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Walnut soufflés that crackle at the first bite

Sliced walnut soufflé on a white cake stand, with walnuts in a glass bowl and fir branches beside it

Recipe

Walnut soufflés that crackle with the first bite

Name: Walnut soufflés that crackle at the first bite
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 10 min
Yield: 35 pieces
Ingredients: 50 g Egg white (approx. 1 to 2 eggs); 45 g Caster sugar (part 1); 35 g Water; 110 g Caster sugar (part 2); 100 g Walnuts, roughly chopped; 25 g Icing sugar; 50 g Egg white (approx. 1 to 2 eggs); 45 g Granulated sugar (part 1); 35 g Water; 110 g Granulated sugar (part 2); 100 g Walnuts, roughly chopped; 25 g Icing sugar

Delicate meringue, crunchy walnuts and plenty of air

Yield35 little cloudsActive timeapprox. 40 min.Total timeapprox. 1 hr. (incl. cooling)DifficultyMedium

contains eggcontains nuts (walnuts)gluten-freedairy-free

Hello fellow foodies,

do you know those little cookies that look like clouds and softly crackle at the first bite? Wafer-thin and crisp on the outside, tender and airy on the inside, with crunchy walnut pieces scattered throughout. In French-speaking Switzerland they are called soufflés aux noix, and with us they are lovingly known as walnut clouds. On our Christmas plate they are always the first to go!

The secret is an Italian meringue: instead of simply sprinkling all the sugar into the egg whites, you cook part of it into a syrup and let it run hot into the whipped egg whites. This makes the mixture wonderfully stable and glossy, and the clouds don't collapse in the oven. Sounds complicated? It isn't! With a sugar thermometer you'll succeed for sure.

And the best part: the walnut clouds need no flour and no butter, and are naturally gluten-free. This recipe makes 35 pieces. Happy baking!

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Ingredients Step by step Recipe card Equipment Tips Frequently asked questions

Walnut clouds on a wooden bowl and a checked cloth with whole walnuts

Walnut soufflés on a glass plate and a small cake stand between pine cones

Walnut clouds on a green and white checked cloth next to a gift parcel

Ingredients

Quantity:

For the egg white

50 gEgg white (approx. 1 to 2 eggs)

45 gCaster sugar (part 1)

For the sugar syrup

35 gWater

110 gCaster sugar (part 2)

For folding in

100 gWalnuts, roughly chopped

25 gIcing sugar

Step by Step

If you're in a hurry: the compact recipe card further down sums everything up.

The meringue mixture

Get everything ready

Preheat the oven to 180 °C top and bottom heat and line a baking tray with baking paper. Chop the walnuts coarsely; the pieces can be a little larger, as they will later provide the crunchy walnut experience. Weigh the crystal sugar into two portions: 45 g go into the egg white, 110 g into the syrup. Also get the sugar thermometer ready, because once the syrup starts to boil, things need to move quickly.

Weighed ingredients for walnut soufflés with a pan and sugar thermometer

You will need these

Whisk the egg white until stiff

Put the egg white into a clean, grease-free bowl and whisk it to a foam with the hand mixer or in the food processor. Then gradually sprinkle in the first portion of crystal sugar and keep mixing until the meringue is nice and stiff and glossy. Our test: when you lift the whisks out, firm peaks should stay standing.

Whisking egg white to a foam with the hand mixer

Adding crystal sugar gradually to the egg white

Boil the sugar syrup to 120 °C

Put the water and the second portion of crystal sugar into a small pan and bring everything to the boil. Insert the sugar thermometer and let the syrup boil until it reaches exactly 120 °C. Do not stir, otherwise the sugar may crystallise. The temperature really matters here: if the syrup is too cool, the mixture will be soft; if it is too hot, it turns into caramel.

Boiling water and sugar in a pan to make syrup

Pour in the hot syrup

Let the mixer run on a low speed and pour the hot syrup in a fine stream along the edge of the bowl into the egg whites. It is best not to pour it directly onto the whisk, otherwise the syrup splashes onto the side of the bowl and hardens there. Keep beating until all the syrup is well incorporated and the mixture is thick, glossy and snow-white.

Pouring hot sugar syrup in a fine stream into the egg whites

Fold in the nuts and bake

Mix the nuts with icing sugar and fold them in

Mix the coarsely chopped walnuts with the icing sugar in a small bowl. The icing sugar coats the nut pieces, so they distribute evenly and do not sink. Add the mixture to the meringue mixture and gently fold everything in with a rubber scraper, pulling from the bottom up. Don't stir, just fold! This keeps all the air in the mixture, and your little clouds will be wonderfully light.

Add chopped walnuts and icing sugar to the meringue mixture

Carefully fold the nuts in with the rubber scraper

Portion out with two teaspoons

Use one teaspoon to scoop a small mound of mixture and push it onto the baking paper with the second spoon. Leave about 3 cm between the mounds. The shape doesn't have to be perfect, quite the opposite: the small peaks and tips are what make the walnut clouds so pretty, and they turn wonderfully crisp in the oven.

Scoop a mound of mixture with a teaspoon

Place the walnut clouds on the baking paper with two spoons

Bake and let cool

Bake the walnut clouds for 8 to 10 minutes in the middle of the oven. They should stay pale and only turn very lightly beige. Then let them cool completely on the tray. While still warm they are soft; only as they cool do they become crisp on the outside and release easily from the baking paper.

Compact · for printing

Walnut soufflés

Quantity35 pieces

Active timeapprox. 40 min.

Total timeapprox. 1 hr

DifficultyMedium

Baking temperature180 °C top/bottom heat

Baking time8 to 10 min.

Ingredients

Quantity: