer to get the oat mix to the right consistency. The soufflé is a perfect foil for strawberry rhubarb, but any other tart fruit would work just as well.
 
ustabahippie April 30, 2024
3/4 cup of quick oats and a full cup of the 2 sugars!!! Yikes