Sweet Sour Cream Soufflé

These are so fast, easy, and inexpensive to make, but they look and taste amazing.  I first came up with the idea when I had most of a 500ml container of 30% sour cream close to expiry.  I'm not a huge sour cream fan, I love it in mashed potatoes and on my burrito, but not much otherwise.  Though I have to say with age, I have started to like it more.

So all I do is leave the sour cream in a sieve over a bowl with cheese cloth, in the fridge over night, to remove moisture and make it firmer.  The next day, I take some raisins and soak them in Earl Grey tea, then drain.  I beat 2 egg whites separately, then 2 yolks with some sugar.  I don't measure, but use your judgement, and decide how sweet you want this to be.  I don't like mine too sweet, because the raisins are very sweet.  You can always taste test.  Add a tablespoon or 2 of flour to the egg mixture.  If you're using more than one container of sour cream, then increase the flour, but don't use too much, or your soufflé won't be as fluffy.  Grate one lemon's worth of rind, and add it to the yolk mixture, mix in the drained raisins, then fold in the egg whites.  Butter your dish or ramekins, dust with some flour and fill 1/2 to 2/3 full.  The first time I made these I had French butter cookies, and I placed cookies at the bottom of half the ramekins.  If you have a good cookie that doesn't have too much going on, try this out, the cookie ends up being a moist bottom "crust".  

In these photos, I ended up sprinkling the raisins on top and then covering with more batter.  Either way works.

Soufflés don't stay puffed once they leave the oven, so if you're making these for guests, don't take them out until you're ready to serve.  It's best to time it out, so that they don't stay in the oven too long, because they do end up burning.

I had these in at 325 for about 35 minutes.

The ones which don't get eaten right away are still very tasty, but once they collapse, they are more dense, and almost like a light fluffly cheesecake, especially the next day.  This is one of my best dessert experiments.  Bon Appétit!